Are Soil and Geology Characteristics Considered in Urban Planning? An Empirical Study in Izmir (Türkiye)

first_pagesettingsOrder Article Reprints This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon. Open AccessArticle Are Soil and Geology Characteristics Considered in Urban Planning? An Empirical Study in Izmir (Türkiye) by Stefano Salata 1,* andTaygun Uzelli 2ORCID 1 Laboratorio Piani Paesaggio Territorio Ecosistemi, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy 2 Geothermal Energy Research and Application Center, Izmir Institute of Technology, 35430 Urla, Türkiye * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Urban Sci. 2023, 7(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci7010005 Received: 31 October 2022 / Revised: 25 December 2022 / Accepted: 26 December 2022 / Published: 29 December 2022 Download Review Reports Versions Notes Abstract It is well acknowledged that sustainable soil management can play a crucial role in reducing the vulnerability of urban areas, but are soil characteristics properly evaluated in the decision-making process concerning urbanization? Within this work, we conducted an analysis of the land-use change trends in the city of Izmir (Turkey). We made an extended and detailed analysis of the urbanization processes between 2012 and 2018 in a geographic information system environment (Esri ArcGIS 10.8.1 and ArcGIS Pro 3.0). Then, we superimposed by spatial overlay different soil characteristics: land capability, hydraulic conductibility, soil groups, and fault lines. We discovered that although there is a joint agreement on soil and its geological importance in reducing urban vulnerabilities to flooding, urban heat islands, agricultural production, or earthquakes, there is scarce knowledge of its characteristics to inform land-use planning. This work sheds some light on how newly developed areas are planned without proper consideration of soil properties, following a fuzzy and irrational logic in their distribution. Results encourage the utilization and inclusion of soil knowledge to support the decision-making process concerning urban transformation to achieve more resilient and less vulnerable urban systems.