Although the Anatolian geography is distinguished by its rich urban heritage, urban conservation areas, the most crucial components of this heritage, are often treated as a single category in conservation practices. This situation carries the risk of damaging the unique identities of historic urban fabrics, each of which is the product of distinct geographical and historical conditions. This study aims to develop a classification for urban conservation areas in Türkiye based on their morphological diversity, going beyond standard conservation approaches. To this end, 35 urban conservation areas selected from Türkiye's seven geographical regions were subjected to quantitative analysis based on five fundamental metrics: topographic structure, road network morphology, urban fabric density, building-to-void ratio, and boundary permeability. The research findings reveal that topography is the primary determinant of urban form, with its influence being particularly evident in the character of the road network. As a result of the analysis, four main morphological types have been identified: "Planned and Dense Plain/Plateau Cities" developed on flat terrain; "Organic and Dense Traditional Centers" confined to rugged areas; "Organic and Sparse Hillside/Valley Settle-ments" integrated with the natural landscape; and "Hybrid Regional Centers" with complex structures. By revealing the unique structural logic of each fabric, this typology provides a scientific foundation for planners and decision-makers to develop contextsensitive, flexible, and effective conservation strategies, rather than one-size-fits-all interventions. The study demonstrates that morphological analysis can be a powerful analytical and guiding tool for the conservation of urban heritage.

In traditional architecture, the character of a building was shaped by local elements and building culture, whereas today this role is assumed by building materials, functional requirements, contemporary design concepts, and zoning regulations. In particular, the facade layout and architectural identity are shaped by construction and zoning rules. In traditional buildings, elements such as projections, bay windows, alcoves, and turrets varied according to the cultural and geographical characteristics of their surroundings. In today's apartment buildings, the facade character is formed by spatial elements based on the relationship between solidity and emptiness, such as projections, balconies, consoles, and terraces. However, the use of these elements is largely restricted by zoning regulations. This study examines the transformation of elements opening onto the street in residential facades from traditional to contemporary times, using the example of Konya. Regulations concerning projections and balconies from before 1933 to the present day have been analyzed. It is observed that projections and balconies in traditional Konya houses were elements that extended onto the street, but this situation became restricted with the process of apartment building. With the rules introduced after 1933, the dimensions, directions, and parcel relationships of projections and balconies were defined; over time, balconies became spaces outside the construction area with increased usage. Today, especially with site regulations, balconies have become important, multifunctional spaces opening the residence to the outside.

This study examines how the practice of dog walking shapes “familiar stranger” relationships, face recognition, and micro-level social ties among urban residents. Drawing on Milgram’s concept of the familiar stranger, Granovetter’s theory of weak ties, and Oldenburg’s notion of the third place, the research conceptualizes dog walking as an effortless form of urban socialization that merges individual routine with spontaneous interaction. Based on semistructured interviews conducted with participants who regularly walk their dogs in two urban parks in Ankara, the findings reveal that repeated encounters in shared spaces create a sense of familiarity, trust, and belonging, even in the absence of close personal relationships. However, this experience varies according to individual tendencies, social openness, and the physical characteristics of the space. Well-designed and well-maintained environments such as dog parks and green areas enhance random encounters and strengthen weak social bonds. Furthermore, small-scale interventions—such as benches, open pathways, and community events—were found to significantly increase everyday interactions. Beyond its individual dimension, dog walking emerges as a meaningful social experience that reinforces urban identity and the culture of coexistence. The study concludes that such low-threshold, everyday encounters make tangible contributions to the formation of emotional and spatial attachment in the city.

This study presents the first comparative bibliometric analysis of two foundational but traditionally siloed domains within urban transformation research: spatial justice and spatial data infrastructures (SDI). While spatial justice scholarship emphasizes equity, participatory governance, and rights-based urbanism, SDI research has primarily focused on geospatial technologies, data management, and digital planning. Despite these differences, growing concerns about digital inequality, algorithmic exclusion, and the politics of data reveal an emerging thematic convergence. Drawing on 608 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 1997 and 2025 in the Web of Science Core Collection, the study applies bibliometric methods (Bibliometrix R-package and Biblioshiny) to map publication trends, collaboration networks, keyword co-occurrence, thematic clusters, and historiographic trajectories. Findings indicate that SDI-related research is characterized by rapid technological advancement and interdisciplinary collaboration, whereas spatial justice remains more fragmented but provides conceptual depth. A shared research frontier is identified, highlighting a gap in integrating justice-oriented planning principles with technical infrastructures. The study proposes an integrative framework situating SDIs within equity-driven urban governance, offering insights for planners and policymakers seeking to institutionalize inclusivity, transparency, and representational justice in data-informed urban transformation.

