Metropolitan Planning and Governance
Prof. Dr. Ayşe Dilek Özdemir Darby
Prof.Dr. Dilek-Özdemir-Darby is a guest lecturer to the Istanbul University and a full-time faculty member at Yeditepe University since 2000. She has received her bachelor's, master and doctoral degrees in the City and Regional Planning Department of the Middle East Technical University at Ankara. She has been teaching urban history, urban renewal and transformation, and urban design. Her research interests include urban policy, the transformation of city centers, foreign investment and logistics, and sustainable urban development. She has published many articles in national and international journals.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cem Beygo is the Head of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul University. He is currently a member of the Academic Board and a member of the Faculty Board and the Faculty of Architecture. He obtained his first degree, BSc, in Istanbul Technical University Department of Architecture in 1989. In 2001, he attended in Urban and Regional Planning at Istanbul Technical University for his Ph.D. Previously he has worked as a full-time research assistant and later as an assistant professor at Istanbul Technical University’s Urban and Regional Planning Department. He has been a director in the “Sustainable Urban Regeneration in the Republic of Turkey Enabling the Local Authorities and Citizens through Regeneration of Istanbul Metropolitan Area (REGIMA) Pilot Project to Anticipate the Implementation of 2005 Urban Regeneration Act, Matra Social Transformation Programme (MATRA)(2007). He has won an honorary mansionary in the“ UIA - Convivial Spaces International Ideas Competition”(1996), and the third prize in the Concept Design of a Master Plan and Landscaping of the Residential Complex “Panorama City Galata” competition (2006). His contribution to the national competition on “Afyonkarahisar Cumhuriyet Square and Surroundings National Architecture and Urban Design Competiton) was acknowledged with a purchasing decision. He was also awarded a prize for his article “Flagship regeneration project as a tool for post-disaster recovery planning: Zeytinburnu Case”, Disasters, 33 (2), pp. 180-202, 2009” from TÜBİTAK. His current research interests include smart cities, healthy cities, retirement housing (gerontology), urban renewal planning and design of commercial areas, and real estate development.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Halide Candan Zülfikar
Assist.Prof.Dr. Halide Candan ZÜLFİKAR is a member of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Istanbul University, Faculty of Architecture. She completed the Istanbul University Landscape Architecture Undergraduate Program in 1994 and MSc program in Landscape Planning at Istanbul Technical University in 1998. From 1998 to 2004, she took her 2nd graduate degree and her Ph.D. degree in Landscape Ecology at Okayama University, Natural Sciences, and Technology Institute of Japan. From 2004 to 2006, Zülfikar has worked as a freelancer and developed and applied landscape design projects for different district municipalities of Istanbul. During this period, she has participated in several national architectural and urban design competitions as a team member and she has received various awards. From 2006 to 2019, she worked as Assistant Professor at Trakya University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture and Department of Landscape Architecture (as the founding Chair of the Department). Her research interests are planting design, landscape design in the historical areas, urban furniture, universal design, and accessibility.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Mete Başar Baypınar
Assist. Prof.Dr. Mete Başar BAYPINAR is a member and the vice head of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul University. He has graduated from the BSc Program in Urban and Regional Planning (1997), MSc Program in Regional Planning (2003), Ph.D. Program in Urban And Regional Planning (2010) at Istanbul Technical University (ITU). He has been a visiting Erasmus Ph.D. student to the University of Thessaly, Greece, and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pecs, Hungary. He has received Marie Curie Sklodowska scholarships and attended international summer schools. He has worked as a researcher at EU INTERREG IIIB Simcode Italy -Greece-Turkey Project, focusing on Multimodal Corridor Development and Gateway Areas and as a postdoctoral researcher in the EU FP7 SEARCH Project focusing on the simulation of policy options for the EU Neighborhood Policy. He has lectured at ITU in undergraduate and graduate programs. He was the secretary of the Turkish National Committee of Regional Science for two terms. He has been the coordinator of Istanbul Finance Center: Development of a Physical and Socio-economic Development Model Project funded by Greater Municipality of Istanbul, and executed research excursions to Vienna, London, and Seoul. He worked as a researcher in various projects and Keşan District Master Plan, Bursa Metropolitan Area Master Plan, and Istanbul Metropolitan Area Master Plan, supported by institutions like the Turkish National Science and Technology Foundation, and local or regional public bodies. He holds 2 first prizes and 3 honorary mentions in national competitions. He has national and international articles and book chapters. His current interests are in smart cities, international regional and urban policy, strategic metropolitan planning, and regional development, innovation, and high technology districts.
