Residents’ Perceptions of Riverine Landscape Changes; Case Study of Beykoz Stream/ Istanbul

Authors : Sahar POUYA, Fatma AYÇİM TÜRER BAŞKAYA

Pages : 253-266

Doi:10.18038/aubtda.336959

View : 18 | Download : 9

Publication Date : 2018-03-31

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Residents are an inevitable part of any urban plan and knowing about their perceptions is a key factor to change the urban areas. This issue is of greater importance in urban river enhancement projects, as the rivers are associated with various economic, cultural, and social issues of the residents. The main goal of the present research is to assess riverine landscape of Beykoz in Istanbul after bearing tremendous changes. The riverine landscape is surveyed considering the natural features, physical elements, and the people’s perception in particular. The main part is based on interview with the local residents to achieve their comments about the stream changes and the ecological and cultural memory related the stream. The results indicated that there is valuable information in perception of the residents about natural corridors like the streams that should be evaluated before any restorative operation. Changing the stream channel and its bank with no care of the residents’ dimension will disturb the place identity, valuable belongingness, and the unique meanings associated with the rivers. Visual access to the stream, the stream’s natural landscape with native vegetation, its biodiversity, its sound and color are the factors that should be maintained during the urban development projects.
Keywords : Riverine Landscape, Residents preference, Perception, Evaluation