Prof.Dr. Tuna Tasan-Kok (www.tunatasankok.eu)

Biography

I am an urban social geographer and planner. I graduated from the department of City and Regional Planning at Dokuz Eylul University of Izmir cum laude, and completed a M.Sc. in Regional Planning at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey in 1996. Being awarded by Turkish, Polish and Hungarian scientific funds, I worked as a research fellow in the Polish and Hungarian Academy of Sciences until 2000. I received a PhD in Social Geography on the topic of 'Budapest, Istanbul, and Warsaw: Institutional and Spatial Change' from the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, under the supervision of Prof.Dr. Jan van Weesep in 2004. I was awarded with a FURS (Foundation for Urban and Regional Research) Grant and a SYLFF (The Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund) Grant during my PhD. Subsequently I took up researcher and lectureship positions at the Universities of Leuven (2005-2007), TU Delft, OTB Research for the Built Environment (2007-2015), and University College Roosevelt (2011-2014), before taking up my current position in the Department of Human Geography, Urban Planning and International Development at the UvA in September 2015. I have been appointed as Professor of Urban Governance and Planning as of February 2018 at the UvA Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Research

My research focuses on regulation of urban development and change from different angles, on themes of urban governance, property-led urban development dynamics, and spatial organisation through social relations. I'm specifically interested in involvement of diverse actors and regulation of their interests in specific projects, processes and developments in cities. I have initiated, coordinated, and implemented several internationally and locally funded research projects and have attracted significant research funding including a prestigious multi-million EU grant (FP7 project DIVERCITIES), for which she was one of the scientific co-coordinators. My current research funding is approaching €8 million, of which more than € 1.8 million is directly generated for the academic organisations I worked for. I am currently the scientific coordinator of a ORA (Open Research Area for the Social Sciences) funded research project (WHIG), which is on residential investment landscapes and the governance and regulation of housing productionAs a consortium lead by Prof.Dr. Mike Raco (UCL) with the contribution of myself and Prof.Dr.Patrick Le Gales (Sciences Po, Paris) we will explore the complex governance landscapes created by property investment markets in Amsterdam, London and Paris for the next 3 years. Recently I completed a jointly  funded (NWO-ESRC-FAPESP) research project (PARCOUR) as the scientific co-coordinator. PARCOUR (Public Accountability to Residents in Contractual Urban Redevelopment) focuses on the extent to which, and how, governance forms, associated with the use of contractual approaches in regeneration projects dealing with previously developed land, impact on inequalities and the implications for sustainable urban development. We argue that public accountability may decline where regulatory arrangements involve the private sector as a facilitator of the regeneration of previously developed urban land. This may undermine the authority of public agencies and residents’ interests and thus affect sustainable urban development negatively. DIVERCITIES (Governing Urban Diversity: Creating social cohesion, social mobility and economic performance in today’s hyperdiversified cities) project, which is funded by European Commission in 2013 (see: http://www.urbandivercities.eu/) is examining the relationships between urban policy and diversity in European cities. The principal aim of this project is to provide evidence for the range of social and socio- outcomes that may emerge from greater urban diversity, particularly its positive aspects, and to document and highlight the significant role that urban policy and local governance arrangements can play in developing and stimulating those positive outcomes. My research within DIVERCITIES project focuses on the case of Toronto. Other recent project, Sustainable Land Use Policies for Resilient Cities (SUPER-CITIES), financed by Urban-Net (European funds, national NICIS organisation) has examined the adaptive governance system in the Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey and Portugal.

Recent peer reviewed articles

Ozdemir, E., & Tasan-Kok, T. (forthcoming). Planners’ role in accommodating disagreements of citizens – the case of Dutch urban planning. Urban Studies, (Type Setting Process).

Tasan-Kok, T. (2016) “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”: Giving voice to planning practitioners, Planning Theory & Practice, 17(4), http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2016.1225711.

