KBAM

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ANNOUNCEMENT

8th Urban and Regional Research Network (URRN) Symposium Urban and Regional Research Network Symposium

CITIES AND REGIONS IN THE NEW FUTURE: CHANGING DYNAMICS, NEW ISSUES, OPPORTUNITIES OF CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION

2nd-3rd-4th DECEMBER, 2021

KONYA TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

Today, cities and regions are faced with bottlenecks caused by economic, social, ecological and political crises that affect the whole world. Wars, migrations, economic crises, climate change, disasters and epidemics are the developments that have left their mark on the recent period. In conditions where the answers produced are insufficient to produce radical solutions to both the problems transmitted from the past and the newly emerged problems, the problems also diversify, deepen and become more complex. There is uncertainty about how the future will be shaped.

Changing dynamics also offer opportunities to cope with increasing problems and seize new opportunities. Increasing discontents seem to force existing structures to change. While developments in the field of science and technology offer opportunities to produce partial answers to individual problems, it is discussed to what extent the structures that produce the problems are questioned and the answers, which are the extensions of the existing approaches, can be successful in producing radical solutions to the problems. As a matter of fact, polarization and injustice are increasing, inequalities are deepening, democratic channels in decision processes are being closed, the area of citizenship is getting narrower, human rights violations are increasing and diversifying. Under these circumstances, the need for a more equal, fair, democratic future that is also sensitive to rights and ecological balance and question about building this future and new searches come to the agenda.

The main theme of the KBAM 2021 Symposium is the dynamics forcing cities and regions for a new future, its realization process, its reflections on space and expectations from spatial planning. When the period we are going through is defined as a “breaking point” or “turning point” and the problem-solving task of planning is taken into account, every step to be taken has great importance. This process should be evaluated as an opportunity and used for the establishment of a more livable and egalitarian spatial system. The structures that cannot meet the expectations and needs of different segments of society should be changed/transformed.

In this symposium, which aims to discuss in depth the dynamics and developments that will shape cities and regions in the new future and their impact on urban and regional policies, planning and design approaches, sub-topics and questions that will be useful to examine are listed below:

Concepts, Theories and Techniques: With which concepts can the new future be defined and with which approaches can it be discussed? What will be the main features and functioning of the new future? In which framework can the effects of the new future on cities and regions be defined? What methods, new analysis tools, new technologies and approaches can we use to develop this framework?

Possible Effects of the New Economic Dynamics on Cities and Regions: What are the conditions and dynamics that force the new future? What features will the economic model of the future have, and how will the current economic development models change? To what extent will new development models and developments be influential in shaping the future of regions and cities? What kind of change will be required in regional and urban policies?

Determination of Social Change for Cities and Regions: How will the developments affect the social structure? To what extent is it possible in the new future to eliminate growing inequalities, differences in access to public services? How should urban and regional policies be reshaped on spatial justice, inclusion and inequality debates?

The Effects of the Green Agenda in the Construction of the New Era: How and what steps can be taken to integrate the policies and decisions to be taken to prevent environmental problems and climate crisis with spatial policies and planning? What are the expected changes in agriculture and agricultural policies, whose importance has increased with the green agenda and especially food security discussions? How can the relationship between city and agriculture be reconstructed? How will the future of cities and metropolises be shaped in the face of the tendency to return to the countryside? How can there be a change in the existing assumptions about settlement systems and hierarchy in this context?

Evaluation of the Change in Politics and the New Citizenship Approach in terms of Regional and Urban Management/Governance: How will the language and form of politics and the structure and functioning of institutions transform in the new future? How might this transformation affect spatial policies and the institutional functioning of planning? What kind of politics and citizenship does the new future require? How will all these developments change the understanding of local government?

A New Planning Approach and Practice in the New Future: What are the expectations from spatial planning as the future is reshaped? How should the function, institutional structure and forms of intervention of planning be shaped? What advantages and disadvantages do current planning understanding and practice offer? How should planning change/transform the forms of intervention in the new future? What should be our new roadmap for livable, sustainable and fair living environments?