Planning the Valley Located in the City as a Recreational Area: Trabzon Toklu Valley Example

ABSTRACT Changing land use for human activities on earth creates major ecological problems, especially in cities. Growing cities move to natural areas and pose a threat to the ecosystem in order to meet the demand of the population concentrated in the cities for various reasons. Green areas, such as environmental corridors, landscape connections, wildlife corridors, or waterside buffer zones, are areas that need to be protected to protect natural areas and provide recreation opportunities. The greenway system is an important part of creating a sustainable city where the balance between protection and use is established. In order for greenway systems to function properly, both ecological and sociological data must be processed together. Today, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used in the processing of this data. Although Trabzon is a city known for its green nature, the amount of open green areas where individuals can meet their recreation needs is small. Toklu Valley, where there is less construction and destruction than other valleys in the city, is a corridor that connects the coast and the countryside. In this study, it was decided to bring various functions and activities to the area in order for Toklu Valley to maintain its ecosystem services in a healthy manner and to meet the recreational needs of the city people. After determining the types of activities, it is aimed to determine the area usage decisions by conducting conformity analysis of the determined activities with the GIS method. Thus, by making the right area usage decisions of natural areas facing the danger of construction and degradation in the city, it will be provided both to serve the recreational needs of the people of the city and to be protected for the city ecosystem.