New Quests in Urban Planning – Ontology and Planning

YEM Yayın’s new book New Quests in Urban Planning - Ontology and Planning, authored by Prof. Dr. Ahmet Alkan, has been published. The book invites readers, especially designers, to “rethink space and time on an ontological basis.”

Space, which has played a dominant role in the process of social structure, science, and technological change, has turned into a difficult problem area over the last hundred years. Seeing dreaming and thinking as the most productive resource nourishing the architect's identity, Ahmet Alkan, in his book New Quests in Urban Planning - Ontology and Planning, opens up the discussion of “rethinking space and time on an ontological basis” with the hope of contributing to the holistic search for solutions needed to overcome the deep problems experienced in this field.

Ahmet Alkan emphasizes that the "free city" he elaborates on in the book is a concept that should be considered as a model that prioritizes the right to nature and reveals the ontological principles of building a constantly livable space for humanity, stating:

"...The historical accumulation we possess has revealed the following: Within ontological integrity, comprehending the city and urban planning, and trying to build the city by utilizing scientific methods and techniques nourished by the determinism of the universe, without confronting the existential roots of problems and developing tools that can change these reasons, has not yielded the results we expected from urban planning to date. The planning discipline must renew itself in harmony with the great changes the universe is experiencing.

As planners, in order to sweep our own doorstep, we must find ways to evaluate the principles inherent in the ontological structure of nature, together with the accelerating forces unleashed by humanity's self-initiated change.

A process free from economic and political pressures in planning is the initial stage of our intellectual journey towards a 'free city'... We can achieve this through 'consistency' that we will build holistically, from the 'big idea' we will establish in the principled context of planning, to the phenomenal planning stage...

The survival of the new generation depends on perceiving the social structure-technology-space/time interaction on this plane of consciousness..."

The cover of the book, graphic design and application by Resul Atabay, features an architectural sketch by Heval Zeliha Yüksel Üçok, depicting the urban fabric as if embroidered.

 WHO IS AHMET ALKAN?

Born in 1954 in Konya, Ahırlı. Senior Architect and urban planner. A man of science (Prof. Dr.) and politics (Member of Parliament). At the same time, a practitioner who sees producing architectural projects as the meaning of his life, draws in every period, and builds whenever he finds the opportunity. In his academic career, which began in 1978, in addition to participating in numerous papers, articles, seminars, and conferences, he played a significant role in establishing the Selçuk University Faculty of Architecture (2012-2018), of which he was the founding dean, organizing national and international symposiums, and preparing the journal (ICONARP) for publication.

Alkan, who sees dreaming as the most productive source nourishing his architect identity, has also engaged in poetry and literature. Ahmet Alkan, who considers the thousands of professionals he has trained in various scientific fields as the purpose and source of pride in his life, also sees recording his experiences and knowledge as his social and scientific responsibility for the rest of his life.

 AUTHOR'S BOOKS

• Socio-Economic Analysis of the City in its Development Process, KDMMA Publication, Konya, 1981.
• Principles of Historical Environment Planning, KDMMA Publication, Konya, 1982.
• A Research on a New Method Applicable in Technical Infrastructure Planning in Urban Settlements, SÜ Publication, 1983.
• Konya; Planning Problems of the Historical City, Konya, 1994.
• Dotted Lines from the 20th Term, TBMM Publishing House, Ankara, 1996.
• Season of Love, Palet Publishing House, Konya, 2013.
• TIP in the Climate of '68, Akçağ Publishing House, Ankara, 2015.
• Naz Demi, Palet Publishing House, Konya, 2019.
• Architecture and Planning Practice of the Last Fifty Years with Memories, YEM Yayın, Istanbul, 2019.
• What Remained in the Corner from the Ant's Memories, Palet Publishing House, Konya, 2021.