Beyond process ideals: urban design as political negotiation in Türkiye

Abstract

This study reframes public space design as political negotiation rather than idealized collaboration. Drawing on interviews with urban designers and public officials in T & uuml;rkiye, it applies negotiation theory to examine interactions among actors with asymmetrical power and competing interests. The research identifies four dynamics: fragmented institutions across shifting configurations; multilayered expectations beyond spatial concerns; power asymmetries rooted in expertise, authority, and relationships; and designers as strategic negotiators shaping institutional conditions. These findings challenge process-oriented scholarship's emphasis on consensus, showing conflict and power as fundamental to public space production, and offering analytical tools to understand urban design's micropolitics.