UTILISING GIS FOR DOCUMENTATION, CONSERVATION, AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY CAMPUS IN ANKARA AS A MODERN PERIOD LIVING HERITAGE PLACE

Abstract. The Middle East Technical University (METU) Ankara Campus is one of the earliest and most prominent modern-period university campuses that resulted from an architectural competition in the 1960s in Turkey. However, METU Campus, as a modern-era heritage place, faces various threats, including pressure for new urban development. In addition, the increasing number of students and contemporary educational needs require changes in the physical infrastructure and campus settings. Thus, all these threaten the tangible and intangible values of the Campus. In this regard, conserving the METU Campus requires a multidimensional approach that considers a wide range of values and problems; herein, the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) becomes a useful tool for dealing with this complex work. Accordingly, the METU Campus GIS Project [METU_GIS] was developed to document and understand the multidimensional characteristics of the METU Campus, assess its values, and propose solutions to current issues while considering its values and potentials. Accordingly, the METU_GIS defines conservation policies and strategies that ensure the conservation and sustainability of the Campus as a living modern heritage place. Furthermore, the METU_GIS is a GIS-based conservation management plan created for a modern period campus for the first time in Turkey. Hence, it became an essential basis and a tool for conserving and managing the METU Campus as a modern living heritage place. All in all, the METU_GIS proves that Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are essential tools that can be used in the documentation, conservation, and monitoring of modern heritage places.