Purpose This research proposes that the property rights in the title deeds records in an urban setting merit investigation to decode the unknown urban grammar of the order of historic Islamic-Ottoman ...urban forms which have consisted invisible links between the creation of urban form and its inhabitants. Design/Methodology/Approach This consideration of how an urban form is created and regulated according to property rights is a subject that has to date not been investigated like in this way by analyzing the archive materials and records in the title deeds and cadastral plans in a specific urban form. Accordingly, the hypothesis of this inquiry is focused on defining the relationships between property rights and urban form, which will help to reveal the hidden and intimate norms-regulations of the context. This will also help in the making of an objective analysis through information gathered from primary legal written and graphical sources –title deeds and cadastral plans– for a subjective issue. This research, therefore, suggest that the property rights and its urban grammar are not only one of the important factors in the formation of urban form, but important aspects in understanding the dialectic relations between formation and persistence of urban form and features. Findings The research findings can be group into two headings: literature review and case-study research. The literature review findings focusing on the analogy which is firstly used and defined in this research as a philosophical tool to explain the rules and rights related to property, and their role in managing the process of growth and shaping the urban form under the main tangible and intangible aspects. The case study research findings relying on Antakya historic urban form under the influence of property rights and presenting original analysis relied on original archive documents and site surveys. Accordingly, it concentrates on evaluations for decoding the unknown historic urban grammar of Antakya and presents original findings of the research. Research Limitations/Implications The research uses historical interpretive and case-study research methodologies in the limitations and implications of urban form and conservation studies. Practical Implications Increased knowledge on the influence of property rights and its order on formation of historic urban forms. The case-study part of this research demonstrated that the property rights an important aspect for considering how inhabitants created an urban form. Social Implications This research helps to understand the intimate values of urban forms by an objective and reliable analysis. It also helps to define social and/or moral values of historical urban form. Originality/Value This research firstly revealed the property rights that have major implications for understanding the formation and persistence of every single component of Antakya historic urban form. Therefore, it deserves greater consideration in urban studies such as urban morphology and conservation in order to make holistic assessments.
Heritage conservation in urban areas involves complex systems often faced with the dilemmas of maintaining the built form’s historical character, improving infrastructure, and managing development ...through stakeholder cooperation. At present, the performance of any conservation project is solely vested in conserving the built fabric. Evaluation tools for urban heritage conservation projects do not have provisions for measuring the subjective value of stakeholders who are part of the heritage setting. This study tries to identify and prioritise the factors that need to be considered when developing a conservation project performance assessment model for an urban heritage conservation project from the perspective of experts that can be further evaluated from the perspective of stakeholders. As these complex systems can be better viewed in the context of developing countries, the case of India is adopted. From a literature review, factors that contribute to the outcome of an urban heritage conservation project were identified and categorised into six aspects: the physical, social, economic, cultural, political, and continuity aspects. Through an expert survey, the factors that constituted each aspect were filtered using the feature selection method of correlation to avoid factors that may seem related. The factors under each aspect were ranked using a weighted average ranking method to identify the most prioritised factors determining the outcome of an urban heritage conservation project. The priority weights of the aspects were calculated using Saaty’s analytic hierarchy process. The results show that the cultural aspect was the most important aspect, followed by the continuity aspect. The social and physical aspects were prioritised similarly, followed by the economic and political aspects. This study is distinctive because it identifies the influential factors that can help develop a conservation project performance assessment model for an urban heritage conservation project.
This paper examines the conservation history of the Ankara Acropolis, today named 'Hacı-Bayram District', and the spatial change in this historic environment linked to the development of urban ...conservation since the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923. We drew upon archival research such as old maps, aerial images, former analyses, technical plans and project reports, legal decisions by conservation boards and a field survey to illustrate the morphological change triggered by conservation attempts. Hacı-Bayram District is a unique heritage site located in the old town of Ankara, the capital of Turkey, and has a symbolic square in which religious histories co-exist through the Augustus Temple and Hacı-Bayram Veli Mosque on top of the city's ancient Acropolis. This historic district was one of the first in which urban conservation and development projects were implemented, during the construction of the modern Turkish capital, and has witnessed dramatic transformation, in the name of urban renewal. The findings of this study demonstrate an exceptional spatial representation of changing concepts of conservation in line with the Turkish planning system.
