Analyzing the rural-urban fringe from the perspective of climate change: The case of Denizli

Climate change, which is one of the most important environmental problems of today, has a negative impact on rural and urban areas and the population groups living in these settlements. Establishing the relationship between the climate crisis, which has critical effects on the natural and built environment, economic and social structure, and the planning discipline is very important within the scope of combating climate change. For this reason, developing methods and strategies is a requisite that will guide the local level actions and address urban and rural areas holistically in the fight against climate change. Based on this need, this thesis aims to address urban and rural areas with a holistic approach in the fight against climate change and to reveal the role of the rural-urban fringe in the fight against climate change. In line with this, the rural-urban fringe, which is considered as an important transition area, is focused on, and its problems and potentials are investigated through the example of Denizli rural-urban fringe. The research questions to answer are determined as ''What are the vulnerabilities and potentials of rural-urban fringes in combating climate change?'' and ''How can rural-urban fringes be planned in adaptation to the climate?''. First, a set of indicators has been prepared to evaluate the potential to adapt to climate change and the rural-urban fringe of Denizli has been defined. Then, field studies have been carried out by focusing on the determined sub-region over the rural-urban fringe. Through spatial observation and in-depth interviews, the spatial and current situation of the rural-urban fringe has been identified, its problems and potentials have been analyzed and climate compatible planning strategies have been discussed. As a result of the study, it has been revealed that the most important risk in the rural-urban fringe is that spatial, social, ecological problems and climatic risks have become more evident with the transformation of natural and rural areas into urban areas, and that the prominent potential is an important area for a development model compatible with nature and climate in line with ecological approaches such as nature-based planning solutions and green infrastructure planning. As a result, a planning approach for climate-resilient, nature-compatible, sustainable, high quality of life and healthy rural-urban environments has been provided through the investigation of rural-urban fringe of Denizli. This study presents a new approach to the rural-urban fringe from the perspective of climate change and defines a general framework for how the issue of climate change can be included in strategic-spatial planning.