IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v14y2025i10p1991-d1764504.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing Rural Landscape Change Within the Planning and Management Framework: The Case of Topaktaş Village (Van, Turkiye)

Author

Listed:
  • Feran Aşur

    (Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Van Yuzuncu Yil University, Van 65090, Türkiye)

  • Kübra Karaman

    (Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Agriculture, Yozgat Bozok University, Yozgat 66100, Türkiye)

  • Okan Yeler

    (Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Van Yuzuncu Yil University, Van 65090, Türkiye)

  • Simay Kaskan

    (Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Van Yuzuncu Yil University, Van 65090, Türkiye)

Abstract

Rural landscapes are changing rapidly, yet many assessments remain descriptive and weakly connected to planning instruments. This study connects rural landscape analysis with planning and management by examining post-earthquake transformations in Topaktaş (Tuşba, Van), a village redesigned and relocated after the 2011 events. Using ArcGIS 10.8 and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), we integrate DEM, slope, aspect, CORINE land cover Plus, surface-water presence/seasonality, and proximity to hazards (active and surface-rupture faults) and infrastructure (Karasu Stream, highways, village roads). A risk overlay is treated as a hard constraint. We produce suitability maps for settlement, agriculture, recreation, and industry; derive a composite optimum land-use surface; and translate outputs into decision rules (e.g., a 0–100 m fault no-build setback, riparian buffers, and slope thresholds) with an outline for implementation and monitoring. Key findings show legacy footprints at lower elevations, while new footprints cluster near the upper elevation band (DEM range 1642–1735 m). Most of the area exhibits 0–3% slopes, supporting low-impact access where hazards are manageable; however, several newly designated settlement tracts conflict with risk and water-service conditions. Although limited to a single case and available data resolutions, the workflow is transferable: it moves beyond mapping to actionable planning instruments—zoning overlays, buffers, thresholds, and phased management—supporting sustainable, culturally informed post-earthquake reconstruction.

Suggested Citation

  • Feran Aşur & Kübra Karaman & Okan Yeler & Simay Kaskan, 2025. "Assessing Rural Landscape Change Within the Planning and Management Framework: The Case of Topaktaş Village (Van, Turkiye)," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-26, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:10:p:1991-:d:1764504
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/10/1991/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/10/1991/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:10:p:1991-:d:1764504. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.