This article examines how coastlines—a spatial and symbolic threshold between land and water—can reshape approaches to urban edge studies and counter-mapping. Building on critical, speculative, and deep mapping, the article proposes the coastline as an interdisciplinary marking system that intersects urban geography, data studies, and design. Drawing on examples from co-mapping workshops of Coastliner Lab, the practice led by the author, and the Istanbul Coastline Atlas, a public digital archive of lost and transformed coastlines, tracing coastlines reveals how wetlands, quays, streams, and basins have been buried, privatized, or reconfigured by large-scale infrastructural developments in the top-down urban regimes of the city. This method is argued to raise further questions about ecological costs and hydro-social relationships. The article argues that coastline counter-mapping is both diagnostic and generative, making environmental change visible while providing shared, geospatial tools for more equitable coastal futures in Istanbul and beyond.

Abstract This study presents a holistic walkability assessment framework that integrates objective spatial data (virtual audits) with participant perceptions, focusing on micro-scale features such as sidewalks, crossings, and pedestrian infrastructure. Using Serres’ Central Park as a case study, it applied a mixed-methods approach combining geospatial analysis, georeferenced app data, and post hoc questionnaires across selected walking routes. Objective data, like detailed infrastructure quality and safety, were mapped using Google Street View, while pedestrian stressors and overall perceptions of walking routes were recorded through citizen science methods. The spatial analysis identified key divergences between infrastructural conditions and pedestrian experiences, revealing that objective auditable measures alone may not fully reflect perceived walkability. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating experiential factors into walkability assessments. The proposed framework offers a practical and adaptable tool for urban planners and researchers, enabling more nuanced, human-centered evaluations of pedestrian environments and supporting the development of inclusive, accessible urban mobility strategies.

Abstract In recent decades, many social housing estates in London have been demolished and replaced by mixed-tenure developments. These schemes have been strongly contested by residents and campaigns, who argue that the schemes produce displacement, loss of social connections, and loss of socially rented homes. These alliances of residents and campaigners occasionally include researchers. This paper explores how co-design and participatory action research approaches can contest top-down demolition and redevelopment of social housing estates. It uses Alton Estate, in South-West London, which Wandsworth Council planned to demolish and redevelop, as a case study. Through a partnership with resident-led group Alton Action, a team of researchers co-designed an alternative approach to regeneration with local communities, building on collectively produced evidence and focusing on improving the neighbourhood using the existing built environment. Through a series of knowledge exchanges and co-design workshops, communities and researchers co-produced the Alton Estate People’s Plan, a community vision to improve the neighbourhood. This process empowered residents to participate in decision-making regarding the future of their neighbourhood.