TITLE:
Eco-Village Initiatives in Turkey and a New Alternative Life
AUTHORS:
Murat Kuruoğlu, Hande Sanem Çınar, Funda Yirmibeşoğlu
KEYWORDS:
Eco-Village, Ecological Settlement, Smart Eco-Village, Sustainable Settlement, Alternative Life
JOURNAL NAME:
Current Urban Studies,
Vol.9 No.3,
September
30,
2021
ABSTRACT: Today’s settlements are typically getting less and less green with
residents craving more and more for the nature. On the one hand, individuals
are becoming more and more tired with big city life, and on the other, social
togetherness is getting weaker and weaker. Such problems that are faced on a
global scale in today’s world are considered to be potential causes of greater
problems in the future. With the hypothesis that building alternative
sustainable living environments and increasing the number of such environments are critically important, the concept of Eco-Villages is gradually becoming
popular today. Ecovillages are a type of intelligent settlements with
ecological characteristics such as natural agriculture and livestock
activities, thus producing their own nutrients, utilizing renewable energy
systems, transforming their wastes and having a self-sufficient and collective
social life. While there are successful examples of eco-villages throughout the
world, the number of such examples in Turkey is rather limited. The present
study analyzes certain Eco-Village initiatives in Turkey and proposes an
alternative sustainable living model and its principles with reference to the
question, “How can we achieve more successful Eco-Villages?”, based on survey
data collected from 660 participants. The proposed Smart Eco-Village Settlement
Model, systematizes the city-village relationship. Social structure, physical
structure, and energy-related strategies are determined for the eco-village
model, and it is aimed to reorganize the spatial, sociocultural, and productive
structures between the city and the village with a three-stage settlement
system to be established according to its characteristics. It contributes to
the economy of the region and the country through various forms of production,
ensures sustainable development, and offers an alternative way of living,
ensuring the sustainability of the global economy.