Fab Labs to Fab Cities: Exploring Innovative Urban Spaces in İzmir

Year 2022, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 542 - 558, 30.12.2022

Eylem Keskin , Aysu Gürman

https://doi.org/10.30785/mbud.1092056

Abstract

This study focuses on fabrication laboratories (fab labs) that provide user-oriented innovative urban spaces to meet advanced technologies and city dwellers who can share their knowledge in solving local problems. The aim is to explore the potential of fab labs as a part of smart city initiatives to develop the fab city by creating a network for collective knowledge and technology-enabled production in collaboration with local communities, companies, NGOs, and institutions. The opted methodology is to examine several fab labs as innovative and creative spaces in İzmir to evaluate their potential role in the development of the fab city. Fab labs might improve the organizational gap between local governments and inhabitants in developing innovative and sustainable solutions. This paper fulfills the lack of systematic research on fab labs; how they relate to smart city initiatives, evolving into fab cities, and obtaining and implementing the know-how of fab cities’ global knowledge.

Keywords

Smart city, fab city, fab lab, participation, innovation, İzmir, Akıllı şehir, üreten şehir, üretim laboratuvarları, katılımcılık, inovasyon

Thanks

Many thanks to, İzmir City Council Urban Innovation Study Group, Fablab IZTECH – Canberk Yurt, YÜTAM - Tolga Benli, PhD., DESUM – Buse Çelikcan, FikrimİZ - Simge Beştemir, FabLab Ödemiş - Ersen Güngör, and special thanks to Prof. Koray Velibeyoğlu, Ph.D. This study has collected data from each case study of fab labs in İzmir. The authors have contacted these fab labs and sent them a sample questionnaire to obtain the necessary information. Due to the limitations of this publication, these inquiries are excluded from the paper. However, these inquiries can be shared on demand. Author 1 has conducted this research within the Turkish Education Council of Education’s (YÖK) 100/2000 Doctoral Scholarship Programme. Author 2 has conducted this research within The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) 2211/A Doctoral Scholarship Programme. The article complies with national and international research and publication ethics. Ethics committee approval in the study was obtained with the decision of the Social and Human Sciences Scientific, Research and Publication Ethics Committee of İzmir Institute of Technology, dated 06.05.2022, and numbered E. 73732.

Fab Laboratuvarlarından Fab Şehirlere: İzmir'de Yenilikçi Kentsel Mekanları Keşfetmek

Abstract

Bu çalışma, ileri teknolojileri yereldeki problemlere karşı çözüm üretme konusunda veri paylaşımı yapabilen kent sakinleriyle buluşturmak üzere “kullanıcı merkezli inovasyon ortamı” sağlayan üretim laboratuvarlarına (fab lab) odaklanmaktadır. Çalışmanın amacı, yerel topluluklar, şirketler, STK ve kurumlarla iş birliği içinde kolektif bilgi ve teknoloji destekli ürün üretimi için bir ağ oluşturarak, akıllı şehir girişimlerinin bir parçası olan üretim laboratuvarlarının potansiyelini keşfetmektir. Araştırmada tercih edilen yöntem, İzmir'deki yenilikçi ve yaratıcı mekanlar olan üretim laboratuvarlarından örnekleri incelemek ve İzmir’i Üreten Şehre (fab city) dönüştürme potansiyellerini değerlendirmektir. Üretim laboratuvarları, yenilikçi ve sürdürülebilir çözümler geliştirerek, yerel yönetimler ve kentliler arasındaki kurumsal boşluğu iyileştirebilir. Bu makale, üretim laboratuvarlarının akıllı şehir girişimleriyle nasıl ilişkili olduğunu, üreten şehirlere nasıl evrildiğini ve Üreten Şehirler (Fab Cities) küresel bilgi ağının nasıl elde edildiğini ve uygulandığını inceleyerek sistematik bir araştırma eksikliğini gidermektedir.

Keywords

Akıllı şehir, üreten şehir, üretim laboratuvarları, katılımcılık, inovasyon

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