A Systemic Approach to Preservation-Utilization Balance in Landscape Planning and Urban Design: The Case of Uludag National Park

Uludag, one of Turkey’s most significant mountain ecosystems, was the subject of a landscape planning and urban design competition held in 2008 and organized by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The objective of this article is to discuss the conceptual framework of a specific project which was submitted to the competition and which won 5th place. The proposed conceptual framework, entitled “regeneration”, is based on a planning-design approach that seeks to establish a preservation-utilization balance in a mountain ecosystem. Such an area is rich in nature and wildlife, while also representing for some a potentional for recreational activities. In the submitted project, the project team has used the concept of “regeneration” as a metaphor of re-birth, restructuring and auto-repair, in order to make a re-definition of preservation and utilization lines in Uludag. In order to explain the regeneration approach to the visitors of the mountain, the project team has used urban design instruments for the visualization of spatial ideas as well as managerial dimensions. The main thrust of the study is that any kind of preservation-utilization stress in natural areas consists of multidimensions and multiactors. The concept of “regeneration” can define a significant framework for landscape planning and urban design decisionmaking processes, and urban design tools can play an active role in practicing of the concept