Urban Public Spaces, Public Health, and Heavy Metal Pollution Threatening in Ankara City Center: Strategies for Urban Planning

Abstract

In the last century, worldwide population growth and concentration in urban areas cause many problems, especially in the central areas of metropolitan cities. One of these problems is air pollution it reduces the quality of life of the citizens and threatens public health. Among the components of air pollution, heavy metals are the most dangerous because they accumulate in metabolism, some of them are toxic and poisonous even at low concentrations, and they are deadly for human health at high concentrations. Studies on the determination of air pollution are limited to revealing the current situation and do not offer solutions for urban planning. In this context, the accumulation of copper elements, which is extremely dangerous for public health, in plants located in the city center was investigated by using landscape plants as a tool in the research. Within the scope of the study, the change of copper concentration in five plant species grown in areas with no traffic, less dense, and dense areas were investigated. As a result of the research, the increase in the concentration of copper in the air due to traffic has been revealed statistically. The research emphasizes the relationship between heavy metal pollution, which poses a serious threat to public health, and urban planning, and reveals the basic strategies in terms of urban planning.

Assessment of Afforestation Activities in Thrace Region using Some Oak (Quercus sp.) Varieties

“…Phenotypic traits of all living organisms are shaped by genetic structure [17][18][19] and environmental conditions [20]. Environmental conditions consist primarily of climatic [21,22] and edaphic [23] conditions. Indeed, when evaluated for the current actual structure, it can be stated that the edaphic conditions, which are one of the important ecological factors for the development of oak species from the early years, as in all plants, do not pose significant problems or create a significant development and adaptation issue for oak afforestation areas.…”

The feasibility of using annual rings to monitor changes in boron concentrations in air

“…It is effective on nucleic acid and protein metabolism. It plays a role in the replacement of sugars within the plant [10]. However, B is also a heavy metal [11].…”

“…Symptoms then spread to the leaf margins and midrib. Leaves take a burnt appearance and fall off early [10]. Boron is used in more than 250 areas of industry, including construction, health, ceramics, ceramics, glass, cleaning, metallurgy, metallurgy, aerospace and aeronautics, as it increases the physical, chemical and technological properties of the materials it is a component of due to its ability to compound with organic and inorganic materials [12].…”

“…Studies have shown that heavy metals, even those necessary as nutrients for living organisms, are harmful to health at high concentrations [13][14][15]. Especially heavy metals inhaled from the air can cause many health problems and even death in humans [16][17][18][19][20].…”

Determination of the Changes in Airborne Ba and Mn Concentrations in Düzce City Center in the Last 40 Years with the Help of Cedrus atlantica Annual Rings

“…While the proportion of the population living in urban areas worldwide was 9% in the 1900s, it is around 50% today and is estimated to reach 90% in 2030 [1,2]. Urban areas have many problems, and the most critical problems in these areas are environmental pollution, especially air pollution [3][4][5][6], which causes more than 7 million people to die worldwide yearly [7].…”