8th URRN Symposium
8th Urban and Regional Research Network (URRN) Symposium
CITIES AND REGIONS IN THE NEW FUTURE: CHANGING DYNAMICS, EMERGING CHALLENGES, AND THE OPPORTUNITIES OF CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION
December 2-4, 2021 | Konya Technical University, Konya
Today, cities and regions face severe challenges arising from the economic, social, ecological, and political crises affecting the entire world. Wars, migration, economic crises, climate change, disasters, and pandemics have all left a profound mark on recent history. As responses to both longstanding and newly emerging problems have proven insufficient to provide lasting solutions, these challenges have become increasingly diverse, complex, and deeply rooted, creating widespread uncertainty about the future.
At the same time, changing dynamics also offer opportunities to address growing challenges and capitalize on new possibilities. Increasing public dissatisfaction is placing pressure on existing structures to change. While advances in science and technology provide opportunities to develop solutions to individual problems, there is growing debate over the extent to which the structures that generate these problems are being questioned. Similarly, it is increasingly asked whether responses that merely extend existing approaches can provide fundamental solutions. Polarization and injustice continue to intensify, inequalities deepen, democratic channels of decision-making become increasingly restricted, civic space narrows, and violations of human rights grow in both frequency and form. Under these conditions, the need for a more equal, just, democratic, rights-based, and ecologically sensitive future has become more urgent, prompting new questions and searches for alternative futures.
The main theme of the KBAM 2021 Symposium is the dynamics driving a new future for cities and regions, the processes through which this future may emerge, its spatial implications, and the expectations it raises for spatial planning. As the current period can be regarded as a critical turning point, the significance of every step taken is considerable, particularly given planning’s responsibility to address societal problems. This moment should be viewed as an opportunity to establish a more livable and equitable spatial system by transforming structures that fail to meet the expectations and needs of different segments of society.
The symposium aims to foster an in-depth discussion of the dynamics and developments that will shape cities and regions in the future, as well as their implications for urban and regional policies, planning, and design. The following thematic areas and guiding questions are proposed for discussion:
Concepts, Theories, and Methods
How can the new future be conceptualized, and through which theoretical approaches can it be understood? What will be its defining characteristics and modes of operation? How can its impacts on cities and regions be framed? Which research methods, analytical tools, technologies, and planning approaches can help develop this framework?
The Potential Impacts of New Economic Dynamics on Cities and Regions
What conditions and dynamics are driving the emergence of a new future? What characteristics will define the future economic model, and how will existing models of economic development change? To what extent will new development models shape the future of cities and regions? What changes will be required in urban and regional policies?
The Role of Social Change in Shaping Cities and Regions
How will ongoing developments transform social structures? To what extent will it be possible to reduce growing inequalities and disparities in access to public services? How should urban and regional policies be reconfigured to promote spatial justice, inclusiveness, and equality?
The Influence of the Green Agenda on Shaping the New Era
How can policies and decisions aimed at addressing environmental problems and the climate crisis be integrated into spatial planning and policy-making? What changes are expected in agriculture and agricultural policies, whose importance has increased alongside the green agenda and concerns over food security? How can the relationship between cities and agriculture be reimagined? In light of growing interest in rural living, how might the future of cities and metropolitan areas evolve, and how might existing assumptions regarding settlement systems and urban hierarchies change?
Political Transformation and New Understandings of Citizenship in Regional and Urban Governance
How will political institutions, governance structures, and political discourse evolve in the new future? How might these transformations affect spatial policies and the institutional organization of planning? What forms of politics and citizenship will the future require? How will these developments reshape local government and governance?
A New Understanding and Practice of Planning for the Future
As the future takes shape, what new expectations will emerge for spatial planning? How should planning’s functions, institutional arrangements, and intervention mechanisms evolve? What are the strengths and limitations of current planning approaches? How should planning transform its methods of intervention to respond to future challenges? What should the roadmap be for creating more livable, sustainable, and just environments?
APPLICATION
Those wishing to participate in the symposium are required to upload a 200–400 word abstract by 4 July 2021 via the symposium’s abstract submission system:
https://kbam.metu.edu.tr/bildiri-ozeti-gonderme/
PUBLICATION
Papers presented at the symposium will be reviewed by the Organizing Committee and published in the Proceedings of the 8th Symposium of the Urban and Regional Research Network (KBAM). While inclusion in the proceedings volume will depend on the authors’ preferences, all accepted abstracts will be published in the Book of Abstracts of the 8th Symposium of the Urban and Regional Research Network (KBAM).
Following the evaluation process, selected papers will be recommended for publication in the KBAM Special Issue of ICONARP – International Journal of Architecture and Planning. Authors of recommended papers will be required to prepare and submit an English-language journal article by the specified deadline. These submissions will then undergo the journal’s regular peer-review process.
