Basak Demires OzkulIstanbul Technical University · Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Basak Demires Ozkul
Professor
About
44
Publications
4,819
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28
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
My current research focuses on two aspects in planning, mobilities and socio-economic transformation. Through this I aim to demonstrate how changes in socio-economic conditions and mobility choices lead to spatial realities that challenge existing planning practices. Within this framework I seek to show how institutions respond to such changes, particularly the processes they adopt and how they create new policy frameworks.
Additional affiliations
March 2008 - July 2009
Publications
Publications (44)
Cities are becoming the drivers of the global economy. Coupled with globalization, technology has allowed cities to create a network of strongly linked high power settlements across the world that define our current civilization. The creation of this global settlement network is further strengthened with the addition of links between medium-sized c...
Istanbul is a mega city of 15 million people facing various planning challenges arising from its unique geography and geology, rapid pace of growth, and historical development patterns. As the economic heart of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey for centuries it has experienced tremendous population growth and accompanied unplanned devel...
As an aspiring global city, Istanbul is at the crossroads of capital, political struggle, and socioeconomic transformation. Unfortunately, Istanbul is also at the crossroads of major active fault lines. This paper analyzes earthquake risk mitigation planning for the megacity since the last big seismic catastrophe of the Marmara Earthquakes in 1999...
Successful megacities have become critical components of the global flows of information, technology, materials, and finance. The daily demands of these cities have forced administrators to address pressing concerns that affect their residents' quality of life. They have achieved this by adopting a long-term vision and addressing the underlying pro...
The emphasis on creativity as part of the global city culture provides an incentive for cities to focus on these activities as valuable assets. These cities consider innovation and creativity as key drivers for a more sustainable and inclusive urban development. Istanbul has joined alongside 64 cities the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in October 2...
It has been almost 20 years since Thomas L. Friedman used the catchphrase 'the world is flat', in his seminal book 'The world is flat : a brief history of the twenty-first century' to describe the extent of globalization. Friedman, through compelling examples from the US, India, China and other countries, demonstrated how the younger educated gener...
This article lays out how drivers of creative output, design events, and creative industries contribute to local initiatives in the global city of Istanbul: a city that accommodates some of the most long-standing and established craft spaces as well as newly developing creative and design industries. This article provides a critical perspective on...
Functional regions in England and Wales changed considerably between
1981 and 2001 due to major socio-economic changes. The rapid shift
towards the knowledge economy has affected the clustering of industries
and the interaction of labor markets for representative industrial sectors
and occupational groups. This paper combines research on industrial...
Marmara University Business School and Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Architecture in association with TURKONFED partnered to conduct the project titled 'Determination of Employment Trends in Istanbul' sponsored by Istanbul Development Agency. The study aimed to reveal the employment and labor situation of the Istanbul region, the center...
NEW DIVERSITIES
an open-access journal published by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
It is important that contemporary global cities provide opportunities for increasingly diverse communities to thrive. These cities, and particularly their local governments, have to adapt and reassess their provision of serv...
Istanbul is a megacity of 15 million people facing various planning challenges arising from its unique geography and geology, rapid pace of growth, and historical development patterns. As the economic heart of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey for centuries it has experienced tremendous population growth and accompanied unplanned develo...
This chapter looks at alternative techniques in analyzing, representing and designing the urban context in introductory inter-disciplinary design studio at Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture. The Foundation Studio, where these works have been taken from is a studio offered to a mix of students from five departments: architecture...
Political borders have been associated with various ecological issues such as biodiversity reduction and landscape fragmentation. The subject of border land conservation has been focusing on these problems. The concept of “Peace Park” or “Transboundary ConservationArea” (TBCA) falls under this subject heading. Turkey shares a large valley known as...
Marmara Üniversitesi Yayınları (Yayın No: 851), http://katalog.marmara.edu.tr/muyayinevi/YN851.pdf
The concept of “Transboundary Conserved Area” or “Peace Park” has been created to protect borderlands environment and improve international cooperation between neighboring counties. Even though, these parks have been created all around the world, the concept is new for European and Middle Eastern. This research evaluates borderlands of Turkey and G...
Ecological regions do not neatly coincide with international territorial borders, creating a set of signal disjuncture between environment and political bordering. Many political borders are freely crossed by animals to access the resources they need for survival, while others, such as many international borders, not only appear on maps, but are bo...
ABSTRACT
Ecological regions do not neatly coincide with international territorial borders, creating a set of signal disjuncture between environment and political bordering. Many political borders are freely crossed by animals to access the resources they need for survival, while others, such as many international borders, not only appear on maps, b...
