Analyzing the pattern and connectivity of urban green spaces: A case study of Izmir, Turkey

The primary concerns in this study were to quantify the connectivity and green space pattern using landscape metrics (PLAND, NP, AREA_MN and CONNECT) in the central districts of the city of Izmir. The primary research materials included thirteen 1:25,000 scale standard topographical maps and IKONOS satellite image with 1 m resolution. The PLAND scores revealed that while the urban fabric occupied almost 26 % of the study area, the urban green spaces covered only 1.45 %. This was also the lowest score in proportion to the areas of other land-use/cover classes. Furthermore, the results of NP and MPS indicated that the configuration of urban green spaces was very patchy and highly fragmented. Likewise, using CONNECT, the overall connectivity score of urban green spaces was 0.12, which was the lowest score of all areas measured the metrics. The Güzelbahçe district seemed to hold the most promise for connectivity, with a CONNECT score of 3.75. On the other hand, the Bornova district presented the least promising case in terms of connectivity, with a score of 0.59. In the study area, the correlations between the size of the districts/built-up areas and the CONNECT scores of the urban green spaces were found to be “non-significant” (P < 0.01). The ultimate goals were to increase the amount of systematically planned urban green spaces and set up a green infrastructure in Izmir. In the case of Izmir, a master planning approach, which uses a systematic and comprehensive method to guide urban green spaces, is necessary to develop planning and design strategies for fully functional and multi-purpose urban green space systems.