Pedestrian spaces are important public spaces that promote, support, and improve urban public life. Generally, these spaces are created by pedestrianizing existing streets, squares, plazas, and so forth as part of overall planning. Today, such an approach is considered an important urban strategy. One of the aims of pedestrianization is to clear certain areas from vehicular traffic in order to transform them into unconstrained and safe environments. Another purpose of pedestrianization is to improve mixed-use areas to ensure better performance of their functions. This study aims to determine the quality criteria that one should take into account while creating and managing pedestrian spaces and to measure the quality level of downtown Ankara's oldest and most used nine streets. For this purpose, a two-stage questionnaire, consisting of 22 questions, was conducted. The questions were collected from related literature and similar research. The data obtained in the first stage were evaluated by factor analysis, which is a quantitative method. The findings showed that the quality criteria were grouped into five main factors: design, maintenance, activities, accessibility, and safety. The data obtained in the second stage revealed the extent that the streets in the study area met these criteria. The study's findings revealed that the streets with the highest quality level were İzmir and Yüksel streets, and the street with the lowest quality level was Bayındır Street. The research determined the pedestrian space quality criteria in general and the strengths and weaknesses of the study area in particular. The results are a guide for planners, designers, managers, and policymakers who are engaged in developing existing spaces and creating new ones.
Ecotourism development planning is a multi-criteria process that generally requires spatial analysis. GISimos MCDA model developed by this study, was presented for the first time and applied to the Kalecik sub-province of Ankara, Turkey to determine the suitable areas and their suitability levels for ecotourism development. The model is based on the evaluation of sub-factors representing the topography, land cover, climate and sociocultural characteristics of the region, with the combination of GIS and the revised Simos procedure, one of the MCDA techniques. It included a series of processes such as determining the suitability rates and weights of sub-factors, calculating the Ecotourism Suitability Index values, and overlapping them using the WLC method. The resulting values were categorized as highly suitable, moderately suitable, marginally suitable, and not suitable areas. The results of this study and the method developed will be helpful for decision-makers and planners in the study area and similar regions.
Parks are important components of the built environment in the settlements and should be designed and improved to protect the functions in the long term. The aim of this study is to develop a method that quantitates the sustainability levels of park designs. The study was carried out in three parks, namely Şehitler Park, Osman Arslan Park and Atatürk Park, in Kalecik district of Ankara. First of all, the criteria determined by the SITES rating system for the land design were examined and regulated by considering regional conditions. In this context, four main criteria, including soil and vegetation, material selection, water, human health and well-being, and 30 sub-criteria were evaluated. The Simos procedure was used to assign weight to criteria and the 5-likert scale was used to establish the suitability scores. Sustainable Landscape Design Index (SLDI) was calculated for each park and each sub-criteria with various equations. SLDI values expressing sustainability levels of parks were given and interpreted in tables and diagrams. Accordingly, one of the parks has the highest SLDI average in terms of the main criterion of the water and the other two of the soil and vegetation. SLDI values for human health and well-being are at the lowest level in all parks. When the sub-criteria were examined, it was seen that the three parks reached the highest SLDI value in three different sub-criteria, including the suitable plant use, reducing the use of wood material produced from threatened species and an efficient irrigation system, and the lowest SLDI value in the sub-criteria of providing smokeless airspace. The study revealed a comprehensive, comparable and reproducible index method that quantitates the sustainability levels of existing parks. The method is expected to be used as a measurement tool in the creation of new parks suitable for sustainable design and the renovation of existing parks.
When the types of tourism around the world are examined, it is seen that ecotourism, a type of nature tourism based on conservation, has made rapid developments. Ecotourism activities carried out in areas with geological heritage brought the concept of geotourism to the agenda. Geotourism activities, which are generally carried out in sensitive areas where protection is a priority, have led to the search for a balance of protection and use, and the concept of geopark has been accepted as the most appropriate model for this. Global networks have been established to coordinate the relationship and experience sharing among the world's geoparks. Many countries have started to establish geoparks to protect and promote their geological heritage and to make the necessary arrangements to join these networks, especially UNESCO Global Geoparks. UNESCO has determined some criteria for a geopark to receive the title of global geopark. Geoparks are a part of geotourism and geotourism is a part of ecotourism. The principle of sustainability, one of the foundations of ecotourism, is a prerequisite in many fields today. Various rating systems have been established for sustainable land designs in the world. The SITES Rating System is one of them. This study was carried out in the Pelitçik Petrified Forest, which is one of the geosites in Kızılcahamam-Çamlıdere Geopark in Ankara, which has an international geological heritage. There are a total of 23 geosites designated as stops in the geopark. Necessary landscaping arrangements were made in only a few of these. However, making and implementing landscape projects of geosites is one of the tangible steps in bringing geopark stops to science, education and geotourism, and supporting sustainable protection and development. From this point of view, a landscape application project was made in order for the Pelitçik Petrified Forest geosite to function as a geopark stop. In this study, the project was evaluated within the framework of UNESCO Global Geopark criteria and SITES Rating System. Although the landscape project alone is not sufficient for the global geopark title, it makes remarkable contributions and largely meets the sustainable design criteria.
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