The Impact of UNESCO World Heritage List on Historic Urban City Centers and its Place in Urban Regeneration: The Case of Melaka, Malaysia and Tire, Turkey

With rapid economic growth, most cities experience uncontrolled development resulting in decay especially on their historic cores. A city's historic center is the heart of its urban identity, therefore once it is abandoned, city's identity tends to diminish, too. As a result, urban regeneration projects with a focus of urban preservation for historical city centers gain crucial importance to save this identity. This study investigates the highly recognized World Heritage List of UNESCO with the case of Melaka, Malaysia in order gain a perspective for Tire, Turkey for a successful urban preservation project.