EVALUATION OF TOKAT CITY PARK IN TERMS OF XERISCAPE DESIGN APPROACHES

Abstract

One of the biggest problems brought by urbanization is drought. With the effect of global warming, drought is increasing rapidly in the world and is seen as a danger that will confront humanity with thirst soon. This problem has encouraged ecology-focused professional disciplines to produce new approaches to managing the process. One of the professional disciplines that produces new approaches to this subject is landscape architecture. Vegetable areas and especially grass areas in urban areas are the areas with the highest water consumption. Many approaches have been put forward to reduce and use water effectively in urban landscape areas. One of these approaches is the Arid Landscape approach, which is based on the effective use of water, prevents excessive water use, prefers natural plant species in vegetative studies, and is based on open green area planning principles in which grass surfaces are reduced as much as possible. In this study, the city park located in Tokat city center was discussed. By considering Tokat City Park, its current situation in terms of xeric landscape design principles was evaluated and suggestions were developed to correct the features that do not coincide with xeric landscape design principles. Within the scope of the research method, 7 principles and 45 criteria regarding xeric landscape design were created, and the relationship between the principles created by field studies and the current situation was established. As a result of the study, it was determined that there was not enough space to collect rainwater in Tokat City Park, the plants were not zoned according to their water needs, soil analysis was not done before the applications, the plant species used were not natural but were resistant to drought, mains water was used as irrigation water, and mulching was not done to save water.