Penpecioğlu, M. and Taşan-Kok, T. (2016) Alienated and politicized? Young planners’ confrontation with entrepreneurial and authoritarian state intervention in urban development in Turkey, European Planning Studies, 24(6), pp: 1037-1055 (DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2015.1135233).

Tasan-Kok, T. (2015) Creating ‘spaces for diversity’ from ‘spaces of modernity’: The case of the Jane-Finch neighbourhood, Toronto (Canada), Journal AR Architecture, 1, pp: 24-33 (http://www.fa.uni-lj.si/filelib/9_ar/2015-1/03-tuna-ar2015-1.pdf).

Pessoa, I., Tasan-Kok, T. and Korthals Altes, W. (2015) Brazilian urban porosity: Treat or threat?, Proceedings of the ICE – Urban Design and Planning, 169(2), pp: 47-55 (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/udap.15.00009).

Stead, D., de Vries, J. and Tasan-Kok, T. (eds.) (2015) Differential Planning: Understanding and explaining distinct trajectories of planning policies, processes and outcomes in European territories. European Planning Studies, 23(11), pp: 2127-2132 (DOI:10.1080/09654313.2015.1016402).

Tasan-Kok, T. (2015) Analyzing path-dependence to understand divergence: Investigating hybrid neoliberal urban transformation processes in Turkey, European Planning Studies, 23(11), pp: 2184-2209 (DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2015.1018458).

Eraydin, A. and Tasan-Kok, T. (2014) State response to contemporary urban movements in Turkey: A critical overview of state entrepreneurialism and authoritarian interventions. Antipode, 46(1), pp: 110–129 (DOI: 10.1111/anti.12042).

Tasan-Kok, T. and Korthals Altes, W. (2012) Rescaling Europe: Effects of Single European Market regulations on localized networks of governance in land development, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 36(6), pp: 1268-1287 (DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2012.001141.x).

Tasan-Kok, T., Groetelaers, D., Haffner, M., Korthals Althes, W. and van der Heijden, H. (2011) Providing Cheap Land for Social Housing: Breaching the state-aid regulations of the Single European Market? Regional Studies, 47(4), pp: 628-642 (DOI:10.1080/00343404.2011.581654).

Tasan-Kok, T. (2010), Entrepreneurial governance: Challenges of large-scale property-led urban regeneration projects, Journal of Economic and Social Geography (TESG), 101(2), pp: 126–149 (DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9663.2009.00521.x).

Eraydin, A., Tasan-Kok, T.  and Vranken, J. (2010) Diversity Matters: Immigrant Entrepreneurship and Contribution of Different Forms of Social Integration in Economic Performance of Cities, European Planning Studies, 18(4), pp: 521-543 (DOI: 10.1080/09654311003593556).

Munoz Gielen, D. and Tasan-Kok, T. (2010) Flexibility in planning and the consequences for public-value capturing in England, Spain and the Netherlands, European Planning Studies, 18(7), pp: 1097-1131 (DOI:10.1080/09654311003744191).

Korthals Altes, W. and Tasan-Kok, T. (2010) The Impact of European Public Contract Law on Networks of Governance: A Relational Approach, European Planning Studies, 18(6), pp: 971-988 (DOI:10.1080/09654311003701522).

Tasan-Kok, T. (2008) Changing interpretations of 'flexibility' in the planning literature: from opportunism to creativity? International Planning Studies, 14(4), pp: 183-195 (DOI: 10.1080/13563470802521382).

Tasan-Kok, T. (2007) Global urban forms and local property actors: Commercial property in focus, Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 22(69), pp: 69-90 (doi:10.1007/s10901-006-9067-0).

Tasan-Kok, T. and van Weesep, J. (2007) Global-local interaction and its impact on cities, Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 22, 1, pp: 1-11 (doi:10.1007/s10901-006-9063-4).

