Monitoring and analyzing land use/land cover changes in a developing Coastal Town: A case study of Kusadasi, Turkey

Kusadasi is one of the most famous tourism centers in Turkey and encompasses agricultural, forest, natural, and coastal areas. The town has been facing rapid urbanization owing to tourism development in the region over the last 20 years. The aim of this study is to analyze and monitor the changes in land use and land cover (LULC) in the Kusadasi urban coastal area between 1993 and 2006. To do so, we will use aerial photographs (dated August 1993) and high-resolution IKONOS (dated July 30, 2001) and QuickBird (dated July 24, 2006) satellite images. We classify LULC in the study area using manual on-screen digitizing in accordance with CORINE LULC nomenclature. Our results showed that the surface area of artificial, nonagricultural vegetated areas, arable land, permanent crops, forests, scrub, and/or herbaceous vegetation associations and open spaces with little or no vegetation decreased, whereas that of urban fabric, industrial, commercial, and transport units and mine, dump, and construction sites increased within a 13-year period. It is noteworthy that from 1993 to 2006, artificial, nonagricultural vegetated areas, permanent crops, open spaces with little or no vegetation (beaches, dunes, and sand plains) and inland waters turned into urban fabric and industrial, commercial, and transport units. One of the conclusions from the study is that, in the planning works for Kusadasi, decisions need to be made that reduce the effects of urban fabric, industrial, commercial, and transport units on artificial, nonagricultural vegetated areas and permanent crops in the coastal zone.