Changing Land Cover Characteristics of a Developing Coastal Town: A Case Study of Didim, Turkey

Abstract Didim Peninsula, on the Aegean coast of Turkey, has been experiencing a relatively slow but steady social and ecological transformation since the 1990s. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism declared this area a tourism development region in 2005; thus, major investments and developments are already planned. This may negatively impact the surrounding ecologically important ecosystems in the study area. Understanding and monitoring Didim's development is necessary to guide the ministry in promoting sustainable planning and management, as well as mitigating the adverse effects on the ecosystems. The present work aims to detect land use and cover changes of the Didim Peninsula between 1994 and 2005 by using satellite images and remote sensing and geographic information system technologies. Orthorectified Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (2005) and Spot 2X (1994) images are used in the object-oriented classification. The main analytical procedures include image preprocessi...