Professional Disciplines and Areas of Responsibility in Urban Transformation Projects in Turkey: A Social Network Analysis Approach

İngilizce (OpenAlex)

Urban transformation projects require close collaboration among diverse professional disciplines to achieve sustainable, resilient, and socially inclusive urban environments. Nevertheless, the interaction patterns among these disciplines in the Turkish context remain underexplored. The present study employed social network analysis (SNA) to systematically map and quantify the relationships between 16 professional disciplines and 35 implementation stages in urban transformation projects in Turkey. The data presented herein were collected through a meticulous process involving a comprehensive literature review, detailed field observations, and semistructured interviews with 30 experts involved in large-scale initiatives coordinated by the Housing Development Administration of the Republic of Turkey. The results of the SNA analysis demonstrate that emergency and disaster managers, civil engineers, and urban planners exhibit the highest centrality values. This finding underscores their pivotal roles in coordination and execution. For instance, emergency and disaster managers attained the highest degree of centrality (1.00), followed by civil engineers and urban planners (0.657), reflecting their structural prominence within the interdisciplinary network. The findings also reflect Turkey’s high disaster risk profile, where risk-based planning shapes the prominence of certain actors. Moreover, the analysis identifies structural bottlenecks and underutilized linkages, presenting opportunities for enhanced collaboration. The present study introduces a novel two-mode SNA framework, which provides a replicable method for assessing task intensity and actor centrality in complex urban projects. The findings offer strategic insights for regulatory reform, institutional coordination, and evidence-based planning in contexts facing rapid urbanization and disaster vulnerability. To enhance long-term success, the study recommends supporting central actors with training programs and smart technologies, fostering community participation, and expanding future research through hybrid SNA approaches, including GISs and blockchain-based tools.