Special issue editorships

Tasan-Kok, T. (2016) “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”: Giving voice to planning practitioners, Planning Theory & Practice, 17(4), forthcoming Interface issue.

Stead, D., de Vries, J. and Tasan-Kok, T. (2015), Special Issue: Differential Planning: Understanding and explaining distinct trajectories of planning policies, processes and outcomes in European territories. European Planning Studies, 23(11), pp: 2127-2132 (DOI:10.1080/09654313.2015.1016402).

Tasan-Kok, T. and van Weesep, J. (2007), Special Issue: Globalization, urban systems, and local development. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 22(1) (DOI: 10.1007/s10901-006-9063-4) .

Books

Tasan-Kok, T. and Oranje, M. (eds.) (2017) From Planning Student to Urban Planner: Young practitioners’ reflections on contemporary ethical challenges, Routledge: New York (https://www.routledge.com/From-Student-to-Urban-Planner-Young-Practitioners-Reflections-on-Contemporary/Tasan-Kok-Oranje/p/book/9781138847354nje/p/book/9781138847354).

Tasan-Kok, T. and Ozogul, S. (2017) Living with Urban Diversity: The case of Toronto. University of Utrecht: Utrecht (forthcoming) (http://urbandiversities.eu).

Tasan-Kok, T., Bolt, G., Plus, L., and Schenkel, W. (2017) A Handbook for Governing Hyper-diverse Cities. Utrecht: Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences (https://www.urbandivercities.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DIVERCITIES-Handbook-Digital.pdf).

Eraydin, A. and Tasan-Kok, T. (eds.) (2012) Resilient Thinking in Urban Planning, Springer: Dordrecht (http://www.springer.com/us/book/9789400754751).

Tasan-Kok, T. and Vranken, J. (2011) Handbook for Multilevel Urban Governance in Europe: Analysing Participatory Instruments for an Integrated Urban Development. EUKN: The Hague (http://www.eukn.eu/fileadmin/Lib/files/EUKN/2013/15_03_Handbook%20for%20multilevel%20URBAN%20govenance%20in%20Europe.docx.pdf).

Tasan-Kok, T. and Baeten, G. (eds.) (2011) Contradictions of Neoliberal Planning: Cities, Policies, and Politics, Springer: Dordrecht (http://www.springer.com/us/book/9789048189236).

Ache, P., Andersen, H.T., Maolutas, T., Raco, M. and Tasan-Kok, T. (eds.) (2008) Cities between Competitiveness and Cohesion. Discourses, Realities and Implementation, Springer: Dordrecht (http://www.springer.com/us/book/9781402082405).

Tasan-Kok, T. (2004) Budapest, Istanbul, and Warsaw: Institutional and Spatial Change. Eburon: Delft (http://www.eburon.nl/budapest_istanbul_and_warsaw).

Contribution to books

Tasan-Kok, T. and Oranje, M. (2017) Introduction: Young practitioners’ reflections on contemporary ethical challenges. In: T. Tasan-Kok and M. Oranje (eds.) From planning student to urban planner: Young practitioners’ reflections on contemporary ethical challenges (forthcoming).

Tasan-Kok, T., Babalik-Sutcliffe, E., Oranje, M. and van Huyssteen, E. (2017) Contemporary ethical and educational challenges, conflicts, and complexities for planners. In: T. Tasan-Kok and M. Oranje (eds.) From planning student to urban planner: Young practitioners’ reflections on contemporary ethical challenges (forthcoming).

Tasan-Kok, T. and Penpecioglu, M. (2017) Confronted and disappointed? Struggle of Turkish planners with authoritarian-state-regulated urban development. In: T. Tasan-Kok and M. Oranje (eds.) From Planning Student to Urban Planner: Young Practitioners’ Reflections on Contemporary Ethical Challenges (forthcoming).

Tasan-Kok, T. and Korthals Altes, W. (2017) Still a planners’ paradise? A new role for young planners in the Netherlands. In: T. Tasan-Kok and M. Oranje (eds.) From Planning Student to Urban Planner: Young Practitioners’ Reflections on Contemporary Ethical Challenges (forthcoming).

Eraydin, A., Tasan-Kok, T. and Stead, D. (2012) Introduction: Resilience thinking in urban planning. In: A. Eraydin and T. Tasan-Kok (eds.) Resilience Thinking in Urban Planning, pp: 1-16, Springer: Dordrecht (http://www.springer.com/us/book/9789400754751).

Tasan-Kok, T., Stead, D. And Lu, P. (2012) Conceptual overview of resilience: History and context. In: A. Eraydin and T. Tasan-Kok (eds.) Resilience Thinking in Urban Planning, pp: 39-51, Springer: Dordrecht (http://www.springer.com/us/book/9789400754751).

Tasan-Kok, T., Stead, D. (2012) Analyzing spatially explicit vulnerability to changing drivers of global change in Istanbul, Lisbon, Oporto, Rotterdam, and Stockholm. In: A. Eraydin and T. Tasan-Kok (eds.) Resilience Thinking in Urban Planning, pp: 71-91, Springer: Dordrecht (http://www.springer.com/us/book/9789400754751).

Stead, D. and Tasan-Kok, T. (2012) Urban Resilience, Climate Change and Land-Use Planning in Rotterdam. In: A. Eraydin and T. Tasan-Kok (eds.) Resilience Thinking in Urban Planning, pp: 211-227, Springer: Dordrecht (http://www.springer.com/us/book/9789400754751).

Tasan-Kok, T. (2012) Changing dynamics of residential segregation in Istanbul. In: T. Maloutas and K. Fujita, Residential Segregation in Comparative Perspective: Making Sense of Contextual Diversity, pp: 237-257, Ashgate: Farnham (https://www.routledge.com/Residential-Segregation-in-Comparative-Perspective-Making-Sense-of-Contextual/Fujita-Maloutas/p/book/9781409418733).

Tasan-Kok, T. and Zaleczna, M. (2011) Formal and non-formal obstacles by entering into Public Private Partnership in urban development projects in Poland. In: M. di Tira, E. Van der Krabben and B. Zanon (eds.) Land Management for Urban Development: Innovative methods and practices in a changing Europe, pp: 373-380, Maggioli, Milan (ISBN 978-8838-76066-7).

Babalik-Sutcliffe, E. and Tasan-Kok, T. (2011) Changing planning education in Turkey and in the World (Dünya'da ve Türkiye'de Planlama Egitiminin Degisimi), (in Turkish). In: A. Eraydin (ed.) Past, Present  and Future of Planning: The Quest for New Discourses (Planlamanin  Dunu, Bugunu, Yarini: Planlamada Yeni Soylem Arayislari) Proceedings Book of the Second Symposium of Urban and Regional Research, 8-9  December 2011, Ankara, pp: 591-603.

Tasan-Kok, T. (2011) Introduction: Contradictions of neoliberal urban planning. In: T. Tasan-Kok and G. Baeten, (eds.) Contradictions of Neoliberal Planning: Cities, Policies and Politics, pp. 1-21,  Springer: Dordrecht.

Tasan-Kok, T. and Korthals Altes, W. (2011) Transnational neoliberalisation and the role of supranational trade agreements in local urban policy implementation: The case of the European Union. In: T. Tasan-Kok and G. Baeten, (eds.) Contradictions of Neoliberal Planning: Cities, Policies and Politics, pp: 79-99, Springer: Dordrecht.

Tasan-Kok, T. and Sungu-Eryilmaz , Y. (2010) Challenges of waterfront development in European cities: Any room for socially innovative instruments? In: G. Desfor, J. Laidley, Q. Stevens, and D. Schubert (eds.) Transforming Waterfronts: Fixity and Flow, pp: 257-274, Routledge: New York.

