News!

Forthcoming publications

Severcan, YC., Ozbil Torun, A., Defeyter, MA., Akin, Z., Bingol, H. “Associations of children’s mental wellbeing and the urban form characteristics of their everyday places”, under review.

Severcan, YC., Ozbil Torun, A., Defeyter, MA., Akin, Z., Bingol, H. “Environmental Predictors of Children’s Mental Wellbeing in Ankara” , under review.

Research Workshops

Workshop with Cankaya Municipality in Ankara, Turkey, 12th April 2023

Our research on built environment determinants of children’s mental health offers valuable evidence for local governments to shape neighbourhood-level interventions. The framework and project findings were presented at the Municipality’s neighbourhood/street-level interventions through a data-led approach. Officers from various teams, including planning, children’s health and wellbeing, and urban design, engaged with the discussions. We are currently co-developing a tailored policy brief to inform the Municipality’s broader policy and planning documents.

Research Seminars

AESOP 2023 Congress (presentation), 11-15 July, Lodz, Poland

Assessment of Urban Planning and Design Guidelines for Creating Child-Friendly Environments: What Can We Learn from Children?

Zelal Akin, Yucel Severcan, Ayse Ozbil Torun, Margaret Anne Defeyter, Heval Bingol

13th International Space Syntax Symposium (presentation and proceedings, 20-24 June 2022, Bergen, Norway

Neighbourhood design and identification of objective built environment features supportive of children’s mental wellbeing

Ayse Ozbil Torun, Yucel Severcan, Margaret Anne Defeyter, Heval Bingol, Zelal Akin

Development Studies Association (DSA) Annual Conference (presentation and proceedings), 28-30 June, 2023, Reading, UK

Learning from Children: design and policy insights for child-friendly neighbourhood design

Ayse Ozbil Turn (Northumbria University), Yucel Severcan (Middle East Technical University), Zelal Akin (Middle East Technical University), Margaret Anne Defeyter (Northumbria University), Heval Bingol (Middle East Technical University)

Lecture at Northumbria University, 23rd November 2023

The UK and Turkish teams presented the project’s framework and preliminary findings to ABE colleagues at the University. There was high attendance with an effective Q&A.

Lecture at Middle East Technical University, 10th April 2023

The UK and Turkish teams presented the project’s framework and preliminary findings to a wide range of colleagues at METU. There was high attendance with an effective Q&A.

Participatory Mapping with Children

Data Collection was carried out through map-based focus groups with participating children in Ankara, Turkey as well as questionnaires evaluating children’s mental health.