Development of urban open and green space planning guidelines: Case of Duzce

In the old days, human's perspective on nature was based on understanding and comprehending the laws of existence. In the modern period of intense urbanization along with industrialization, nature has been turned into a commodity and the nature and urban are now sharply separated from each other. Urban planning has become the action of a modernist understanding. The approaches to urban planning emerged after industrialization sought solutions to the problems of industrial cities and, generally, approaches that were formed based on forming open and green space systems were adopted. Almost 60 years of spatial planning experience in Turkey has also been shaped based on a modernist understanding. The physical planning approach, which has a modernist framework, is based on the maintenance of the existing, parcellation and standard settlement schemes. At that, the sustainability of landscape as a system and open and green spaces, which is a sub-system of landscape, and thus the cities, has become more difficult. Furthermore, deficiencies/inconsistencies regarding the definition, classification and the standards of the open and green spaces in the housing legislations, and the deficiencies in the administrative structures complicate the planning of open and green spaces in a systematic manner. From this point of view, there is a need for a guideline in Turkey that includes strategies and standards to ensure that open and green spaces are handled in a holistic and effective manner. The study area, Düzce has become a province after the earthquake in 1999 and has entered a rapid development process. However, due to the non-sustainable design of spatial planning, the open and green spaces in the city are unable to fulfill the needs of the city. At this point, a guideline proposal is developed in the study for the inventory, analysis and synthesis studies on open and green space systems. In this guideline, according to the urban character and urbanization degree (urban density), open and green space strategies are presented. Furthermore, the classification of the open and green spaces is redefined and, accordingly, new standards are proposed. These standards are grouped in three groups as ecological, recreational and natural disasters. The study area is evaluated in accordance with the framework of the guideline and some analyses (land cover change, surface flow, connectivity, access) are carried out. The strategies and standards have developed in the guideline are implemented in the Düzce city center and suggestions and bases regarding the open and green space system are presented. As a result, this guideline is foreseen to supply the open and green space requirements of the city, urban ecosystem and citizen.