Page 75 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 2

Ayça Doğaner

Introduction

There has been an upward trend in urbanization rates globally in all countries
around the world throughout history. Although the progress might be different
in developed and developing countries, urbanization trend has been on the
rise nonetheless. The fast pace of improvement, growth and development are
things that increased urbanization. It can be said that the rise in urbanization
is directly related to industrialization. Most of the economic activities and
investments are concentrated around cities.
The economic scale of cities and the increase in the standards of living they
offer have sped up the urbanization trends. In Türkiye, especially due to the
developments experienced in recent years, urbanization has gained momentum.
The urbanization rate, which was 51,2% in 1990 hit 61,3% in 2000. (Turkish
Ministry of Environment Urbanization and Climate Change, 2006: 2). In 2020, the
population living in the cities reached 76%. It is estimated that around half the
world population live urban areas, which is estimated to reach two thirds by 2050.
In Europe alone, it is seen that nearly 75% of the population live in cities (Turkish
Ministry of Environment Urbanization and Climate Change, 2022e).
The rapid surge in urban population causes cities to expand spatially. The growth
of cities, which host most of the population, causes certain problems especially
in developing countries. The developments experienced in these countries have
turned cities into places with insufficient transport and infrastructures, devoid of
developed services that a city needs, crowded areas that with a vulnerability to
disasters and other risks. For this reason, rapid urbanization has a considerable
amount of economic, social and environmental costs in the cities of these regions
(Tuğaç, 2019: 986). The general outlook of environment in Türkiye reveals that with
the spread of urbanization and industrialization, nature and natural resources are
damaged, and air, sea, water and soil pollution (Turkish Ministry of Environment
Urbanization and Climate Change, 2006: 2) The planned expansion of cities is
quite important in this respect.
The expansion of cities is one of the primary topics of importance in terms
of sustainable economic development. Nowadays, as the urban population
and the areas covered by cities grow, the threats they face increase as well.
Based on the assumption that the urban population will increase further in
the future, it is possible to say that there will be an increase in the pressure on
urban ecosystems. For this reason, there should be studies to create solutions
for the potential issues to emerge in the future, such as climate change, natural
disasters, overpopulation, water and food scarcity, and depletion of resources.
In this sense, it is really important to identify fastest and most efficient ways
to prevent relevant resources from disappearing or to minimize the emerging

61 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate