Land use changes in Istanbul's Black Sea coastal regions between 1987 and 2007

Abstract

Recently, important land use changes have occurred in the Black Sea coastal regions of A degrees stanbul due to urban growth and population increases. The objective of this study was to determine changes in land use in the Black Sea coastal regions of A degrees stanbul between 1987 and 2007. Landsat 30 m satellite images from 1987 and 2007 are used in the study. The study area is 1000 m in width from the coastline to the land and the study has been carried out using the controlled classification method to classify areas into residential, agricultural, forest, bare land, brush/grassland, and lake/pond land classes. Land use changes between 1987 and 2007 were analysed in detail. Residential areas of the Black Sea coastal regions of A degrees stanbul increased by 122% over the two decades. Also an increase of 55% in agriculture areas was observed, while there were decreases of 26% in forest areas and 15% in free land. A 21% increase in the area of brush and grassland took place. Furthermore 79% of the study area was covered by residential areas in 2007. It is probable that pressure on the A degrees stanbul coastal regions will continue due to migraton and rapid urbanization. Therefore, Istanbul's Black Sea coastal regions should be maintained using a sustainable coastal management plan.