Hüriye Gürdallı, Associate Professor at NEU Faculty of Architecture, represented Cyprus and Near East University at the 18th International Planning History Society (IPHS) Conference that held in Yokohama, Japan on July 15-19, 2018.
The International Planning History Society Conference, organized by the IPHS took place from 15th July to 19th July 2018 at the Yokohama Port Opening Memorial Hall in Yokohama, Japan. The conference provided platform for scholars, field experts, PhD students and researchers to present their studies and exchange ideas within the scope of the conference. Near East University Press and Public Relations Directorate released that Huriye Gürdallı, Associate Professor at NEU Faculty of Architecture, was the only scholar participated in the conference from Cyprus. Huriye Gürdallı's presentation that titled "The Inclusive Planning Strategy of Divided Nicosia through Home for Cooperation: A Building bridging People for Peace-Building" received great attraction of the attending body.
Touching upon the significant role of international conferences in providing opportunity for sharing information and experiences and establishing relations for future prospective scientific studies and collaboration, Associate Professor Gürdallı underlined that the18th International Planning History Society (IPHS) Conference, which was realized under the theme "Looking at the world history of planning", was very fruitful in this sense.
The Presentation of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gürdal received great attraction in Japan...
On July 16, Associate Professor took the stage at the panel named "Machizukuri and Participatory Planning" that held in Room 4 and made a presentation on "The Inclusive Planning Strategy of Divided Nicosia through Home for Cooperation: A Building bridging People for Peace-Building". Her presentation received great attraction. The Japanese concept of "machizukuri" means community building or community planning for the conservation of historic communities with a bottom-up approach instead of a top to bottom approach which requires the involvement of all actors to be affected by the plan. In her presentation, Gürdallı discussed the role of the Home for Cooperation (H4C), which is located in UN Buffer Zone in Nicosia, in contributing to the divided city and city dwellers and underlined the important role of public and NGOs in planning. Since the Home for Cooperation is located in the UN Buffer Zone in Nicosia, it serves as a center where both Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities carry out common activities for the conservation of community building and establishment of the culture of peace across the island. Gürdallı states that the Home for Cooperation has been transforming the border dividing the capital Nicosia into a common sharing area by blurring the concept of "border" and hosting various common activities fostering Turkish and Greek Cypriots coming together at the center of the city for bridging people for peace-building. Gürdallı also highlights that Home for Cooperation and the projects produced within the frame of Nicosia Master Plan constitute a successful example of participatory planning approach tried in post-war conflict areas and divided cities. Gürdallı also draws attention to the crucial role participatory planning in involving the entire community in the strategic and management processes of urban planning.
Underlining the importance of the comments and feedbacks in terms of contributing to her ongoing study, Associate Professor Huriye Gürdallı concluded her remarks by extending her appreciations to the Dean of NEU Faculty of Architecture for providing her opportunity to present her study at international platform.