User Evaluation of the Urban Park Design Implementation with Participatory Approach Process

Urban green spaces are the extensions of the natural environment, surroundings and inside of a city. Well-planned and designed open spaces particularly green spaces have a multiple positive effect on urban and urban dwellers. They contribute to the healthy development of the city, provide the city's fullness-emptiness balance physically, and create buffer zones between different use areas of the city. Urban parks which are the important parts of the urban ecosystem are important to improve the quality of life of a society especially where urbanization gradually increasing. Ensuring community participation in planning and designing urban parks creates an impact of increasing use of such areas. Observing how people use the park and measuring the perceptions is important in terms of how to design park to make a successful place.This study tested that hypothesis is an exemplary study for planning and designing green areas due to be designed and implemented with a participatory process in the Rize Municipal Park, located in Rize, Turkey, in status of urban parks terms of use. In this context, during the design process interviews within the framework of “participatory design approach” is carried out with users of the city and the park. Participation is provided to process by visual materials by requesting to mark the design elements and activities that they want to be in the park. At the end of the three-year period after the implementation of the Project accessibility, changing user profiles, variety of activities, comfort and image (security and maintenance) criteria are analyzed through the surveys applied on the users. The results are presented supporting both visual materials and qualitative data.