Searching for Social Capital in Urban Design Competitions: A Document Analysis of Cases from Türkiye

Recent urban transformation increasingly produces homogeneous, contextually detached urban spaces, weakening social capital. In Türkiye, social capital remains abstract in design practice, while top-down zoning overlooks spatial qualities. This study examines how social capital parameters appear in Turkish urban design competitions as interdisciplinary placemaking instruments. Through qualitative document and content analysis, four parameters; social cohesion, shared values, social networks and sense of belonging were traced across briefs, awarded reports and visual materials from six competitions concluded since 2017. Selected cases represent neighborhood, square, recreation, building environment, street and coast typologies. The study develops a three-layer reading linking social parameters to three families of physical parameters. Findings reveal that rich visual representations coexist with limited spatial articulation of relational qualities. The study reveals the need to clarify spatial means of supporting social capital in briefs and jury criteria, while designers should expand their spatial vocabulary through appropriateness, private and public thresholds and settings for participation to strengthen contextual placemaking practices.