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PurposeThe main objective of this paper is to critically assess sustainable development in the context of Behramkale, a vernacular village in Türkiye.Design/methodology/approachVernacular Heritage Sustainable Architecture analysis framework has been adopted to understand and assess vernacular architecture and sustainable development in Behramkale.FindingsThe vernacular design of the old Behramkale settlement has shown more sustainable characteristics as compared to the new development area. Key findings show that trade-offs were made with respect to environmental and sociocultural aspects of sustainable development to achieve economic sustainability.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research with more in-depth interviews would be helpful to find out the inhabitants’ response to the conservation practices.Practical implicationsBased on the research conducted, life cycle analysis and sustainable strategies of vernacular settlements can be useful tools to design, develop and improve old settlements, as well as newly established settlements.Social implicationsKey lessons learned from conservation practices can help to identify well-adapted solutions to respond to the needs of local communities in Türkiye and similar vernacular settlements in the Mediterranean region.Originality/valueThis paper critically assesses sustainable development in the context of vernacular architecture, heritage conservation and rural sustainability. Conservation practices in Türkiye are evaluated deeply as there is limited research in this field within the Mediterranean heritage conversation and sustainable development context.

Behramkale, also known as the ancient city of Assos, has gained considerable national and international visibility after its declaration as an Archaeological site in 1982 and later in 2000 as Urban Archaeological site. The declaration brought with it stringent regulations limiting new constructions and simple extensions in the historical village and opened new construction site outside the ancient city walls for future developments. After declaration, the village has become a major destination for cultural heritage led tourism. This largely growth oriented transformation is concerning as less attention given to shift in class structure. The paper uses the concepts of rural and tourism gentrification to understand this transformation in Behramkale using empirical evidence from a longitudinal, case study approach spanning between 2000 and 2017. The longitudinal, case study documents transformation in terms of (i) demographic and socio-economic changes; (ii) conservation practice in old settlement and development of new settlement; and (iii) change in property prices and ownership. It is seen that the authentic characteristics of the landscape and traditional buildings that is being abandoned but remains desirable have led to a population influx from, bigger cities of Turkey and also other countries, purchasing these homes as a primary or secondary house. This has led to renovation of the existing buildings with an increase in the property prices and displacement of the local population to the new development area. Consequently, the conservation practice in Behramkale served merely encouraging investment in building renovation rather than a function of preserving local community. The paper contributes to limited literature on rural gentrification within the Mediterranean context.

Developments in information and communication systems, organisational structure and the nature of work have contributed to the restructuring of work environments. In these new types of work environments, employees do not have assigned workplaces. This arrangement helps organisations to minimise rent costs and increase employee interaction and knowledge exchange through mobility. This post-occupancy evaluation (POE) study focuses on a flexible office in a Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified building in Istanbul. An integrated qualitative and quantitative POE technique with occupancy tracking via barcode scanning and instant surveying has been introduced. Using this unique approach, we examined the directives/drivers in workplace choice and mobility from different perspectives. The aggregated data was used to discern work-related consequences such as flexibility, workplace choice, work and indoor environment satisfaction, place attachment and identity. The results show that employees who have a conventional working culture develop a new working style: 'fixed-flexible working'. Practitioner Summary: This paper introduces a new POE approach for flexible offices based on occupancy tracking through barcode scanning to explore workplace choice and mobility. More than half (52.1%) of the participants have tended to choose the same desk every day. However, the satisfaction level of the 'mobile' employees was higher than that of the 'fixed flexible' employees.