Page 57 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 2

Hayriye Eşbah Tunçay

Introduction

Water is an element that gradually diminishes and as a resource that is
hard to manage, reminds us of the importance of living more responsibly
in a world struggling with climate change of the 21 cn. For this reason, an
st
important number of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals included in the
2030 Sustainable Development Report issued by the United Nations in 2015
are directly or indirectly concerns water. The sixth of these goals mentions
the existence of water and sanitation for everyone and their sustainable
management. The fourteenth goal, on the other hand, stresses the importance
of protecting the oceans, seas and ocean resources and utilize them in a
sustainable manner. The thirteenth sustainable development goal emphasizes
the need for urgent action to fight climate change and its effects. In addition,
it reveals the need for protecting natural areas as well as rendering cities
sustainable. Thus the twelfth UN development goal refers to the importance
of taking precautions that will render the target cities and human settlements
more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
As the frequency and effects of disasters and shocks that we have to deal
with keeps increasing, creating inhabitable cities is an undeniable issue.
For this reason, many cities have to rebuild and question the relationships
they form with water in planning and design stages. Cities are complex
socio-ecological systems. In cities where nature and built environment are in
harmony with each other, social, physical and economic conditions support
each other in a sustainable relationship (Eşbah, 2021). People living in a
healthier environment will affect not only economic, but also ecological and
social structure positively. An indispensable element of life, water has a much
more importance than ever in forming this environment. Today, over 50% of
the world population live in the cities. However, according to Batty (2013),
the world population will rise till 2100 and will start to fall as the cities will
no longer be livable. If it is assumed that the effects of climate change will
gradually increase, it is undeniable that future cities need to be more resilient
and offer higher standards of living.
Climate change brought about an extension in the periods of drought and
heat, which poses important threats in terms of supplying cities with water, and
providing sustainable agricultural production and wildlife. Drought is becoming
a growing threat for our country (Kadıoğlu, 2019). This brings about a need
for decreasing water waste, supporting water cycle and putting alternative
water resources into use in our cities. Due to some anthropogenic issues in our
cities, certain problems that are hard to deal with, such as low quality of water,
pollution, saltiness, eutrophication, and mucilage have emerged recently. In
order to preserve and improve water quality, it is necessary to identify the

43 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate