Let’s build the future of our cities together with today’s awareness!
World Urbanism Day is a global awareness-raising day celebrated every year on November 8 to draw attention to the critical importance of urban planning on society and the environment. This special day is celebrated with various events, panels, workshops, and workshops to encourage planning the future of cities in a healthier, livable, and sustainable way. Through these events, the importance of a social perspective and a scientific approach in urban planning is emphasized, and the idea that urban planning is not only a technical process but also a social responsibility is to be adopted. World Urbanism Day brings together individuals, communities, local governments, and academia to raise awareness and better understand and build healthy future cities.
Different themes are determined every year within the scope of World Urbanism Day, and these themes reflect the prominent issues in the field of urbanism that year. In recent years, climate change, disaster and risk management, social equality, protection of cultural heritage, ecological sustainability and human-centered design are among the issues on the global urban agenda. Especially with the increasing negative impacts of climate change on cities, efforts to develop sustainable and climate-resilient urbanization strategies are one of the issues frequently addressed on World Urbanism Day. In this context, urban planning is not only about building and infrastructure, but also a discipline that acts in harmony with nature, minimizes disaster risks and is in line with future environmental sustainability goals.
In Turkey, World Urbanism Day events are organized by the Chamber of City Planners of Turkey. With the events organized across the country every year, the public’s interest in urbanism issues is increased and awareness is raised about urban planning policies. This year, in 2024, the theme of the World Urbanism Day is “DEMOLITION-LIFE-Urbanism” and the events are being held in Antalya. This theme aims to highlight the various threats that cities face, strategies for sustaining life in the face of these threats, and the role of urban planning policies in this process. Especially in countries like Turkey, which are located in an active earthquake zone, it is of great importance to address urban planning and construction within the framework of disaster resilience. This year’s events will focus on the importance of building cities resilient to natural disasters, especially earthquakes, post-disaster reconstruction processes and creating livable areas.
The main purpose of World Urbanism Day is to raise social awareness and encourage everyone to take an active role in this process in order to make cities healthier, greener and more livable. Creating cities that are sustainable, fair, nature-friendly and preserve cultural values for future generations will only be possible with the contribution of all segments of society. This day of awareness raises a comprehensive awareness of urban planning and invites individuals, local governments, public institutions and academic institutions to collaborate for the sustainability and resilience of cities. This call on the occasion of World Urbanism Day offers an opportunity to build not only today’s cities but also the cities of tomorrow.
Click here to watch our November 8 World Urbanization Day video.