Wildlife are increasingly being found in urban habitats, and likely rely on some resources in suburban household yards, which exposes them to the effects of yard management and human and pet ...activities. We compared the relationships between these potential disturbances and benefits to the number of different types of wildlife sighted by householders, using written surveys. Owing to the inability of many household respondents to identify animals to the species or genus level, each different ‘type’ of animal individually listed was counted to generate the total number of types of wildlife observed by each household. We found that relatively more types of wildlife were observed by residents whose yards provided ease of faunal access under or through fences, had reduced pesticide use, increased levels of anthropogenic noise, and increased presence of pets in yards. The latter two associations likely relate to the increased opportunities to observe wildlife in yards that each creates. We also investigated the use of yards by wildlife and domestic pets in open compared to more vegetated habitats by day and night, using motion-sensor cameras. All animals observed were compared to the activity of introduced brown and black rats (Rattus norvegicus, R. rattus), owing to their wild origins but long commensal history with humans. Camera images indicated that animals’ natural activity periods were maintained in yards. Brown antechinuses (Antechinus stuartii), northern brown bandicoots (Isoodon macrourus), domestic cats (Felis catus) and native birds (species as listed below) each preferred sheltered or vegetated habitats over open habitats, when compared to the introduced rats that showed little habitat preference. However, unlike the other species, the native birds used open areas more than vegetated or sheltered areas when compared within their group only. The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) was observed to use open areas comparatively more than the introduced rats, but used vegetated or sheltered habitats more when compared to self only. The domestic dog (Canis familiaris) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) used open areas more than vegetated or sheltered areas, when compared to the introduced rats, and against themselves. This indicated a level of coping with urban stressors by the native animals, but with a reliance on more vegetated habitats to allow for natural stress-relieving behaviours of escape or hiding. Here, we offer insights into how each of these findings may be used to help educate and motivate increased household responsibility for urban wildlife conservation.
Urban areas differ from natural habitats in several environmental features that influence the characteristics of animals living there. For example, birds often start breeding seasonally earlier and ...fedge fewer offspring per brood in cities than in natural habitats. However, longer breeding seasons in cities may increase the frequency of double-brooding in urban compared with nonurban populations, thus potentially increasing urban birds' annual reproductive output and resulting in lower habitat difference in reproductive success than estimated by studies focusing on first clutches only. In this study, we investigated 2 urban and 2 forests great tit Parus major populations from 2013 to 2019. We compared the probability of double-brooding and the total number of annually fedged chicks per female between urban and forest habitats, while controlling for the effects of potentially confounding variables. There was a trend for a higher probability of double-brooding in urban (44% of females) than in forest populations (36%), although this was not consistent between the 2 urban sites. Females produced significantly fewer fedglings annually in the cities than in the forest sites, and this difference was present both within single- and double-brooded females. Furthermore, double-brooded urban females produced a similar number of fedglings per season as single-brooded forest females. These results indicate that double-brooding increases the reproductive success of female great tits in both habitats, but urban females cannot effectively compensate in this way for their lower reproductive output per brood. However, other mechanisms like increased post-fedging survival can mitigate habitat differences in reproductive success.
The Balıbey district, analyzed in the scope of this paper, is one of the important surviving districts of the area. This district of importance with its plan schemes, building materials, construction ...techniques and beautiful large vegetable gardens, was approved as the Şile Central Urban Site and a 1st and 2nd degree natural conservation site area by the Second Board for the Conservation of Cultural and Natural Heritage of Istanbul with its resolution dated 01.28.1992 and numbered 2796. Urban space analyses were made through field surveys in order to document the present situation, identify the problems, assess the potentials and recommendations were also developed to reveal these potentials. All the buildings in Balibey district of the urban conservation site were examined, the analysis maps prepared in 1/1000 scale were synthesized and proposal maps were prepared. The present situation has been documented, and recommendations have been presented by silhouette studies plans in 1/200 scale conducted on ‘Cami Street’ the most well-preserved axis of the district. The plans, façade and building materials of the buildings that preserved their originality were considered on a single building scale and classified according to their typology. By mentioning the legal process, suggestions were developed in order to resolve the problems which arise from interaction between the whole district and the work area in Şile, where conservation plan and reconstruction plan do not coalesce. In this work, the aim was to identify the path to be followed for the gentrification of the Balibey District Urban Site Area integrated with the city as a whole, keeping its characteristics and original inhabitants to be handed to future generations.
