Multi-temporal analysis of urbanisation patterns as coastal development indicators: Eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey

Abstract

Abstract Natural and anthropogenic forces on Earth create changes in biophysical characteristics of landscapes in the forms of modifications or transformations. Since landscapes are composed of spatially configured patches of different land cover types, changes in the pattern composition and configuration may be used as indicators for identifying environmental trends and their underlying causes. To this end, pattern indices hold a strong potential to conceptualize landscape structure in many different ways. This study aims to analyse landscape changes in an urbanized coastal landscape in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey using pattern indices as development indicators. For this purpose, the spatial distribution of built-up areas was extracted for the years 1989, 1995, 2001, 2007 and 2019 using geo-referenced SPOT and Sentinel images. Eight landscape structure indices were calculated to demonstrate spatial and temporal diversity of area/edge, shape and aggregation characteristics of built-up patches. These indices are (1) class area (CA), (2) percentage of landscape (PL), (3) largest patch index (LPI), (4) edge density, (5) perimeter-area ratio (PARA), (6) fractal dimension (FRAC), (7) related circumscribing circle (RCC) and (8) percentage of like-adjacencies (PLADJ). The study area was divided into 215 grid-units to represent spatial diversity of development. The aforementioned indices were calculated separately for each of the units. The spatial distribution of built-up areas was also associated with land capability to assess land degradation trends. Results showed that much of the development occurred on Class I and II lands that are in fact prime agricultural areas. Results also suggest that the structure of building patches and the way that it changes vary between the coast and inland.