This study aims to compare the time children spend in green spaces across neighborhoods with different green space ratios. It then seeks to explain the observed differences through children’s reported activities and problems encountered in these spaces. The results are based on data obtained from seven neighborhoods in Ankara. The green space ratios of neighborhoods were calculated based on objective measurements. The data regarding the amount of time spent in green spaces were obtained from 9-to-14–year-old children’s activity diaries completed during the spring season. Finally, the data regarding the children’s neighborhood activities and the problems they encountered were obtained from a participatory mapping activity conducted with the same children who filled out the activity diaries. Results show that, on weekdays, the amount of time spent in green spaces in general, and parks and gardens in particular, does not differ between neighborhoods with lower and higher green space ratios. However, during weekends, children who live in greener neighborhoods tend to spend more time in parks. While there is no relationship between living in greener neighborhoods and participation in more naturebased activities, an inverse relationship was observed between living in greener neighborhoods and the number of problems experienced by children in green spaces. Children experience these problems at different intensities in different types of green spaces. Age also seems to influence children’s negative place experiences. These findings provide valuable insights for urban planners and designers aiming to increase children’s engagement with nature.

This study investigates regional development dynamics in Tür-kiye through a longitudinal analysis of the Socio-Economic De-velopment Index (SEGE) covering the period 1969–2025. Moving beyond static interpretations of development as a ranking outcome, the study conceptualizes SEGE as a temporal ana-lytical framework to examine structural persistence, regional mobility, and spatial lock-in mechanisms across provinces. The findings demonstrate that regional inequalities in Türkiye are not transient disparities but deeply embedded and historically reproduced through strong path dependence, cumulative causation, and asymmetric mobility structures. Despite subtantial changes in development paradigms and measurement frameworks over time, provincial rankings exhibit remarkable stability, indicating limited convergence and pronounced hier-archical persistence. The analysis reveals a multi-layered spatial structure characterized by a stable core, a semi-permeable intermediate tier, a stagnant middle-lower band, and a structurally locked-in periphery. Mobility across these layers remains highly constrained, with clear evidence of “sticky floor” effects at the lower end and “glass ceiling” dynamics at the upper end of the hierarchy. These results challenge conventional convergence-based approaches to regional development and highlight the limitations of place-neutral policy frameworks. The study argues that the central issue of regional inequality in Türkiye lies not only in disparities in development levels but also in restricted inter-regional mobility. Accordingly, it calls for a shift in policy focus from growth maximization to structural transformation and mobility enhancement, emphasizing place-based, capacity-driven, and resilience-oriented policy design.

As spatial carriers of local knowledge and cultural capital, craft economies represent a distinctive field of inquiry with their unique relational dynamics. In economic geography literature craftsman-ship has often been instrumentalized as the cultural foundation of regional development. This study adopts the relational economic geography framework to examine the unique survival and coexistence mechanisms of craft geographies. Bathelt and Glückler (2003, 2011) identified three fundamental attributes of economic action observable on the relational plane: Contextuality, path dependency, and contingency. This conceptualization constitutes the theoretical point of departure of the study. Istanbul's craft geographies, harboring relational continuities and ruptures, offer a productive research site in this regard. Originating in the seventeenth century to serve the military needs of the Ottoman State and sustained by the Zildjian family, cymbal making has undergone profound spatial transformations under the shadow of asymmetric subcontracting relations and national policies. Despite all ruptures, production has persisted in Istanbul within an ongoing master-apprentice lineage, albeit fragmented and displaced. Continuing traditional production with distinctive strategies in the global market, the particular weight of Istanbul cymbalsmiths, clinging to the legacy of "handmade Turkish cymbals," remains high regardless of their share of overall global revenue. This unique existence can be addressed through the comprehensive relational framework outlined above. Contextuality is conceptualized through accumulated place-based reputation, path dependency through the persistent continuation of traditional ways of making, and contingency through transmission mechanisms of tacit knowledge beyond ethnic boundaries. The three fundamental dimensions of the relational economic geography framework are accordingly distilled and reinterpreted for craft geographies as symbolic thickness, craft persistence, and heritage fluidity.

