Planning and Implementation Problems on Izmit Coastline

Abstract

Throughout the history, being located on a coastal strip has made an immense contribution to a city’s creation of its unique identity. However, the rapid urbanization around the world has also had an impact on the coastal cities, causing some changes in their identities. As in some other coastal cities, various coastline structural readjustments in the city of Izmit have brought out many problems, especially on the city morphology and skyline. Izmit’s central location with easy access to railway, seaway and highway connections has played a key role in the rapid growth of its industry. Nevertheless, while being transformed into an industrial city, many different coastline readjustments introduced in Izmit have gradually made it lose its traditional coastal city identity. In view of this loss, the city residents’ changing use of and their satisfaction with the waterfront of the city were analyzed. In this study, a survey was conducted with 100 people living in Izmit. The participants were asked questions about accessibility to the city center, street facilities, green areas and parking areas, public transportation, pedestrian roads and the adequacy of the bicycle roads available. The results are then analyzed and discussed.