Demýrel Ö., Barlý Ö., Yaþar Y., Özdemir B., Sarýkoç E.

After the 80s the rapid and often unplanned urbanization has caused environmental pollution and increased worries in Trabzon. A densely populated city, Trabzon, is faced like many other similar cities, with the problem of noise pollution. The materials for this study are made up of outdoor city spaces, meeting points, cultural interaction regions and social living spaces that are located on the parallel Kunduracýlar, Maraþ, Uzun and Tanjant streets which accommodates the important trade, shopping, traffic and social life places at the city center of Trabzon. At these regions which serve multiple functions and have very dense pedestrian traffic all through the day , the noise is at quite disturbing levels because they are very close to motor traffic arteries. Approaches towards providing acoustic comfort for the citizens and minimizing the noise levels they are exposed to at these spaces will be discussed. This study examines the opportunity of using plant material as suggested by Erlbeck and other materials such as street furniture-rigid barriers and noise barrier elements in order to minimize noise to acceptable levels at the social living spaces in Trabzon. This study will also suggest ways of arranging plant barriers in order to provide acoustic comfort.