Mapping Lost Heritage through Collective Memory: A Participatory Study in Amasya, Türkiye

This study reveals the relationship between lost heritage and collective memory in Amasya, a medium-sized historic city in Anatolia. Despite Türkiye’s diverse heritage, top-down management and the dominance of the authorized heritage discourse may create a disconnect between local communities and their everyday cultural heritage. Using a qualitative method and participatory mapping, this research identifies heritage elements valued by the local community but underrepresented in official inventories and narratives. The findings reveal that heritage loss operates not only through physical disappearance but also through processes of invisibility, disconnection, and transformation. Nine spatially distinct heritage loss zones were identified, each reflecting different configurations of loss types and risks. Although local communities perceive heritage as integral to identity and memory, this awareness has not been translated into sustained conservation practices. The results highlight the limitations of dominant heritage frameworks that prioritize visible and monumental assets while overlooking everyday, locally embedded values. In response, the study emphasizes the need for a bottom-up, risk-based approach that integrates local knowledge into heritage management. By combining spatial data with community narratives, the research demonstrates how participatory mapping can support more inclusive, context-sensitive, and sustainable conservation strategies in historic urban environments.