A research on the determination of water usage facilities of the scope of landscape design in Kocaeli's parks

In addition to being a source of life for all living things, water is also an important design element in ecological, economic, psychological, sensory (visual, auditory, touching, tasting), aesthetic and social aspects. From past to present, it has been a priority for many civilizations in agricultural activities, transportation and urban settlements. In addition, civilizations used water as a design element in the structures they built, art works and garden designs. It is still used as an important design element in urban squares and parks and gardens. In this research, fifteen parks in Kocaeli province and natural and artificially created water surfaces in these parks were determined as working materials. Evaluation forms were created to determine the current use of water elements and these forms were filled in for each water element in each park. Observations and photographs made in the field were used in filling the forms. The results were evaluated from an expert perspective. According to the results of the research; Although water is a flexible design element and offers many different design possibilities, it has been seen that it has not been utilized sufficiently. In addition to the presence of natural water in the parks, the designs as water elements have been kept very limited or have become idle due to neglect and have been canceled. Usually the same water element designs are available. Today, there is the opportunity to apply interesting and different designs by using technology. The water element designs in the city have been reviewed and it has been revealed that the existing water elements should be improved, revisions should be made and additionally appropriate water element designs should be made.