Raco, M. and Tasan-Kok, T.(2009) Competitiveness, Cohesion, and the Credit Crunch: Reflections on the Sustainability of Urban Policy. In K. De Boyser, C. Dewilde, D. Dierckx, and J. Friedrichs (eds.), Between the Spatial and the Social, pp: 183-197, Ashgate: Farnham.

Albrecths, L. and Tasan-Kok, T. (2009) Corridor and axis development. In: Kitchin, R. and Thrift, N. International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, MS number 833, pp. 298-304.

Tasan-Kok, T. (2008) Spatial and institutional consequences of globalization in Istanbul: Focus in commercial property markets, In: V. Mamadough, S.M. de Jong, F. Thissen, J, van der Schee, M. van Meeteren (eds.), Dutch Windows on the Mediterranean: Dutch Geography 2004-2008 (NGS series, 376), pp. 44-51.

Tasan-Kok, T. and Vranken, J. (2008) From survival to competition? The socio-spatial evolution of immigrant entrepreneurs in Antwerp, Belgium. In: P. Ache, H.T.Andersen, T. Maolutas, M. Raco, and Tasan-Kok, T. (eds.) Cities between Competitiveness and Cohesion. Discourses, Realities and Implementation, pp: 151-169, Springer: Dordrecht.

Maloutas, T., Raco, M. and Tasan-Kok, T. (2008) Conclusions – Competitiveness and cohesion: One discourse, multiple realities and new challenges for policy and research. In: P. Ache, H.T.Andersen, T. Maolutas, M. Raco, and Tasan-Kok, T. (eds.) Cities between Competitiveness and Cohesion. Discourses, Realities and Implementation, pp: 259-275, Springer: Dordrecht.

Tasan-Kok, T. (2008) Urban regeneration via large-scale public-led strategic projects: Complex but necessary? In M. Sitar (ed.) Urban Futures, pp: 181-195, University of Maribor Publications: Maribor.

Tasan-Kok, T. (2006) Kuresel butunlesme surecinde kurumsal ve mekansal degisim: Budapeste, Istanbul ve Varsova Ornekleri (in Turkish) (Spatial and institutional change in the process of global integration: Cases of Budapest, Istanbul and Warsaw). In: A. Eraydin (ed.) Degisen Mekan: Mekansal Sureclere Iliskin Tartisma ve Arastirmalara Toplu Bakis 1923-2003 (Changing Space: An overview on Research on Spatial Processes 1923-2003), Dost: Ankara (ISBN: 975-298-224-7).

Tasan-Kok, T. (2006) Institutional and spatial change. In: S. Tsenkova and Z. Nedović-Budić. The Urban Mosaic of Post-Socialist Europe: Space, Institutions, and Policy, pp: 51-70, Springer: Dordrecht.

Research reports

Ozogul, S. and Tasan-Kok, T. (2016) Fieldwork entrepreneurs in Toronto, Jane-Finch (Canada). Research Report submitted to European Commission. Amsterdam: UvA.

Ahmadi, D. and T. Tasan-Kok (2015) Fieldwork inhabitants, Toronto (Canada). Research Report submitted to European Commission. Delft: TU Delft.

Ahmadi, D. and T. Tasan-Kok (2014) Assessment of Urban Policies in Toronto, Canada. Research Report submitted to European Commission. Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology.

Tasan-Kok, T., R. van Kempen, M. Raco and G. Bolt (2013) Towards Hyper-Diversified European Cities: A Critical Literature Review. Research Report submitted to European Commission. Delft: TUDelft.

Tasan-Kok, T., R. van Kempen, R., M. Raco, and G. Bolt, (eds.) (2013) DIVERCITIES: Detailed Research Guidelines. Research Report submitted to European Commission. Delft: TUDelft.

Ahmadi, D. and Tasan-Kok, T. (2013) Assessment of Urban Policies in Canada. Research Report submitted to European Commission. Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology.

