Environmental Pressures and Policy Responses on the Lycian Way

Yazıcı T. G., Yavaşoğlu F., Özdemir M.

Environmental Science and Sustainable Development, cilt.11, sa.1, ss.39-60, 2026 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

The Mediterranean and Anatolian regions serve as a crossroads for civilizations, representing a dynamic intersection of cultural, ecological, and political systems. The Lycian Way, a 540-kilometer cultural route along Türkiye’s southern coast, embodies this heritage by connecting ancient cities, rural landscapes, and coastal ecosystems. However, rapid urbanization, greenhouse expansion, and a lack of adequate protection measures increasingly threaten the route's integrity. This study aims to examine the spatial and temporal distribution of environmental pressures along the route to guide sustainable management strategies. Remote sensing and GIS were applied for supervised land-use/land-cover (LULC) classification and categorical change detection based on Landsat imagery from 1999, 2009, 2019, and 2025, focusing on a 1-km impact corridor. Furthermore, hot spot analysis identified regional clusters of greenhouse and urban transitions; major change nodes were cross-referenced with relevant protection statuses and planning decisions. The results reveal significant transformations driven by tourism-oriented urban growth and intensive greenhouse agriculture, particularly concentrated at critical gateway nodes and coastal plains. The study underlines that effective conservation requires governance-oriented and data-informed strategies. Integrating cultural heritage with spatial planning and sustainability frameworks is essential to ensure the long-term integrity of this unique Mediterranean cultural landscape.