Enhancing Public Perception of Climate-Adaptation Spatial Strategies in Coastal Communities: A Case Study from Kadıköy, Istanbul

While global climate adaptation goals are well-established, their translation into neighborhood-scale spatial reality remains underexplored, creating a critical knowledge gap regarding the social acceptability of specific interventions. This study addresses this “governance–perception mismatch” through a case study of Caferağa, a high-density coastal district in Istanbul. By surveying 104 “ground-floor interface” stakeholders, the research investigates the extent to which spatial strategies are integrated and how they are perceived by local users. The findings reveal three significant patterns: (1) an “implementation gap”, where a majority of respondents (51.0%) report no effective adaptation measures despite strongly prioritizing green infrastructure (38.5%) over water management solutions (13%); (2) a “participation paradox”, evidenced by a stark divergence between high willingness to engage (73.1%) and negligible perceived involvement; and (3) the conceptual validation of “informed cynicism”, where higher education levels correlate with deeper institutional distrust due to the recognized inadequacy of current actions. The study concludes that in centralized planning systems, the structural exclusion of high-human-capital stakeholders transforms potential co-production into active alienation.