Public space networks as a guide to sustainable urban development and social life: A case study of Mugla, Turkey
Articles > Article · 2006
Authors: Şerif HEPCAN, Adnan KAPLAN, Bulent Ozkan, Erhan Vecdi KÜÇÜKERBAŞ, Emine MALKOÇ TRUE, Hatice SÖNMEZ TÜREL
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND WORLD ECOLOGY, Journal Indexed in SCI Expanded, International, 2006, vol 13, pp 375-389
DOI: 10.1080/13504500609469687
Summary
This study examines the possibility of designating and implementing a citywide public space network, constituted of randomly dispersed and not interrelated public spaces and greenways across the city of Mugla. Although Mugla is a major coastal province, with worldwide tourism districts, the city centre falls behind other settlements in terms of quality of social life, physical layout, economic investment and tourism revenue. In 2001, the local government commissioned the Department of Landscape Architecture of Ege University to prepare a comprehensive master plan towards achieving a corporate public space network, as well as development strategies to ameliorate the previous failures. The master plan developed a blueprint for the city-wide network and addressed each existing or potential public space and greenway as integrated components of the network. The process involved short-, medium- and long-term action from the local government to achieve the physical layout and efficiently implement phases of the network. As a guide for other small or medium urban settlements in Turkey, a model proposal was derived from the study to address formulation, implementation, and management of the network in order to create a sustainable urban development.