Research Units I Urban, Environmental and Climate Studies

Urban, Environmental and Climate Studies

1. URBAN STUDIES

Almost all researchers engaged in various fields of social science come across the concept of the city, either directly or indirectly. The study of the economic, social, physical and cultural dynamics of the city provides an understanding of various sciences and disciplines, from architecture to law, politics to spatial transformation, production relations to trade. In addition, the city and urbanisation are key concepts in the history of humanity. Following the agricultural revolution in the Neolithic Age, people began to organise into large communities and live in permanent settlements, which has led to the formation of many structures in today’s societies and the continuity of these structures. Today we refer to this concept as civilisation. The association of the word “city” with civilisation (Lat. civitas, Ar. medina) in different languages is certainly no coincidence.

In parallel with the global economic development that emerged following the Industrial Revolution, major changes in social structures, along with the increasing division of labour and specialisation have led to the rise in the number and population of cities, which continue to grow. Considering that the majority of the world’s population now lives in cities and the migration from rural areas to urban settlements has not lost momentum, the 21st century will be a period in which urban lifestyle, in all its dimensions, will dominate. The World Bank estimates that by 2045, the urban population will increase by one and a half times, reaching 6 billion. The unprecedented size of cities with populations exceeding 50 million in developing countries in Asia and Africa will perhaps make us forget everything we know and have learned about cities, requiring a complete restructuring of urban approaches.

Within this framework, one of our research units within BÜSAM (Istanbul Beykent University Strategic Research Centre) is to study the cities of the past and present, taking into consideration the vast diversity they encompass, and to provide concrete data and reference points for future generations, who will undoubtedly engage more extensively with the concepts of the city and urbanisation.

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2. ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE STUDIES

The issue of climate change has drawn attention due to the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in parallel with industrialisation, and has evolved into a growing global crisis since the second half of the 20th century. If this crisis is not managed, the Earth risks losing its capacity to remain a habitable planet. Therefore, over the past 50 years, various measures have been taken and policies have been developed by different actors at local, national, regional and global levels to combat climate change and adapt to its effects at the same.

The most recent global agreement on this issue is the Paris Agreement, which was signed by the United Nations in 2015. At the national level, many countries have set and implemented targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, at the local level, many cities have taken action by preparing their own climate change mitigation and adaptation plans. In recent years, it has been observed that many companies have independently set their goals for achieving carbon neutrality and have publicly shared the strategic plans they have developed in this regard. Regionally, the European Green Deal, signed by the European Union at the end of 2019, stands out as a significant turning point. With these developments, combating the climate crisis and climate change, along with adaptation efforts, has emerged as the most defining and guiding topics of the new world order.

Today, individual, corporate, local, national and international efforts to tackle the climate crisis are increasingly continuing. As BÜSAM (Istanbul Beykent University Strategic Research Centre), another of our objectives is to contribute to raising awareness in the fight against the climate crisis, share the latest developments on the subject, provide information, facilitate the development of new solutions, formulate projects, support interdisciplinary research in this field, create discussion platforms through seminars and conferences, and ultimately support the protection of our planet’s unique resources and living spaces.

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In the Urban, Environmental and Climate Studies Unit, based on the above explanations, our goal is to comprehensively address how we can protect our cities, which constitute one of the most important pillars of our civilisation, from climate change—one of the greatest threats they face today—how the sustainability of our cities can be ensured in the face of environmental issues, and how our cities can adapt to climate change, all from an interdisciplinary perspective.

In this context, seminars, conferences, and publications are planned, along with the sharing of important reports and resources, with the aim of supporting both awareness and informational efforts in this field.