Transmodern Urban Cartographies: A Speculative Inquiry

Abstract

This study aims to critically examine the impacts and reflections of transmodern approaches in the field of urban design and planning through a speculative approach. By discussing the inadequacies of modernism’s rational and universalist planning paradigm and postmodernism’s fragmented, contextual, and critical approach in addressing contemporary ecological, social, and cultural crises, the study addresses transmodernism within a conceptual framework. The research adopts a qualitative methodology based on a literature review and theoretically examines the transmodern approach in relation to design and planning tools, governance and power structures, and ethical principles such as social justice, equality, inclusivity, and ecological sensitivity. Concepts that influence urban design within the framework of transmodernity are explored through speculative representations. The analysis suggests at a conceptual level that while the transmodern approach proposes a more holistic and ethically grounded framework, it remains open to critique due to conceptual ambiguities, limited engagement with institutional structures, critiques related to power relations, and difficulties in translating theory into practice.