Editorial activity

I sit on the editorial board of European Urban and Regional Studies; Journal of Housing and the Built Environment (HBE); and European Journal of Spatial Development (EJSD). I've been reviewing articles as an external referee frequently for major journals in the field of urban geography and planning including European Urban and Regional Studies (EURS), Journal of Economic and Social Geography (TESG), International Journal of Urban and Regional Research (IJURR), European Planning Studies (EPS), Urban Studies, International Planning Studies, Local Environment, Planning Perspectives, Geoforum, GeoJournal, Planning Practice and Research, Planning Theory & Parctice, METU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture, Geographiska Annuler.

Invited keynote speeches

Invited Expert, Lecture and workshop organized for Social Planners at the Municipality of Antwerp ‘Planning for diversity: Urban planning as a tool to deal with complexifying urban diversity’, Antwerp, Belgium (2016, May)

Invited Speaker, NCRP Public Forum ‘Toronto’s Hyper-diversity: Opportunity or Challenge: How do we build cities where we aren't just living in the same space, but living together?’ Ignatieff Theatre, University of Toronto, Toronto (2016, May).

Invited Speaker, KU Leuven Friction Spaces Talks, ‘Political nature of diversity planning in the neoliberal era in Toronto’ Leuven, Belgium (2016, May).

Invited Keynote Speaker, Nordregio Forum 2015: Nordic City Regions in a Global Environment, ‘How can Nordic cities profit from diversity of their population?
A hyper-diversity perspective’, Helsingor, Sweden (http://www.nordregio.se/News/Flyvbjerg-Forget-about-mega-projects-and-place-people-first/Tuna-Tasan-Kok/How-can-Nordic-cities-profit-from-the-diversity-of-their-population/) (2015, November).

Invited Speaker, De Staat van de Stad: Living with Diversity in Urban Neighbourhoods, ‘Living with Diversity in Toronto: Learning from Jane Finch Residents’ Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam (https://dezwijger.nl/programma/living-with-diversity-in-urban-neighbourhoods) (2015, November).

Invited Speaker, European Commission, Workshop on Migration, ‘Creating social cohesion, social mobility and economic performance in today's hyper-diversified cities’, Brussels (2015, September).

Invited Keynote Speaker, WG2 COST Action End Conference, Milano, ‘Governing diversity in Toronto: Power of community-based planning & policy making’ Politechnic University of Milan, Milan (2014, November).

Invited Keynote Speaker, Onassis Foundation Cultural Centre: Urban Regeneration without Loosers?, ‘Urban redevelopment for the public interest?’ Onassis Foundation, Athens (http://www.sgt.gr/eng/SPG815/) (2014, May).

Invited Keynote Speaker, ReNewTown Final Conference, ‘From post-socialism towards post-neoliberalism? Challenges and contradictions of planning and governance in new neoliberal cities’, Ljubljana, Slovenia (http://www.renewtown.eu/renewtown-news/items/the-renewtown-final-conference-took-place-on-11-12-of-february-2014-at-the-university-of-ljubljana.html) (2014, February).

Invited speaker, Kenniscafe Turkije (LeescafeLive): in a live TV show organized by Zeeuwse Library, Middelburg (2013, September).

Invited keynote moderator at Multi-level Urban Governance Conference organized by Grotestedenbeleid, POD, EU Trio, Liege, Belgium 2010, December).

Invited speaker at the Territorial Governance in Europe:  Convergence, Divergence or Constancy? Expert Workshop organized by Dominic Stead at the Hamburg University, Hamburg, Germany 2010, June).

Invited guest speaker at University of Groningen, Department of Geography, Groningen, The Netherlands 2016, December).

Invited guest speaker at PRATT Institute workshop 'Does flexibility make sense now? Innovative approaches for creative cities of the 21st century', New York, USA (October, 2016).