The present study aims to produce flood inundation mapsofdifferent recurrent periods oftheMeric (Maritza) and Tundja(Tundzha)rivers in the area of Edirne city, Turkey. The case study area situates in the intersection point of the Meric, Tundja and Arda rivers, which are at the same time transboundary water channels that run through the territories...
In this paper we argue that ostensibly ambitious planning attempts to enhance city’s resilience encounter the risk of generating institutional and political vulnerabilities in cities. This process may alter the risk profile and can even deepen the initial risk that threatens the city’s resilience. We draw on the theory of risk society to explore th...
This essay aims to bring to light a quality of Professor Sir Hall that is often overshadowed by his major works in planning: his contribution to the quantitative inquiry of cities. For him geographical models and conventions were part of the larger picture and as such none was absolute. He requested from his students, including myself, a thorough u...
This chapter provides background information on the political, social and economic structure of Turkey in order to relay the planning practices employed.
In the UK, functional city-regions are usually determined by travel-to-work areas (TTWAs): discrete bounded areas defining a threshold for self-containment for commuters. Since their establishment in the 1980s, changes in commutes have pushed TTWA boundaries further. This can only be observed through historic comparison at the sub-regional level, w...
UK sub-national policy is particularly focused on the role contribution of city-regions (major metropolitan areas). Policy and governance approaches are being designed with this particular model in mind, even for areas that lie beyond the economic reach of UK city-regions. This paper explores why this might not be always be an appropriate approach....
In this paper we investigate the role of a megaproject (Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness, ISMEP) as a multilateral contract that derives its value from the performance of an underlying asset, which is the ‘emerging’ global city of Istanbul. Istanbul is presented as a success story within the framework of neoliberal global...
A growing number of papers and scholarly works on planning in Istanbul use the neoliberal framework (Smith, 2002) for understanding and interpreting the motives of large-scale government led urban transformation projects. These government led projects are seen as a
means of including a large amount of valuable informal land within the expanding pro...
Sponsored by CEE GLORES (Research project on Global & Regional Ethnographies at Sciences Po) “Cities are Back in Town” Research Program at Sciences Po
Masters Program “Governing the Large Metropolis” at Sciences Po
Organised by Adrian Favell and Tommaso Vitale, CEE Sciences Po
This paper examines the effects of socioeconomic changes on the labour market in England and Wales amid transition into the knowledge economy. It looks at how the shift in occupations between 1981 and 2001 was reflected upon employment locations. The central results of the study are; first, it demonstrates that in both years the hierarchical struct...
This paper examines the effects of socioeconomic change on the evolution of functional regions in England and Wales between 1981 and 2001. It looks at how the rapid shift towards the knowledge economy has affected the clustering of industries and the interaction of labour markets for representative industrial sectors and occupational groups. These...
The visualisation proposed in this presentation provides a means for evaluating the whole set of commutes to work for England and Wales by clearly summarising the average commuting distances to and from each of the 8800 wards. By plotting these distances for 1981 and 2001 using UK Census information it is possible to see how the changing commuting...
The global economic shift into the knowledge economy in the 1970s had a profound effect on settlement structure in England and Wales. The physical changes brought on by the dismantling of the rigid manufacturing sector were compounded by an important socio-economic shift. The knowledge worker became a centrepiece of the post-industrial economy. The...
Conduct a literature review of previous studies that have explored methodologies and techniques that might inform a causal study of NeighborWorks® organizations. NeighborWorks America creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities. https://www.neighborworks.org/Media-Center/Researc...
This thesis analyzes the self-help upgrading process of three gecekondu (spontaneous) settlements in Istanbul, Turkey. It describes the complex web of relationships between local and national government, community leaders, residents, legal landowners, developers and the general public; further, it examines how these stakeholders interact to create...
Projects
Projects (2)
The global economic shift into the knowledge economy in the 1970s had a profound effect on settlement structure in England and Wales.
This research is aimed at capturing the effects of this broad socio-economic transformation on the settlement structure of home and work in England and Wales. The analysis focuses on the changes in structural and functional change through the use of commuting data for 1981 through 2001. Changes are investigated by bringing together and expanding current spatial analysis techniques. The selection and composition of these techniques is informed by the major theoretical representations of employment and housing patterns and social structure.
"Determining the Employment Trends in Istanbul Project", aims to determine the employment trends within Istanbul both as a global city and as the economic engine of Turkey.
