African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 5 (10), pp. 1036-1042, 18 May, 2010 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJAR DOI: 10.5897/AJAR09.143 ISSN 1991-637X © 2010 Academic Journals Full Length Research Paper An evaluation of green areas from the point of user satisfaction in Ankara, Turkey: Gap analyses method Haldun Muderrisoglu 1* , Dicle Oğuz 2 and Nihan Şensoy 1 1 Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Forestry, Duzce University, 8100 Konuralp, Duzce, Turkey. 2 Department of Landscape Architecture, Agricultural Faculty, Ankara University, 06110 Dıskapı, Ankara, Turkey. Accepted 20 April, 2010 Green spaces contribute to the urban environment by producing positive ecological impacts and providing spaces for recreation and contact with nature. It is proven in various researches that urban green spaces and especially the parks increase the quality of life by presenting a variety of recreational experiences. Benefits and performances of green spaces are assessed by user satisfaction studies. This study aims to reveal the satisfaction level of users by using gap analyses method in significant green spaces of Ankara namely Altınpark, Gençlik Parkı, Göksu Parkı, Harikalar Diyarı and Mogan Park. In these daily used recreation areas, quality of service, important comments (importance) of the users prior to their visits and experiences after use (satisfaction) are evaluated by ranking. With this purpose a questionnaire survey is applied to 289 people in September and November 2009. The results show that in order to raise the satisfaction level of users, the number of entertainment areas should be increased and access to information services, park keepers and wards that can react immediately to the needs of the visitors should be provided. Key words: Ankara, green areas, gap analyses, satisfaction, recreation. INTRODUCTION Satisfaction of users is an important research subject for the service sector. According to Peterson and Wilson (1992) there exists around 15 000 studies on the subject of user satisfaction in the years of 1970 -1990. A major part of these studies states that all the experiences gained from the areas do not affect the satisfaction level of the clients in a correlative way (Tse and Wilton, 1988; Oliver and De Sarbo, 1988). The satisfaction gained by recreation behavior in green areas is investigated in a number of researches (Driver and Tocher, 1970; Absher et al., 1996, Burns ve et al., 1997, Muderrisoglu et al., 2006). In this study a joint method is followed which evaluates the user expectations and experiences to- gether to determine the user satisfaction. A gap can exist between the user expectations and user experiences and if the size of the gap is large that it points out problems of management in the area. The gap analysis is the examination process of the inequality between the existing situation and the desired one (Muderrisoglu et *Corresponding author. E-mail: haldunm@duzce.edu.tr. al., 2009). The study aims to reveal the user expectations and the degree of fulfillment of them in selected green areas which have different characters. With the implementation of gap analysis method; how unfulfilled and fulfilled expectations affect the degree of general fulfillment is determined in the research area. According to results the management measures are suggested. In the 1990s, discussions on the satisfaction level of service and management qualities’ effectiveness was started (Crompton and Love, 1995). The correlation between the quality of management and satisfaction is emphasized by MacKay and Crompton, (1990); Wright et al. (1992). On the other hand some researchers decline this relationship (Lacobucci et al., 1995). While some researchers state that evaluation of expectations and quality of experiences are not sufficient for explaining the general satisfaction level of visitors however these outputs reveal important data for the resource managers (Crompton and MacKay, 1989). Servqual, the most cited method, is developed by Parasuraman et al. (1985) and presented as a tool for service quality measurements in user satisfaction. In this study, researchers use 10 criteria to determine the