Academic Productivity in the Context of Disasters: A Spatial Analysis of Landscape Architecture Departments in Türkiye

Abstract

This study analyzes the spatial relationship between landscape architecture departments and research universities across Türkiye and the disaster risk levels of their respective provinces. This research adopts the perspective that landscape architecture plays a critical role in disaster management, particularly as climate change, rapid urbanization, and environmental degradation intensify disaster risks. Methodologically, the researchers scanned a total of 2.397 theses comprising 1.904 master's and 493 doctoral dissertations published by the Turkish National Thesis Center between 2002 and 2023, and identified 62 disaster-themed theses through keyword-based classification. Disaster risk maps from the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change of the Republic of Türkiye and university location information obtained from the Council of Higher Education (YOK) Atlas were analyzed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Using the obtained coefficient a and coefficient b values, the overall and disaster-focused productivity of landscape architecture departments was compared and correlated with spatial risks. The findings revealed that universities in provinces such as Ankara, Bursa, Van, and Düzce exhibited strong trends in both high overall productivity and disaster-focused theses production. In contrast, in some cities, despite high risk levels, disaster-themed production was low. Consequently, the analysis revealed that landscape architecture departments developed academic production with sensitivity to spatial risks and made critical contributions to topics such as post-disaster recovery, green infrastructure, and nature-based solutions. The study aims to contribute to providing scientific decision support in disaster planning through GIS-based analyses and to strengthening university-local government collaborations.