Analysis of the urban growth pattern through spatial metrics; Ankara City

In the industrialization that started in the 1830s in countries such as England and America, transportation networks, geographical locations and spatial size were taken as the basis in the selection of the industrial city. Within the scope of this approach, the industrial sector was created in the city periphery and the cities expanded spatially by being exposed to rapid job migration. The form of engagement of cities to industry in this way became a strategy of nation-state policy in the 1920s in Turkey. Within the scope of this strategy, Ankara, which is at the center of the railway network, was declared as capital; manufacturing industry, private sector and public investments in the city were strengthened and the city was exposed to job migration. Along with industry, marginal changes in production and market form have led to population clustering and spatial expansion in urban areas. Spatial expansion in cities has also been affected by land use policies as much as the city is affected by the functions it gains in the industrialization process, and a multidimensional structure has emerged in cities, in which different actors interact at different spatial scales. Urban sprawl and compact development, two of the forms of spatial growth, which are an important result of this structure, have been discussed since the 1980s. This study evaluates the change of urban growth pattern and the land use policies that caused this change in Ankara, which is the capital of Turkey and the second largest city in terms of population, based on the acceptance that urban growth is a multi-component and multi-factor phenomenon. By analyzing (LULC change, density gradient analysis, configuration and composition analysis, urban growth density analysis) multi-time (1984–1992–2001–2009–2018) and multiscale data sets (Landscape level, Class level, and Circle Direct Zone level) with spatial metrics, these land use policies need to be determined more clearly. Urban growth takes shape in different models. In order to determine different urban growth models in sub-scales such as neighborhoods, direction and distance variables were included in the analyzes and thus land use decisions that feed the urban growth trend at different scales were determined more clearly in this study. It has been determined that spatial metrics can have very good results in determining urban growth patterns and landscape change dynamics. Within the scope of this study, EROPA (Effect Ratio on the Peripheral