Evaluation of landscape performance in Beylikdüzü-İstanbul urban green areas in terms of social benefit

Deficiencies and/or inadequacies about the urban green area planning in the fast-developing metropolises in Turkey are effective on the quality of urban life. Urban green areas in modern cities are one of the most important living areas of the city in social sense. In this context, urban green areas play a determining role both in terms of quality and quantity, as well as on the quality of urban life and the level of user satisfaction. Beylikdüzü, which is selected as the study area and is a district of İstanbul Province, has gained its district status in 2009. Beylikdüzü is one of the districts in Istanbul that has been experiencing rapid urbanization. The main purpose of the thesis is to evaluate the landscape performance in terms of social benefit and determine the usage characteristics and satisfaction levels of selected 3 parks which have different characteristics as city center, coppice forest and seaside in Beylikdüzü District. The method used in the thesis consists of three basic steps. These are: (i) determining the characteristics of the parks (ii) survey evaluation for users (iii) evaluating the parks according to landscape performance criteria (functional, aesthetic, technical and ecological aspects) from the expert perspective. As a result, suggestions have been developed in Beylikdüzü District in terms of planning, design and management of urban green areas for the existing parking areas and future studies to increase the landscape performance.