Coastline changes and Istanbul coastal landscape

The 21st century brings about coastal megacities experiencing gigantic demographic and spatial growth. This study handles Istanbul as a megacity which is examining a drastic coastal transformation due to the vast amount of coastal projects today. Indeed, it is not a pretty new issue for Istanbul to examine projects changing its coastline under the impact of urban development. Although such projects date back to 1960s, 1980s and the second half of the 2000s appear to be important breaking points which augment the volume and speed of this alteration process. Regarding the interplay between urban dynamics, coastal areas, spatial change, and sustainability, this study aims to develop sustainable landscape management strategies for Istanbul coastal megacity. By utilizing GIS technology, this study scrutinizes the spatio-temporal changes in Istanbul coastline between 1982 and 2015 and identifies the dispersion of the varying coastal projects. These projects are classified according to 4 major parameters as dispersion on the coastline, dispersion through the years, concept, and function in order to gain a multilayered understanding of the interplay between the current alteration trends and the forthcoming transformed city. Coastal megacities are open to both risks and opportunities. Therefore, it is essential to obtain a balance between environmental, socio-cultural and economic issues. This study interrogates the sustainability of coastal change in Istanbul in order to develop landscape management strategies not only for the benefit of Istanbul city but the other coastal megacities.