In our country, particularly the Constitution, Civil Code, Cadastre Law, Coastal Law and relevant regulations state that the coasts are under the provision and possession of the government, cannot be subject of private ownership, and are primarily for purpose of the public welfare. However, the legislation in effect both in the Ottoman Empire time and the Republic era (until 1972) enabled the coasts to be subject of private ownership, and privately owned ownerships developed on the coasts under the government guarantee. Also, delays in determination of the “Shore Border Line” (SBL) delimiting the coastal area further caused these areas to be the subject of private ownership. The mentioned problem is also being observed along the coastline of Artvin Province. The SBL determination work was started on the Black Sea coastline of the Artvin province which is about 33 km long, in mid 1970s and completed in the year 2012. During that time private ownerships developed on the coastal area. Besides, due to the construction of the Black Sea coastal roadway, some distortion occurred along the Black Sea coast, destroying the natural shores and causing misuse of land on the coastline. Use of the coasts in line with its potential, free and equal use of them by everyone can only be possible with the coastal planning. Such planning primarily requires identifying how the coasts are currently being utilized, and making the prevailing legislative status of the coasts clear. This study aims to identify the ownership profile along the coastline and to determine the real estates remained on the Black Sea coast of Hopa district of Artvin by infringing the SBL with the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The study, where the use of coastal areas is also being analyzed in terms of landscape, also offers some recommendations to relieve the pressure of the private ownership and public institutions on the coasts; thus, enabling them to be utilized for public interest according to their potentia
