Water sensitive spatial planning in terms of sustainable stormwater management: The case of Bornova Stream Catchment (Izmir), Turkey

ABSTRACT

Sustainable stormwater management in developing countries requires more research, and budget compared to developed countries. Runoff measurement in small urban watersheds is often not carried out; city plans are made without much consideration of the effect of runoff.

In this study, the effect of land use decisions on the surface runoff was assessed using land use change scenarios in an urban catchment located in Izmir, Turkey. Answers to the following two questions were sought: (1) how the runoff will be affected if the city plan decisions currently in use are implemented and (2) whether it is possible to control the runoff in an urban catchment by developing rational, sustainable planning suggestions based on water.

The main novelty of this study is to show the importance of the maquis cover, as well as the permeability of the built-up environment and the existence of open spaces in lower catchments are vital in meeting the runoff.

KEYWORDS:

• Stormwater management
• Bornova Stream Catchment
• The Slope Integrated Cn Calculation Method
• land use/cover changes
• water sensitive planning

Acknowledgements

This article is extracted from doctorate dissertation entitled “Landscape Planning Recommendations in terms of Sustainable Stormwater Management: The Case of Bornova Stream Catchment”, (Ph.D. Dissertation, Ege University, Izmir, 2019), which was supported by the Ege University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit under Grant (14-ZRF-043). The authors would like to thank Landscape Architect Valerie Ahyong (PLA, LEED AP ND) and Cody Evers (PhD, Research Associate in Department of Environmental Science and Management Portland State University) for their diligent proofreading of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ege University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit [14-ZRF-043].