Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
KN - Journal of Cartography and Geographic Information, 2026 (Scopus)
Ecological performance represents the value derived from evaluating the impacts of human activities on urban ecosystems through defined indicators and their integrated assessment. This study develops an environmental performance model to examine the combined effects of urban development on ecological indicators in Ankara. Spatial and quantitative analyses were conducted indicator by indicator to determine relative integrated impacts. The primary indicators—groundwater recharge, surface runoff potential, flood risk, sediment management, urban heat island effect, carbon storage, and air quality—were assessed using established measurement techniques and integrated via the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). To inform landscape conservation, development, and management strategies, a two-stage clustering approach was applied. Results indicate that areas with “very high” and “high” landscape vulnerability comprise 50.27% of the urban core, highlighting that over half of the study area faces substantial ecological risk. Furthermore, cluster 1 alone covers 23.43% of the total area, showing that nearly a quarter of the urban core exhibits similar ecological performance characteristics and thus warrants prioritized strategic intervention. The lowest integrated ecological performance, reflecting the most fragile landscapes, is found in southern Keçiören, southeastern Yenimahalle, Ostim Organized Industrial Zone, northeastern Çankaya, southwestern Mamak, and the ASO 1st Organized Industrial Zone in Sincan. The proposed model is transferable to other cities, though the selection of primary indicators and data resolution should take into account local ecological, physical, and scale-specific conditions. When applied before urban development decisions, this model effectively integrates ecological and geographical characteristics into planning, thereby enabling proactive design of high-performance urban strategies. The key contribution lies in assessing both individual indicators and their integrated value, emphasizing the importance of viewing the city as an interconnected system.