**5.4 Social and psychological benefits**

#### Recreation and Wellbeing

People satisfy most of their recreational needs within the locality where they live. Urban green spaces serve as a near resource for relaxation; provide emotional warmth. In Mexico City, the centrally located Chapultepec Park draws up to three million visitors a week who enjoy a wide variety of activities (Haq, 2011)

Fig. 11. Recreational activities on water surface, Altnpark, Ankara, Turkey (http://www. anfaaltinpark. com. tr/).

Fig. 12. People are sitting in a park for recreational activity, Samsun, Turkey.

Human Health

120 Landscape Planning

People satisfy most of their recreational needs within the locality where they live. Urban green spaces serve as a near resource for relaxation; provide emotional warmth. In Mexico City, the centrally located Chapultepec Park draws up to three million visitors a week who

Fig. 11. Recreational activities on water surface, Altnpark, Ankara, Turkey (http://www.

Fig. 12. People are sitting in a park for recreational activity, Samsun, Turkey.

**5.4 Social and psychological benefits** 

enjoy a wide variety of activities (Haq, 2011)

Recreation and Wellbeing

anfaaltinpark. com. tr/).

People who were exposed to natural environment, the level of stress decreased rapidly as compared to people who were exposed to urban environment, their stress level remained high. Certainly, improvements in air quality due to vegetation have a positive impact on physical health with such obvious benefits as decrease in respiratory illnesses. The connection between people and nature is significance for everyday enjoyment, work productivity and general mental health (Haq, 2011)

#### **6. References**


**6** 

*Turkey* 

**Tourism Planning in** 

Tuğba Kiper and Gülen Özdemir

*Namk Kemal University, Faculty of Agriculture,* 

**Rural Areas and Organization Possibilities** 

*Department of Landscape Architecture, Department of Agricultural Economics* 

Along with changing life conditions, various orientations have emerged in tourism. Instead of conventional tourism centers, quiet, natural and authentic places are being preferred. However, the economic output provided by this initiative has not been able to reach to the expected level and sustainability due to lack of a planned and rational basis from the beginning. Uncontrolled pressure generated from this might have irreversible impacts on natural and cultural landscapes. Therefore, a rational, practical and preservation-based planning should be implemented in order to ensure a sustainable development in regions where no intense tourism activities exist yet but that have significant potential. At this point, first potential a region has regarding the natural and cultural landscape values should be determined; and then applicable tourism types and their implementation areas should be established. Additionally socio-economic development and change to be generated by probable tourism activities should be analyzed carefully. Moreover opinions of local people regarding this subject must be considered throughout the decision-making process. Here cooperatives and organizations in rural areas step in. Planning decisions, which are made without considering the balance between usage and conservation and provide a temporary solution, would damage authentic sources of a rural area in an irreversible way. Rural areas are settlements which represent reserved areas remained by natural areas and contain a unique rural life culture. Therefore, among tourism types they are not only regions suitable for development of rural tourism, but they are also considered to be spaces of many tourism

In this study, it is aimed to reveal rural tourism concept and types, analyzing rural tourism possibilities implemented in the world and in Turkey; and to create rural tourism planning and organization models. Within this scope, we focused on rural tourism's definition, its objectives, the reasons of its emergence and development, its principles, its types, its environmental, social and economic impacts; and on the examination of approaches to

**1. Introduction** 

types which share this environment.

Definition of Rural Area

tourism at rural areas in Turkey and Europe.

Definition of Rural Tourism and its types

In this section, the subjects below will be discussed.

