From 1980s, globalization and technological advances, and de- mographic, economic and social changes, together with effects of geographical and political developments, have transformed the settlement pattern in Türkiye. Traditional settlement hierarchy as well as dichotomies between urban and rural or agricultural and non-agricultural areas has become obsolete. With legisla- tive and institutional arrangements that includes rural areas but disregard them, greater (metropolitan) municipality definition has changed too. Now, instead of being a totality with clearly defined borders, settlements have also become a totality of net- works with various densities and functions. In this context, a multi-partner Research Project within the scope of TÜBİTAK Urbanization Program Call was developed in university-public agency cooperation. The Project titled “Interpretation of Settle- ment Pattern Changes in Türkiye: The Case of İzmir” was carried out between April 15, 2018 and October 15, 2021. It was aimed to examine the settlement pattern changes in Türkiye and reveal the main determinants of the transformation. In the project, an approach based on micro-macro level conceptualization of Com- plexity Theory, which includes both quantitative and qualitative research methods, was followed. This article represents main targets and general research framework of the Research Proj- ect, which exemplifies Izmir city region and metropolitan area at different spatial and temporal scales. Various urban themes (ur- ban environment, urban infrastructure, rural environment, urban transportation and urban transformation), concepts and main findings of the project are outlined. The final section discusses how and in what ways the planning discipline/institution should be transformed in respect to Complexity Theory thinking.