A Holistic Categorisation of Heritage Values as a Tool for Decision-Making

ABSTRACT

Architectural heritage possesses a wide variety of values. A comprehensive understanding of these values can help decision-makers make holistic decisions regarding conservation. Although heritage buildings have significance, prioritising them is essential in conservation. Lack of comprehensive value understanding of heritage, may have a negative effect in decision-making the main aim of this study is to explore the emergent terminology of heritage values for categorising them into different typologies. In this regard, this paper contends the identification of values from literature and seeks to engage in discourse and assessment of built heritage over values that are essential for decision-makers. As a qualitative methodology, content analysis is applied to broad-based literature about heritage values. The value definitions are reviewed and the ones with similar meanings are categorised for a common reference point. Quantitatively, the weight of each value category has been calculated according to the frequency of being stated by various authors.

KEYWORDS:

• Heritage value
• cultural heritage
• architectural heritage
• heritage building
• decision-making

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Compromise Ranking Method (VIKOR), Grey Relational Analysis (GRA), Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Techniques for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), Simple Additive Weighting (SAW), the Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS), Multi-Objective Optimisation on the basis of Ratio Analysis (MOORA), and the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE), etc.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Faraneh Sahraiyanjahromi

Faraneh Sahraiyanjahromi is currently a PhD candidate and research assistant at Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, at Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU). She received Bachelor’s degree in Archaeology and Master’s degree in Interior Architecture at EMU. As a team member, she contributed to EMU-Eastern Mediterranean Cultural Heritage Research Centre. Her research interest and publications lie in fields of cultural heritage, heritage conservation, adaptive reuse, and cultural tourism.

Özlem Olgaç Türker

Professor Dr. Özlem Olgaç Türker is a full-time academic member in Department of Interior Architecture, at Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU), North Cyprus. She has accomplished B.Arch. in Department of Architecture, at Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul Technical University; M.F.A. in Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design at Faculty of Fine Arts, Hacettepe University, Turkey; and PhD in Department of Architecture at Faculty of Architecture, Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus, in 2002. She has administrative experience at EMU as Department Chair of Interior Architecture, and as Vice-Dean of Faculty of Architecture. She is an administrative council member of EMU-Eastern Mediterranean Cultural Heritage Research Centre. Her research interests are cultural heritage, architectural conservation, adaptive reuse, sustainable tourism, cultural tourism, vernacular architecture, interior design, flexibility in housing and furniture, design education, and educational quality.