Çeper Kuşakların Kamusal ve Ekolojik Değeri: İzmir Askeri Alanlar Örneği

The fringe belt concept that has been handled morphologically by urban geographers since the 1960s, has recently gained increasing attention in the urban planning and design spheres. Fringe belt areas, which was embedded in the city by the urban growth still contain the peripheral land uses that are important for urban ecology and sustainable urban development. The fringe belt concept is crucial in order to grasp the location, function and the significance of the fringe belts to see the effects of different planning approaches on these areas. Fringe belts often feature as urban heritages and ecological corridors and create a buffer zone that protects natural areas against the negative effects of the city. In addition, they reduce the urban heat island effect by their frequent use of open and green areas. Yet, due to the rapid urbanization and the search for the empty lands, fringe belts embedded within the city center and its surroundings are exposed to alienation. Fringe belt alienation should be seen as one of the basic problems of the urban development. This study focuses on the military areas that form a part of the fringe belts of Izmir as a response to the predictions that the military areas will be moved out of the city in the near future; evaluates the effects of their open green areas on urban ecology and the public interest and suggests urban fringe belt planning against the possible alienation risks.