Urban community gardens are potentially important sites for urban pollinator conservation because of their high density, diversity of flowering plants, and low pesticide use (relative to agricultural ...spaces). Selective planting of attractive crop plants is a simple and cost-effective strategy for attracting flower visitors to urban green spaces, however, there is limited empirical data about which plants are most attractive. Here, we identified key plant species that were important for supporting flower visitors using a network-based approach that combined metrics of flower visitor abundance and diversity on different crop species. We included a metric of ‘popularity’ which assessed how frequently a particular plant appeared within community gardens. We also determined the impact of garden characteristics such as size, flower species richness, and flower species density on the abundance and diversity of flower visitors. Two plant species,
Brassica rapa
and
Ocimum basilicum
were identified as being particularly important species for supporting flower visitor populations. Flower species richness had a strong positive effect on both the abundance and diversity of flower visitors. We suggest that gardeners can maximise the conservation value of their gardens by planting a wide variety of flowering plants including attractive plants such as
B. rapa
and O.
basilicum
.
Roaming domestic cats (
Felis catus
) are recognised as a threat to wildlife globally. Yet management of pet cats in urbanised areas is not regularly mandated, and management of feral cats in ...urbanised areas is rarely implemented. Mounting evidence emphasises the value of urban environments as hot spots of wildlife activity, which as the human population continues to grow may become the best or only habitats available to some wildlife species. Wildlife in urban environments must navigate introduced stressors that can compound with natural stressors. Additional, often novel, predators such as free-roaming pet and feral cats that are prevalent in urban environments could have high nonconsumptive fear/stress impacts on urban wildlife that influence their activity and adversely affect their health and reproduction capabilities, possibly more so than direct predation effects do. Cat roaming activity, particularly that of pet cats, could be managed with the support of the community, though motivation needs to be ensured. Understanding if roaming cat activity influences urban wildlife activity
via
perceived fear/stress impacts will help to build community motivation for the need for domestic cat management in urbanised areas. Using infrared motion sensor cameras positioned in both yards and green space edge habitats, we observed whether the presence and times active of native and introduced small mammals, and native birds, were impacted by domestic cat activity within a 24-h period and by their activity in the prior-24-h period. We found evidence of cat roaming activity during the hours of most wildlife activity, and show that wildlife navigated “landscapes of fear” relative to cat activity, as wildlife observed across a 24-h period increased their activity in the absence of cats in the same 24-h period and in the previous 24-h period. We also tested if cat activity was relative to previous cat activity, or disturbances, and found that cats reduced activity in response to each, but were still consistently present. Our results provide justification for the need to increase management of domestic cats in urbanised areas and offer fear/stress impacts as a novel approach to engender community support of such management.
In the process of urbanization and globalization, urban conservation reinforces the links among past, present, and future, which enhances local identity and is indispensable for urban sustainability. ...The concept of Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), as both a notion and an approach, has been playing an increasingly important role in urban conservation discourse. Prioritizing actions is one of the pivotal procedures to perform the HUL approach. Instead of simply focusing on values selected and graded by experts, more attention should be paid to local residents’ satisfaction. A collaborative approach involving communities to prioritize actions in urban conservation and regeneration is proposed. Using the data from residents in the old town of Dandong, China, this study pioneers the application of the Asymmetric Impact-Performance Analysis (AIPA) technique in the urban conservation field. HUL attributes are categorized into basic factors, excitement factors, and performance factors based on their potential asymmetric impact on residents’ satisfaction. By taking performance levels of the attributes into consideration, this study further identifies improvement priorities for HUL, which helps planners and city managers to make rational choices in managing historic cities.
The Incidence Function Model (IFM) has been put forward as a tool for assessing conservation plans. A key benefit of the IFM is low data requirements: widely available species occurrence data and ...information about land cover. Citizen science is a promising source of such data; however, to use these data in the IFM there are typically two problems. First, the spatial resolution is too coarse, but existing approaches to downscaling species data tend not to extend to patch level (as required by the IFM). Second, widely available citizen science data typically report species' presences only. We devise ten different downscaling methods based on theoretical ecological relationships (the species–area relationship and the distance decay of similarity), and test them against each other. The better performing downscaling methods were based on patch area, rather than distance from other occupied patches. These methods allow data at a coarse resolution to be used in the IFM for comparing conservation management and development plans. Further field testing is required to establish the degree to which results of these new methods can be treated as definitive spatially-explicit predictions. To address the issue of false absences, we present a method to estimate the probability that all species have been listed (and thus that a species' absence from the list represents a true absence), using the species-accumulation curve. This measure of confidence in absence helps both to objectively identify a habitat network for fitting the IFM, and to target areas for further species recording.
•We identify citizen science as a promising source of data to fit the incidence function model for use in landscape-scale conservation planning.•We present a method for downscaling coarse-grain data to patch level based on theoretical ecological relationships.•We present a method to attach a confidence of survey completeness to each grid square.
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