GPT-Studios. 2022; 2(2): 107-118 | DOI: 10.5505/gpts.2022.29392

Evaluation of Psychogeography in Planning as a New Spatial Methodology via ‘Walking Body’

Yasemin Ýlkay
Faculty of Architecture and Design, Department of City and Regional Planning, Van Yüzüncü Yýl University, Van, Turkey

Psychogeography concentrates on how the environment penetrates the feelings and attitudes of individuals. Situationist International Movement raised the concept in 1950s within artistic motives, however the concept evolved with a political content and turned out to be ‘a political tool to transform the urban everyday life’ via the term, Dérive, implying ‘deviation’ and ‘resistance’. However, how psychogeography can present an epistemological input in spatial analyses is the matter in question. Although adopting the ambiguous methods of psychogeography to planning is problematical, the knowledge gathered from daily walks and spontaneous dérives of citizens would enable the researcher to capture a unique and wholistic frame of the psychological-physical gap between ‘what is designed’ and ‘what is experienced’ in urban daily life and spatial patterning. The occupancy space pattern with nodes and routes, the mental representations and spatial repertoires result in a two-folded map: Real/concrete/physical map and personal/abstract/psychogeographic map. The main question of this study is: “What kind of a knowledge can psychogeography present to planning via ‘representations of walking experience’ with reference to the two-folded map assumption?”. This question will be answered within ontological, epistemological, and methodological scales via theoretical and practical readings on the subjects of psychogeography, spatial topology, and place attachment. In the introduction part, the definition of psychogeography will be discussed. Constructing the methodology section, the epistemology of ‘walking body’ and the ontology of urban space will be held in relation. As the findings, the review of the related studies will be evaluated in relation with planning, space and psychogeography.

Keywords: Body, dérive, methodology, psychogeography, representations of space, walking.

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