Impact of urbanization and tourism on coastal environment

Abstract

Turkey has been affected by urbanization like other Mediterranean countries since its very first years of development, with a rate increasing from 18.5% in 1950 to about 62% after 2000 (istanbul ve Goc Konferansi Bildiri Kitabi, Bogazici ve Mimar Sinan Universitesi, 1995, p.1.). Cities with already inadequate infrastructure facilities have to face congested population problems coupled with illegal settlements due to migration from the eastern part of the country to the western large metropolises. Smaller coastal settlements have become increasingly urbanized as a result of legislative and institutional incentives to encourage tourism investment. Construction of hotels and secondary housing cooperatives has exploded as a result of unearned and real income expectations to the detriment of fertile land, creating aesthetic pollution and loss of tangerine and olive orchards.