GCRIS

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Gis Besed Spatial Equity Mapping and Park Provision at Neighborhood Scale: Izmir Case
(Izmir Institute of Technology, 2019) Özkan, Sevim Pelin; Şenol, Fatma
Decision making and implementation processes of allocation of neighborhood parks are significant in urban planning. Neighborhood parks contribute to the continuity of biodiversity and improvement of individual/communal physical, social and mental health. Such green public areas in the city are planned under the influence of multi-factors that do not always prioritize these significances and accessibility of these areas for various social groups. As in the case of Izmir City (Turkey), ultimately, there are spatial inequity among neighborhoods in terms of the existence of public green areas. The areas with limited size of neighborhood parks have often high percentages of children, elderly and low-income—that is the social groups that need to get access in walking distance and benefit from these areas. This study conceptualize these areas as ‘park poor’ and the potential user groups as need groups. This study argues that it is possible to develop accessible new green areas in already developed “park-poor” urban areas. Using tools of Geographic Information Systems (GISs) and relying on need-based equity approach, this study presents a GIS based procedure to assess the accessibility to existing park areas and to allocate new neighborhood parks at the neighborhood level in “park-poor” areas of Izmir (Turkey). It contributes to the discussions about the spatial equity mapping and accessibility to areas as part of environmental justice issues. Also, arguing that urban green areas are public resources, this study emphasizes that urban planning policies must re-plan neighborhood parks based on the need-based equity that favors accessibility of neighborhood parks primarily by children, elderly, women and low income groups. Moreover, this study differs greatly from earlier studies about its spatial scale of investigation and use of data. This study suggests park provision procedure in park-poor neighborhoods. To develop these at the neighborhood-level, a set of spatial-statistical analyzes are developed using GISs.
Differences in the Uses and Needs of Neighborhood Parks: a Case Study About Female Park Users in Balçova (izmir, Turkey)
(İzmir Institute of Technology, 2016) Kaştaş Uzun, İpek; Şenol, Fatma; Şenol, Fatma
Neighborhood parks as important public open green spaces are supposed to provide certain opportunities of improving physical and mental health, socializing with others and developing public expression and identity in neighborhoods. However, on the contrary to ideal definitions of public open green spaces as open and accessible to all groups of the society, in real life this “access” is not guaranteed for all, mainly due to unequal distribution of resources. Especially certain groups of the society experience urban inequalities due to unequal distribution of resources. Women is one those groups who experience urban inequalities. The aim of this thesis is to produce a comprehensive research method that adopts a need-based approach to understand underlying causes of different user groups’ park needs and uses by looking at the different experiences of women in neighborhood parks based on their park perceptions as an example. Therefore, I conducted a case study in the neighborhood parks in Balçova, İzmir, Turkey with "mixed method" as a combination of both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods. I realized detailed observations, questionnaires, structured and un-structured interviews with Balçova residents in neighborhood parks and community houses. As a result, this study contributes to the scientific literature with the produced comprehensive research method, park improvement suggestions that consider the differences in the needs and uses of neighborhood parks and a raised awareness regarding the park needs of women, especially the ones who are bound to neighborhood space with limited social and leisure activity opportunities.

Phd Degree / Doktora

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