The Temporal Analysis of the Effects of Urbanization on the Land Use Change in Buyukcekmece Lake Basin

Istanbul which its population has doubled in the last a few decades, is the biggest city of Turkey drawing an important amount of migration and has placed at the middle of attention in terms of high life standards and trade in Turkey. Istanbul, with more than 12 million population at present (TUIK: 12.573.836), along with its well developed settlement and industrial areas it also has the striking examples of unplanned urbanization as a result of high population increase rate. Uncontrolled growth of cities which has been faced simultaneously at the different parts of the country has resulted in various infrastructure problems, environmental pollution, damages in ecological equilibrium, and degradation of environmental quality. One of the most prominent examples of this situation is Buyukcekmece Basin facing rapid and excessive development in Istanbul. Buyukcekmece Lake which constitutes one of the most important drinking water resources of Istanbul is experiencing rapid growth of industrial and trade centers. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of rapid urbanization on the land use variations in the study area and to indicate the threat of uncontrolled development on the Buyukcekmece Basin. In this context, the land use characteristics and the process of the land use changes in the study area will be examined regarding the Buyukcekmece Basin protection zones based on the high resolution satellite images belong to 1987 and 2007. At the end of the study, the temporal and spatial variations of the land use of the study area will be introduced.