The investigation of the effects of green areas to the quality of urban life case of the city of Bolu

Quality of life is a concept that expresses the degree of satisfaction of people's living conditions and the environment they live in. The most important component of the quality of urban life, which is handled by various professions, in terms of landscape architecture profession are green areas. Green areas are one of the most important elements that provide a livable environment, high quality of life and a healthy city formation in today's speed of urbanization. The distribution of the green spaces as well as their sufficiency in terms of size, systematic planning of their functional and aesthetic qualities are crucial. Research has shown that the quality of life, productivity and efficiency of people are high in areas where urban green areas are sufficient. In the scope of this research, literature studies related to the green areas, quality of life and study areas were conducted. Green areas has been evaluated by analyzing the current situation in Bolu city center. In this context, Bolu province; 43 districts within the municipal boundaries has been taken into consideration and children's playgrounds has been calculated as a whole with the neighborhood parks because they are located within. As a result of the research conducted on the neighborhood basis, 146 parks were identified within the boundaries of the municipality. The amount of green space per person in the city center of Bolu was determined as 2.79 m2 and it was found to be insufficient compared to the 3.5 m2 (1.5 m2/person children's playground, 2 m2/person neighborhood park) active green area standard specified in "Revisions of Master Plan" published in the official newspaper dated 02.09.1999 and numbered 23804. The main purpose of the study is to determine the user expectations and satisfaction levels of the green areas in neighborhoods with different characteristics of Bolu city. For this purpose, 400 surveys were conducted in selected Damgacıoğlu, Alpagut Neighborhood Park 1 and Muhtarlar Parks. Demographic characteristics, social relations and green area usage characteristics of the urban population were determined by questionnaire application. Most of the participants have stated that the green areas in the city and its surroundings have positive effects on urban quality of life. In order to improve the quality of urban life in Bolu, attention should be drawn to the preservation and improvement of the existing green area of the city, its infrastructure development and it is pointed out that new areas must be planned systematically to be able reach the country standards of green area amount per person.