Vulnerability of coastal areas to climate change: planning reconsidered at the case of Fethiye-Göcek special environmental protection area

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2017
Atasoy Özdemir, Yüksel
Climate-induced natural hazards are threatened more human lives and natural assets than ever before which are especially concentrated in coastal areas. Lowlying coastal areas will be exposed to the unprecedented risk from sea-level rise, storm surges or other sea-ward hazards as these areas are complex socio-ecological systems and most vulnerable places to climate change because of their attractiveness of various human activities such as recreational facilities, residential needs, and economic activities. To strengthen the resilience of coastal areas, potential vulnerabilities and their levels are needed to be defined clearly. Spatial planning is a crucial instrument that plays a critical role in the development of resilient systems at various levels as an effective tool for climate change adaptation response. The hypothesis in this thesis is that planning for coastal areas has to incorporate vulnerability assessment methods to mitigate effects of climate change and induce sustainable development of coastal areas. The thesis contributes to the literature on planning for coastal areas by introducing discussions on crucial factors for assessment of vulnerabilities of coastal areas and summarising methods used for vulnerability assessment of coastal areas on the climate change. The major contribution however is an integrated assessment method is proposed. Fethiye-Göcek coastal area. Fethiye-Göcek SEPA is selected as the case study area to evaluate its coastal vulnerabilities by considering the years 2000 and 2016 comparatively, based on four dimensions (socio-economic, natural systems, built environment and infrastructure) and to provide a new perspective on the coastal areas’ planning.

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Citation Formats
Y. Atasoy Özdemir, “Vulnerability of coastal areas to climate change: planning reconsidered at the case of Fethiye-Göcek special environmental protection area,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2017.