Sustainability of Historical Bazaars: Bursa Historical Bazaar and Khans’ District in Turkey

Abstract

Positioned at the intersection of major trade routes, many of the Turkish cities became important centres of trade. Bursa situated in the north-west part of Turkey, and on the ‘Silk Road’, represented a fundamental commercial centre in marketing silk for 600 years. The Historical Bazaar and Khans’ District, situated in the urban centre of Bursa, have been functioning as the heart of trade activity. Since its establishment in fourteenth century, the district had faced many man-made and natural disasters; however, it still sustains its original physical entity and socio-economic activity. The study aims to discuss how the ‘Bursa Historical Bazaar and Khans’ District adapts itself to the various transformative effects. The main focus of this discussion is to depict the hidden mechanisms behind the sustainability of the bazaar areas. In the content of this study, it is argued that the permanence and sustainability of the built fabric and the continuity and stability of the urban process in the bazaar depended to a large degree upon the dual role of the religious (Waqf) and social (Guilds) patronage.