Urban and Regional Planning

Head Of Department: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet TOPÇU

Erasmus Coordinator: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özer KARAKAYACI

Farabi Coordinator: Asst. Prof. Dr. Sinan LEVEND 

Cities are accepted as the driving force of societies both culturally and economically. They are the center of knowledge and economy today as they were in the past. More than half of the world's population has chosen locations in cities, so cities have been struggling with very diverse and complex problems. Cities are living organisms that need to be managed accurately and effectively in the context of the problems they have as well as their potential. Increasing city population has also brought rural settlements to the agenda of all countries. Rural settlements, which have gained importance in terms of food supply /safety and sustainability of natural resources in recent years, are areas that should be handled as precisely as cities.

In essence, planning education focuses on the human being as city dwellers and aim to educate professionals who have knowledge in creating urban environments through producing plans, projects and policies. Planning education, which is not only interested in the physical / spatial aspect of living spaces, has an important mission to teach the management of the development pressure on settlements and natural resources, and the preservation of the historical-cultural values as a common heritage of humanity.

Our department, which was founded in 1994 at Selcuk University, has now been operating officially under the roof of Konya Technical University, Faculty of Architecture and Design since 2018. The department, which maintains educational activities with limited opportunities in the first years of its foundation, is a planning school with more than 25 years of institutional experience, having access to different opportunities both in quantity and quality. Konya, as a historical city, has been getting stronger in the recent years with its transportation investments that connect the city with the other important cities of the country. The fact that the planning studies carried out since the 1960s have made Konya a “planned city” that contributes significantly to the educational activities in the Department. In addition, Erasmus, Mevlana and Farabi student/staff exchange programs, as well as the opportunity to make double major-minor programs are the factors that support the professional development of our students.

The vocational education provided in the department consists of theoretical and practical courses. Information on different areas such as urban design, urban conservation, urban sociology, urban history, urban transportation, urban economy, regional planning, urban management, strategic planning, zoning law, implementation and control of plans, planning for disabled people, geographic information systems, tourism planning is learned within the scope of theoretical courses. This information is transformed into concrete products with plans developed on a regional and local scale within the scope of planning studio modules. As it can be understood from the subjects on which the vocational education process is based, urban and regional planning is an interdisciplinary profession that has close relations with many fields such as architecture, engineering, economics and sociology.

As the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, our main goal is;

- To understand the spatial, economic, social, and cultural characteristics of cities and their regions,

- To analyze processes that reveal these features within the framework of cause and effect relationship,

- To produce policies, projects and ideas at different scales based on local potentials,

- To make efforts to create livable environment while sustaining natural and cultural values,

- To act in accordance with the ethical values of the profession,

- To keep the public interest above personal interests,

- To make efforts for the excluded sections of the society to achieve more equitable living conditions,

- To participate actively in areas that develop depending on technology and use of technology

- To educate students on the profession of urban studies and planning.

As a requirement of planning education, our graduates learn how to analyze cities, rural settlements and community life with multiple data and they are employed in the local governments, Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, ILBANK, regional development agencies, private planning offices, real estate consultancy, development and investment companies.