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ARCHIMEDES Pilot Project Area:
Eminonu (Cemberlitas-Mahmutpasa-Yeni Cami axis)
Presentations in Turkish:
The Constantine Column-Mahmutpasha-the New Mosque axis and its surroundings have been chosen as the pilot area because of its historical texture and the sustainability of social life.
The Khans area is one of the richest in historical heritage. It is one of the rare areas where the guilds coming from the Otoman times to this day, albeit with a diminishing importance, are situated. This ensures the continuation of the living urban texture in the socio-economic sphere around the New Mosque.
The Constantine Column and the New Mosque attract tourism; however the Mahmutpasha Khans area that connects these two points is engaged in non-tourism activities as manufacturing and trade and fails to attract tourism despite its historical and cultural worth.

Another unexploited tourism potential of the area, due to the non-tourim activities in the area, is the existence of the view points that provide stunning views of the Golden Horn, the Galata area and the Bosphorus.
The axis, despite its proximity to Divan Yolu Avenue, Nuru Osmaniye Mosque Complex, the Grand Bazaar and the Constantine Column, and despite the existence of tram line transportation facilities from upper (Divan Yolu Avewnue) and lower (Eminonu Square) axes, has not been on the tourism agenda. It stands out only in local and inland wholesale and retail trade and manufacturing. Additionally, the Eminonu Wharfs and the Galata Bridge provide important transportation points from outside to the area.
The area is also within the wider area of tourism attraction points as it is in walking distance from Istanbul University,the Grand Bazaar, Sueymaniye Mosque Complex and Eminonu Square.

There is an intense and improper use of the historical heritage by the manufacturing industry. This axis and its surroundings are very much populated during the day but desolate during the night. This brings a security problem at nights and ruins the image of the area. This accelerates the physical decay and makes it difficult to make use of the tourism potential of the area.
The cultural monuments in the area are being used without consideration and respect to their original purposes and shapes.
Different from the other tourism axes and itineraries, Khans area bears traces of the socio-cultural and economic life of the people from the past to this day. Thus, the area has interesting historic details that need to be brought to light in terms of tourism.

Main objectives of the pilot project
The overall objectives of the pilot project are:
promoting public-private partnerships, mobilising civil society, planning urban regeneration, promoting sustainable tourism and the valorization of under-utilised cultural heritage in Istanbul.
The specific objectives of the pilot project are:
to develop an urban regeneration feasibility study and implementation plan by building a coherent and effective platform that includes different stakeholders who can put forward a plan for sustainable protection of the cultural heritage of the district.
Expected results of the pilot project are:
attention is being drown to the under-utilised historical heritage and to the distinct socio-cultural and economic function of the area, a regeneration plan for the area fostering the actual regeneration, inclusion of the axis to the tourism routes of the guides and increased tourism as a result, economic development of the area through increase in tourists visiting the area.
Main local actors involved in the pilot project