Common Data for the City was discussed in the "What Kind of Izmir" series
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The fourth panel of the "What Kind of Izmir" series was held with the title Common Data for the City".
The fourth panel of the ‘What Kind of Izmir’ series, consisting of 8 panels and 8 workshops in total and moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murad Tiryakioğlu, took place on 21 December 2024 at IzQ Innovation Center.
The first speaker of the panel titled “Common Data for the City”, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Faculty Member Dr. Tuğçe Tezer made a presentation on the example of Hatay, 85 percent of which was destroyed or damaged in the earthquake. Evaluating the February 6, 2023 earthquakes from the perspective of urban planning, Tezer pointed out that the number of contractors in Turkey increased from 450.000 before the earthquake to 646.000 in the period following the earthquake, while there are only 25.000 contractors in the whole of Europe. Sharing data on the damage caused by the earthquake in Hatay, Tezer listed the main reasons that increased the destruction in the city as lack of coordination between institutions, unplanned and fragmented construction, construction on weak ground without taking necessary precautions and lack of building supervision.
Taking the floor after Tezer, Boğaziçi University Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Erensü focused on the concept of 'commons' in his speech. Stating that the loss, enclosure, pollution and deterioration of natural commons cannot be prevented, Erensü said, “Public or private property, for example a cinema or a patisserie, can also be commons. The state of being common varies according to urban memory and joint use. However, if it is not used jointly, it may not be common even if it is public property.” Stating that commoning practices are at the center of bottom-up urban movements, Erensü emphasized that common data is of great importance in topics such as public health and climate adaptation.
“Data is visible but not utilized”
The last speaker of the panel, Prof. Dr. Erkan Saka from Istanbul Bilgi University, emphasized the importance of using artificial intelligence in urban planning processes. Stating that although data is visible, if it is not utilized, it holds no value. Its application is especially crucial in disaster management., Saka said that the use of this data is of great importance in disaster processes. While pointing out the necessity of data driven urban planning applications, Saka dwelled on examples where the available data is used in areas such as traffic management, smart parking, public transportation optimization, environmental monitoring and energy management.
The panel concluded with a question and answer session after the speeches.
