Urban life quality as an approach to sustainability: the case of Duzce city

Abstract

Cities have been becoming unhealthy since the industrial revolution due to dense immigration, environmental disruption, the increase of motor vehicles, insufficiencies in infrastructure etc., and have long lost their habitability. Along with the concepts of modernism and sustainability, different suggestions and approaches have been presented in order to increase the quality of life and solve the social problems within cities. Duzce city, the authors study area, is located in between two metropolitan cities – Istanbul and Ankara – and exhibits ecosystem richness, as well as biological diversity. However, as a result of the rapid urbanization after the disastrous earthquake in 1999, the structure of the society has changed and the natural environment has become subject to environmental degradation. Hence, this study aims to evaluate urban quality perception with reference to the socio-cultural differences of city inhabitants and develop suggestions for sustainable planning. Subjective indicators of physical environment, one of the components of urban life quality, have been considered as the main issue in determining the perception of urban quality. In this scope, oral interviews were conducted with 471 people from 48 neighborhoods. Stratified random sampling was used for the representation of each neighborhood due to its population. A physical environmental quality scale that was used for oral interviews consisted of 24 items, and seven factor groups were obtained in the factor analysis by using SPSS software. Relationships between factors and socio-demographic structure were tested by one way ANOVA and t-tests. As a result, by considering both the differences and expectations of all social groups living in Duzce, and the present conditions of the city, various planning and design solutions and suggestions have been developed for improving the sustainability of the city.