The Importance of Habitable Areas in Urban Design
Sema Karagüler, Bengi KorgavuşWhen making urban design settlement plans, decisions about which areas can be opened for habitation should demonstrate compliance not only with the principles of planning disciplines but also with fundamental legislation regarding suitability for zoning. In the discipline of planning, when conducting threshold analysis to determine habitable areas, all factors influencing the region are considered separately as artificial and natural thresholds. However, when evaluated in the context of the emerging conditions of our time, this issue becomes even more significant.
Indeed, the suitability of land for habitation in the planning domain can be presented with an approach that prioritises today’s important concepts and developments, such as natural disasters, public interest, nature conservation, ecology, and sustainability, while considering the relevant disciplinary and legal regulations. In contemporary urban design, it is increasingly essential to create appropriate habitable solutions based on the geographical, geological, historical, cultural, and functional physical characteristics of the settlement, as well as new concepts such as climate change, disasters, technological hazards, and planetary protection, while also adhering to existing legal sanctions.
This study explains the concept of habitable areas and the factors associated with them, outlining the principles for determining habitable areas based on each factor.