Opportunities of using rural areas for recreational purposes: The case of the Karacabey District, Bursa Province

Abstract

Objective: Empty and wide areas, including settlements outside the city center, are rural areas. These areas have great importance in recreational use in terms of their natural and cultural landscape values. Within the scope of the study, it aims to calculate the potential of the Karacabey district of Bursa, one of these areas, in terms of recreational use. Material and Methods: The main material of the study consists of 64 villages located in the Karacabey district of Bursa province. The method of the study is based on the principle of assigning weighted points to five items of recreation areas. After scoring, calculations were made with basic mathematical operations, and the obtained quantitative data were interpreted. Results: As a result of the study, it was determined that there are no villages in the Karacabey district with very low recreation potential (30%>); 40 villages are low (30-45%), 17 villages are medium (45-60%), 5 villages are high (61-75%) and 2 villages were also found to have a very high (75%<) recreational potential. Conclusion: Within the scope of the study, it has been determined that the existing natural and cultural landscape values and infrastructure facilities add great value to the villages with high recreation potential. Therefore, various recreation types in which these values will be protected and used have been evaluated within this framework and new proposals have been developed.