In Türkiye, the primary tools for implementing zoning plans include expropriation, parcel division and consolidation, and land readjustment. Additionally, tools such as barter (property exchange) in protected sites and transfer of development rights (TDR) are employed. Barter involves exchanging privately owned properties in protected areas with Treasury lands but has proven largely ineffective. Internationally, TDR enables the transfer of development rights from conservation zones to receiving zones where densification is encouraged. Although TDR was introduced into Turkish legislation in 2004, it remained unimplemented for years due to the lack of secondary regulations. The Council of State ruled that TDR practices based on plan notes were unlawful. Legislative amendments in 2024 and 2025 finally defined TDR within the Zoning Law and established implementation procedures through a regulation. However, the new framework limits TDR to public service areas, lacks incentive mechanisms between sending and receiving parcels, and disregards the integrity of the planning process. The new regulation introduces no measures to prevent the emergence of multistory, high-density developments through plan amendments, in development plans that do not permit high-density construction at the individual parcel level. What is even worse is that, beyond allowing such structures, the new regulation makes the existing problem even more intractable by introducing additional density to randomly designated receiving parcels or islands after the plan has been approved. As a result, TDR in Türkiye has deviated from the win-win model seen in Western practice and has instead become a derivative of barter. The article argues that while a genuine TDR system could balance conservation and development, the current regulation fails to curb rent-seeking, fragmented, and inequitable practices.

This review article examines the global rise of remunicipalisation policies since the early 2000s through their conceptual, geographical, and sectoral dimensions, while critically interrogating why this phenomenon has remained limited and largely invisible in Türkiye from a comparative perspective. As an extension of neoliberal urban policies, privatisation practices intensified from the 1980s onward have generated multidimensional crises, including declining service quality, rising user costs, weakened democratic oversight, and deepening socio-spatial inequalities. In response to these failures, remunicipalisation has emerged as a prominent political and governmental strategy. Rather than treating remunicipalisation as a purely technical shift in ownership, this article conceptualises it as a multilayered field of urban policy encompassing economic, political, social, and ecological dimensions. Drawing on a systematic analysis of 268 academic sources published between 2010 and 2026, the study offers a comparative assessment of remunicipalisation practices across the global North and the South. The findings indicate that remunicipalisation has been most pronounced in water and energy services, shaped in the global North by demands for democratic participation, transparency, and climate objectives, and in the South by struggles over access to basic services and social justice. Crucially, the analysis demonstrates that remunicipalisation does not inherently lead to democratisation, foregrounding the growing debate on “democratic remunicipalisation.” The Türkiye's experience is explored through the case of water services in Çeşme–Alaçatı, revealing how Türkiye’s semi-peripheral political-economic position constrains remunicipalisation dynamics. The article concludes that while remunicipalisation offers a post-neoliberal horizon, meaningful transformation depends on robust participatory mechanisms, social mobilisation, and institutional capacity.

Rural settlements in Türkiye exhibit various typologies in terms of building patterns, settlement textures, and structures. However, the scarcity of studies on the changes in spatial structure of these settlements over time is noteworthy, and the existing literature primarily evaluates rural space through social, economic, or administrative processes. This indicates that spatial structure is not sufficiently addressed as an analytical category. Thus, this study aims to analyse the extent to which academic approaches to rural space in Türkiye encompass transformation processes in rural areas and what kind of theoretical framework they offer for the planning discipline. In this context, articles published in the fields of architecture, planning, and geography and included in the TR Dizin database were examined through qualitative content analysis and themes. Based on the sample examined, it is seen that the spatial organization of rural settlements in Turkish academic literature is shaped around four basic thematic approaches. These approaches are; Research methods are classified as (1) studies focusing on physical and morphological features, (2) evaluations based on planning preferences and settlement scale, (3) local context, local identity and conservation-focused place readings, and (4) research examining socio-spatial transformation processes. The findings reveal the need for analytical approaches that address the spatial, social, and planning dimensions holistically in academic production on rural settlements in Türkiye. This study contributes to making visible the conceptual and methodological gaps in this field by presenting a systematic reading of the literature that evaluates the spatial organization of rural settlements within an analytical framework.