YA BLOG
a collaboration between young academics

Welcome to the blog of the Young Academics of the Association of the European Schools of Planning. It has a rich history. We welcome your contributions and you can find information on how to contribute and the guidelines here.

The civic role of universities

Why is the civic role of universities relevant in developing better learning environments to achieve effective urban alternatives? This reflection is based on my Ph.D. thesis titled, Universities as Potential Social Agents in the Urban Regeneration of Fragile Local Communities: A Mutual Learning Process. As I embark on this reflection, it is c...

  251 Hits

Mathare - Future’s Urban Green Oasis

This blog post tells the story of community-led tree-planting activities and youths' efforts in Mlango Kubwa, Mathare, to transform their neighborhood into one that is more conducive to and life-supporting for future generations. Mathare residential area is in Mathare Valley, Nairobi. Mathare is Kenya's second largest informal settlement, home...

  1072 Hits

Interview | Beauty in the built environment (Part II)

This is the second part of our interview with two scholars who research what makes cities beautiful. If you missed part one, you can read it here.  Some research on "beautiful cities" has emphasized the economic premium placed on built environments considered particularly aesthetically pleasing. Is there a way to avoid a situati...

  478 Hits

Interview | Beauty in the built environment (part I)

A conversation with two scholars about what makes cities beautiful, and the role of planning in creating beautiful human environments (or not). Aesthetics once played an indispensable role in city-making processes, as anyone who has ever visited a medieval Italian town or a Middle Eastern walled city can attest. These days, while aestheti...

  1497 Hits

BOOK REVIEW | The speculative practices shaping Indian cities

A Review of Llerena Guiu Searle's Landscapes of Accumulation: Real Estate and the Neoliberal Imagination in Contemporary India By Meher Bhagia In the early 2000s, a new narrative about economic growth in India began circulating among real estate investors. This narrative muddled stories of rising land prices with accounts of growth in GDP, incomes,...

  593 Hits

Experience as a chair of the YA Coordination Team (2022-2023)

AESOP YAN General Assembly AESOP YAN General Assembly at 18th AESOP Young Academics Conference, organized by DAStU - Politecnico di Milano ​in March 2024

Dear fellow young academics, future CT members and friends, I am Ceren, an urban planner and postdoctoral researcher based in Bratislava, Slovakia. Since 2022, I have been an elected member of the Young Academics (YA) Coordination Team (CT), and since June 2023 I am the elected Chair of the YA network and AESOP ExCo member. I wanted to take a momen...

  1116 Hits

Design workshop to promote awareness towards cultural heritage and sustainability: Lessons from Turkey

Reading time 8 min. About the author: Sıla Ceren Varış Husar, Kütahya Dumlupınar University and Slovak University of Technology Sıla Ceren Varış Husar, a postdoctoral researcher, completed her PhD at the Middle East Technical University Department of City and Regional Planning in 2021. Her dissertation focuses on regional innovation and its relatio...

  2753 Hits

Call to participate in ZERO: The First Climate Radio Broadcast at Ain Shams University in Cairo - DEADLINE UPDATED-

a 24-hr translingual radio broadcast exploring climate mitigation and decarbonisation through the theme of numeracy This year spatialradio.live, with the support of The British Council in Egypt, is partnering with Ain Shams University Cairo to develop a broadcast called 'Zero' with the subtitle Numeracy Narratives for Urban Resilience. This broadca...

  1960 Hits

Impact circles - Research Internship Program

https://impactcircles.org/team/ Following our latest call to action, Dr.-Ing. Mennatullah Hendawy, a member of the AESOP YA Coordination team, showcases the following project (We look forward to receiving and showcasing similar projects!): At Impact circles, Our mission is to collect Informed Data to gain new knowledge. Each team member combin...

  2420 Hits

Literature reviews at odds: Between conflict management and information overload

10 min. read Introduction In the first article in this series, I discussed the importance of starting and ending with why, and how a fit-for-purpose strategy can help deliver a meaningful contribution to knowledge. This, even as the odds of research projects may lead one off the beaten-track and into the great wilderness of the 'Unplanned'. The cap...

  2085 Hits

Call to Action: Project showcase

In addition to our blog re-focus towards articles showcasing what is going to happen to planning and urban studies pedagogy to invite you to share your urban planning and design-based specific projects, showcasing them for the broad audience of AESOP YA. Specifically, we are looking to showcase individual projects that are exciting case studies of ...

  1278 Hits

Literature reviews: start (and end) with ‘why?’

Library

Starting our series of posts around urban studies research and pedagogical alternatives post-2020, we have our very own Ian Babelon again with us. This first article is focused on his observations and insights around literature reviews that start and end with 'why'. We are confident this series of literature reviews will give you much material for ...

  1786 Hits

AESOP YA Blog statement – Summer 2022

There is a change that is happening within the planning discipline. Issues of public and private health, natural disasters, international conflicts, the rise of populism and illiberalism but also personal well-being, autonomy, and critique towards positions of power are evolving around the built environment. The fundamentally social and environment...

  1156 Hits

Civil society initiative for user-generated urban development processes: equal partners in post-industrial cities?

figure_02_die-urbanisten

Introduction  Cities in diverse contexts experience increasing civil society engagement through neighbourhood-scale, informal and citizen-based interventions. Local expertise provides civil society initiatives with a notable advantage over professional planners and offers the possibility to become place-makers – and ultimately urban planners –...

  3085 Hits

VOTING STARTED: AESOP YA Coordination Team 2022-24

1 min. read The voting platform for the following AESOP Young Academics Network Coordination Team members is now open. We are looking for three new members who will join the AESOP Young Academics Coordination Team (CT) from June 2022 for two years. This is an excellent opportunity for everyone who wants to support the many activities of AESOP,...

  1200 Hits

5th World Planning Schools Conference - Opportunities for Planning Students

2 min. read The 5th World Planning Schools Conference and the 16th Asian Planning Schools Association Congress WPSC-APSA 2022 are being held in Bali, Indonesia ...

  1771 Hits

Shrinking Villages jeopardizing Himalayan future

6 min. read The recently released IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2022 (AR6) echoes the growing concern of risks from climate change as a precursor...

  1300 Hits

Operationalizing the 'Just City' – Annual conference of the AESOP Thematic Group of Ethics, Values and Planning.

1 min. Read. Hello AESOP Young Academics. Happy new year! We start this year 2022 by reporting on the annual conference of the AESOP Thematic Group on Ethics, V...

  1061 Hits

(Abstract Deadline EXTENDED) PlaNext Special issue - Cities in the face of crises: Planning & designing future living environments

3 min read. We are pleased to inform that there is still time until the 31st of December to take part in the Special Issue of PlaNext: Cities in the face of cri...

  1135 Hits

Call for Proposals to host the 17th Annual Conference of the YA Network - AESOP

The call for proposals to host the 17th Annual Conference of the Young Academics Network from the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) in 2023 is...

  1151 Hits