Kentsel Biyoçeşitliliğin Korunması ve Ekolojik Planlama

The increasing concentration of the population in urban areas is placing growing pressure on cities’ climate, infrastructure, and social systems. This situation highlights the critical need to adapt to climate change and sustainably manage ecosystem services in urban environments. Landscape, defined as a dynamic and multi-layered spatial entity comprising natural and cultural elements, serves as a foundational concept in this context. Ecological planning and nature-based solutions are key tools for the conservation and management of landscapes. Landscape ecology provides a scientific basis for understanding the interactions between organisms and their environments, assessing ecosystem continuity, and preserving urban biodiversity. Nature-based solutions focus on managing natural systems to deliver benefits for both society and the environment, addressing global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and water and food security. These interventions are designed and implemented according to principles such as adaptive management, stakeholder engagement, ecosystem integrity, and economic feasibility. Ecological urban planning and nature-based interventions are therefore complementary strategies for creating sustainable and resilient cities. In this study, nature-based projects implemented at different scales were analyzed. Five projects were selected from the Urban Nature Atlas database, which contains 1,631 initiatives, based on their scale and type of application: Bosco Verticale in Milan, Campus of the University of Bialystok in Poland, Residents Park City District in Münster, Jardin de la Rambla de Sants in Spain, and Vacaresti Nature Park in Bucharest, Romania. These examples, ranging from building-scale to regional-scale interventions, demonstrate support for urban biodiversity, enhancement of ecosystem services, and promotion of community engagement. The findings indicate that ecological planning and nature-based solutions are indispensable tools in the ecological transition of cities. The examples underscore the importance of integrating urban biodiversity conservation, ecosystem service continuity, and stakeholder participation into planning processes. Accordingly, sustainable management of urban ecosystems and the creation of resilient cities are achievable through collaboration among academia, local authorities, policymakers, and communities.