Before re-inhabiting, each 'author' (spatial designer, policy maker, user) interprets the meanings that already exist, and then adds meaning in relation to previous one, by either preserving or demolishing buildings. Locations are shaped through the narratives as well as the collective memory of all who have inhabited them.

As described in literature, a city is a totality of locations, where each location has its own, distinct identity. A contemporary interpretation and analysis of the concept is followed by a specific methodology seeking to explore urban morphology and the role of spatialdesigners. In this paper, we pursue an analogy of the layers of 'texts' within the development of the city. 'Palimpsest' has etymological origins in the Ancient Greek meaning 'again' and 'scratch', and refers to the repetitive process of writing and deleting texts in parchments. Keywords: Heritage impact assessment (HIA), urban heritage places, sustainability, İstanbul, İzmir To do this, it focuses on intervention approaches, assess their impact on physical setting, social environment, and economic context and categorizes each of them from the most destructive to the most sustainable. Looking at interventions in Tarlabaşı and Kemeraltı, and bearing in mind the international documents published by ICOMOS and UNESCO, the study aims to assess the post-intervention sustainability of urban heritage places. While interventions in Tarlabaşı represent unsustainable modes of implementation interventions in Kemeraltı suggest that there is scope for sustainability where the physical setting is preserved, the social environment is not changed but empowered, and economic activities continue together with control in rent increase. A completely different approach was used in Kemeraltı, where a bottom-up approach has been adopted and holistic strategies have been developed considering both residents’ needs and the values of heritage place. In Tarlabaşı, historic buildings were expropriated and destroyed while people living in the area were displaced. The study aims to examine interventions and their impact on sustainability in two urban heritage places in Turkey: Tarlabaşı, İstanbul and Kemeraltı, İzmir. As a result, the sustainability of heritage places becomes questionable. However, new interventions for urban regeneration may have a destructive impact on the physical, social and economic aspects of urban heritage places. Heritage places have become the arena of various interventions due to their socio-cultural and economic values.

Gardenscapes level 1051 jan 2018