Başyazı

Architecture and urban planning disciplines strive, on the one hand, to preserve and sustain existing spatial fabrics, and on the other, to renew and transform themselves through the opportunities offered by rapidly developing technologies. This dual progression takes place in the research and debates within architecture and planning. Particularly in recent years, digital technologies such as virtual and augmented reality have opened up new horizons in a wide range of areas, from design practices to the preservation of urban memory.Our current issue reflects this transformation, focusing on both technological innovations and ongoing societal and environmental sensitivities. Timeless themes such as the structural elements of society, the protection of the natural environment, and the preservation of traditional features within the built environment hold a significant place in the content of this issue.This new issue presents five articles that contribute to the fields of architecture and urban planning. In the first article, titled “The Role of Certification Systems in Sustainable Housing Production: An Analysis on LEED and GSB and Hep Istanbul Project”, Sadık Akşar, Murat Taş, and Nilüfer Taş discuss the function of certification systems in environmentally friendly architectural practices and their impact on sustainable building production. The second article is “The Discovery of Arap Han’s Lost Memory Through Augmented Reality” by Naciye Esen Özay and Sadık Tumay. The authors offer an innovative model for revitalizing spatial memory by animating old photographs using augmented reality technologies, based on their research conducted in İzmir. The third article, “Bibliometric Analysis of Virtual Space Concepts and Contemporary Technological Applications in Architecture”, authored by Ayten Sümeyra Ünsaçar and Özlem Demirkan, explores the relationship between architecture and concepts such as virtual reality, cyberspace, blockchain, NFT, and the metaverse. In the fourth article, titled “Thematic Content Analysis of International and National Action Plans for the Identification of Child-Friendly City Parameters”, Nurdan Çağla Çamaş and Gözde Ekşioğlu Çetintahra compile a comprehensive set of parameters that can be used in the preparation of child-friendly urban action plans through an extensive review of national and international documents. The final article, “An Assessment of Observational Damage Detection in Load-Bearing Systems of Traditional Stone Structures in Mardin: The Case of Milli Complex”, by Nursen Işık and Muhammed Çuha, develops recommendations for the sustainable restoration and preservation of both the studied structure and similar traditional stone buildings.In short, this issue provides a diverse range of contributions for readers interested in topics such as housing production, digital technologies, preservation of urban memory, child-friendly urbanism, and the conservation of traditional architecture. We sincerely thank all our authors, reviewers, and technical team for their valuable contributions. We wish you a pleasant reading experience and a beautiful summer season, and look forward to meeting again in our upcoming issues.