Heritages: Cultural Pasts Urban Futures

The conference titled Heritages: Cultural Pasts Urban Futures is hosted in Istanbul, a city with a rich historical background as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This event is part of the AMPS Heritage(s) Series 2026, and it aims to explore the intrinsic connections between heritage, cultural pasts, and urban futures. It emphasizes the need for a holistic understanding of heritage that encompasses both tangible and intangible elements, such as architecture, local crafts, and the overall sense of place and identity that define a city.Istanbul serves as an ideal backdrop for this conference, given its historical significance as a meeting point between Europe and Asia, and its status as an imperial capital for the Byzantine, Roman, and Ottoman Empires. The conference invites diverse perspectives from various fields, including humanities, social sciences, architecture, urban planning, and heritage studies, fostering a dialogue that spans local, regional, and international contexts. Participants will engage in discussions covering a wide array of topics, such as architectural and landscape theory, the impact of technology in the heritage sector, and the socio-cultural implications of heritage and gentrification. Selected authors may also have the opportunity to further develop their ideas for publication in academic journals or specialized conference books.