Ummiye Seyda Mutlu: Urban Rooms: Places of Mediation, Participation, and Urban Change

Supervisor: Prof Flora Samuel

Research overview:

Her research explores the “Urban Room” concept and practice as a new form of mediation between agency and place. The research critically analyses the participatory practices in urban design and planning in the UK with a specific focus on places of mediation and dialogue. Drawing results from participatory action research with various stakeholders and creative social experiments in Cambridge Room and previously established Urban Rooms around the UK, her research aims to reveal the potential of the urban room as a “place” in redistributing and reconfiguring the power relations embedded in the planning process in the UK..

Biography:

Funded by the Turkish Ministry of Education, Seyda started her PhD in Sidney Sussex College in 2023, aer completing her MPhil in Architecture and Urban Studies (2022) at University of Cambridge. Seyda is a committee member in Cambridge Hub, a senior editor in CJPA, and an alumni of AURA Istanbul. She worked as a research assistant for two years and completed her masters studies in International Relations (with distinction), aer completing her double major in Architecture (valedictorian) and International Relations.