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Under conventional residential development practices, minimum lot sizes are established by zoning ordinances. Under these requirements, a piece of property is subdivided into as many lots as allowed. This results in suburban development where all land is committed to individually owned parcels. The objective of this thesis is to defend the preservation of open space as a necessary component of rural residential development and to establish a set of criteria that are fundamental to open space design. Concerns for developers, planners, and homeowners in response to the open space preservation movement are identified and addressed. In addition, the three major alternative development approaches, in which the preservation of open space is a fundamental priority, are detailed. From these alternative development approaches, a list of criteria are developed to be used in the evaluation or preparation of open space site designs. A 96 acre site in the Tom’s Creek Basin of Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Virginia is used as a case study for the preparation of an open space site design that fulfills the requirements of a proposed rural residential zoning ordinance for Blacksburg. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

This research examines the perceptions and attitudes of residents in five rural communities located in the Hilltowns of Western Massachusetts: Ashfield, Chesterfield, Conway, Goshen, and Williamsburg. The research aims to explore the divide between local residents’ strongly held support for private property rights and a concomitant desire to maintain the qualities that contribute to the social, ecological, and aesthetic experience of a rural town, including a viable farm and forest economy. Previous research in the same project utilized mailed, written surveys. In this case, in-depth, in-person interviews were conducted with ten residents of the study area in order to complement the breadth of information gleaned from these earlier studies. The research goal was to inform planning efforts that strive to balance the preservation of rural character with growth and change. Questions were asked to ascertain the individual’s connection to the rural community, including length of residency, occupation, and other demographic variables. Further questions were posed to learn how participants felt that landowner rights to develop property and government intervention to preserve land could be effectively balanced. Results showed that landowners’ desire to retain their property rights remains in conflict with their wish to see their communities remain rural in the face of new development. Medium-term residents may be the most motivated group to get involved in ways to balance landscape change and development with a need to preserve town character. According to study participants, local governments should focus their efforts on voluntary, cooperative measures. Such measures should ideally minimize bureaucracy and maximize a multi-jurisdictional approach in considering a variety of techniques to resolve tough land-use conflicts. Local land trusts emerged as the best-positioned entity to forge cooperative ventures with farmers, landowners, and others in protecting the places of greatest value to those who live and work in the rural landscape. The need for education and communication was vitally expressed. This study sheds new light on the different nuanced and sometimes conflicting attitudes about preserving the rural landscape, but also offers hope for solutions based on collaborations between local governments, land trusts, and local residents.

Karabaglar is a rural area where agricultural community lives and which locates in the vicinity of Mugla town. It was registered as third grade natural site that must be preserved according to its rural character, natural and cultural assets and rural life. Property pattern consisting of private ownerships (yurts), specific road network that emerges from irims and kesiks, traditional houses, variety of vegetation, abundant water, self-sufficient agricultural production, and traditional life style are the main features that create and shape Karabaglar. Kesiks, irims, kabaliks, and yurts are the major man-made components, which are unique to Karabaglar, and these characteristics conform to the natural landscape structure. Urban growth, interventions due to misuse of lands, new housing demands of urban residents in Karabaglar resulted in urban pressure on the area. This situation puts forth the conservation necessity of Karabaglar. This research analyzes the speculative housing development in Karabaglar, identifies the type of interventions and their physical, social, economic and environmental effects on Karabaglar / in addition, develops proposals for sustainability of the traditional pattern of Karabaglar.

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