Page 29 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 2

Elif Özlem Aydın

Based on the principle of sustainability, planning, modelling and typology
approaches where ecological components are effective in the spatial and
functional reconstruction of cities have been discussed since the 1990s
(Yanarella and Levine, 1992; Breheny, 1992; Haughton, 1997; Jabareen, 2006;
Finco and Nijkamp, 2001; Barbosa et al, 2014). It is possible to say that the main
goals of these approaches depend on socio-cultural, economic, environmental
and institutional elements such as minimizing the use of private cars, creating
a production-consumption-waste balance, adopting energy conservation
models, preserving wildlife areas, minimizing ecological footprints, making
socio-cultural and socio-economic infrastructure opportunities widely
available for the use of all sections of the society, and thus, reducing urban
deprivation and poverty (Niemela, 1999; Diepen and Voogd, 2001; Naes,
2001). When these discussions and models are taken into consideration, it
seems necessary to develop sustainable urban/rural planning - sustainable
urban renewal- rural conservation strategies and action plans, and to put
these plans into practice as soon as possible and increase their use. This is
especially important for maintaining the balance of construction and reducing
environmental issues.
Settlement resilience is closely related to sustainability. For this reason,
construction practices that lead to negative effects on the environment and
are largely responsible for the energy consumption should be reconsidered
in terms of sustainability. It is important to reconsider sustainability to
provide solutions to the problems through all the phases of the construction
cycle, namely, the production of sustainable construction materials, the
transportation of construction materials, the construction phase, use-
maintenance phase and demolotion phase. Traditional settlements that can
be defined as resilient must be analyzed in terms of land preservation and
ecological values as well as energy, water and material conservation, and the
eco-friendly, resilient aspects of these structures should be identified. Based
on these findings, sustainable construction criteria should be developed to suit
a variety of geological, geographical, environmental and climatic conditions
in different settlements. For this reason, it seems especially important to
study the traditional textures in danger of disappearing, examine the design/
construction features of these textures, and identify the adaptable features
that can inform modern practices.
It is possible to create settlements that are sensitive and resilient to
environmental and climatic issues through sustainable planning and
construction. Taking relevant measures rapidly worldwide will prevent future
environmental disasters.

15 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate