ABSTRACT
The research aims to make an assessment of the approaches to the conservation of rural heritage around Bursa. Current conservation measures depend on the technical capacities and the budgets of the local governments in the region. There are many historic villages but due to lack of legal protection and financial support, they have not been the subject of conservation projects until recently. To discuss the impact of conservation decisions and the ongoing projects, four historic villages were selected in the vicinity of Bursa. A survey was conducted to see the state of conservation and the financial and professional support from the local governments or other agencies. The research included visits to the sites and collection of information from the responsible bodies. The second step was to compare the effectiveness of the different conservation approaches. The paper will discuss the positive aspects and drawbacks of the different strategies in order to make sound decisions while selecting conservation approaches.