OTHER FACULTY MEMBERS TEACHING IN THE PROGRAM
Prof.Dr. Feyza Güzelçimen is a member of the Atomic and Molecular Physics Division of Physics Department at Istanbul University, Faculty of Science. She received her B.Sc. degree in Physics from Istanbul University and completed her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in the Institute of Sciences at Istanbul University. Her main research areas include the laser spectroscopic methods, theoretical and experimental investigation of the fine and hyperfine structure of atoms, obtainment of acoustic impedance values of materials by scanning acoustic microscopy, and experimental determination of sound absorption and noise reduction coefficients, which are the acoustic properties, of natural and composite materials.
Prof.Dr. İsmet Akova is a member of the Department of Geography at Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters. He is currently temporarily appointed to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Akova also serves as a member of the Academic Board of the Faculty of Architecture. He has graduated from Istanbul University Undergraduate Program in Geography in 1985. Following, he has completed the Istanbul University Institute of Marine Sciences and Geography’s Master Program with his dissertation on “Tourism in Istanbul; The Place and Importance of Tourism Travel Agencies of Istanbul in Turkish Tourism” in 1988. He received his Ph.D. degree from Istanbul University, Institute of Social Sciences, and Department of Geography with a Ph.D. dissertation on “The Place and Importance of Antalya Region Tourism in terms of Natural Possibilities in Turkish Tourism” in 1996. He was appointed as an Assistant Professor at Istanbul University Faculty of Literature, Department of Geography. He got the title of Associate Professor on 24 December 2008. Lately, he was appointed to the position of Professor on 29 June 2016.
Prof.Dr. Mehmet Bayartan is a member of the Department of Geography at Istanbul University Faculty of Letters. He is currently temporarily appointed to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Bayartan also serves as a member of the Academic Board of the Faculty of Architecture. He has obtained his first degree from Istanbul University Undergraduate Program in Geography. He received his MA and Ph.D. from Istanbul University Institute of Social Sciences. Bayartan has previously served as the Editor and Member of the Editorial Board of Istanbul University Journal of Geography. He has also worked in Istanbul University Institute of Social Sciences as the Vice Director and Member of the Board. He has been a member of the Istanbul University Strategic Planning Team and Member of Quality Committee of Faculty of Letters. His main research areas are historical geography, urban geography, urbanization, and problems of urbanization.
Prof.Dr. Murat Şeker is a member of the Department of Public Finance at Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics. He also serves as the founder-director of Istanbul University Urban Policy Research Center. He has graduated from the Istanbul University Undergraduate Program in Economics in 2003. As a result of his thesis studies carried out at Florida State University, he received a Ph.D. Degree from Istanbul University in 2009. During his stay abroad he worked as an assistant in Florida TaxWatch, a research institute. He served as a visiting scholar at Florida State University with a TUBITAK project titled ‘‘Happiness Economics’’ in 2011 and he served at Georgia State University as Fulbright Senior Scholar in 2016. He worked as a coordinator, consultant, specialist, and researcher in national and international projects including UNDEF, ILO, IBP, EU-CFCU, TUBITAK, and Development Agencies. Having articles, papers, and books in economics, finance, and multidisciplinary fields published in national and international journals, Şeker received the title of Professor in 2017. Recently he has focused on projects on quality of life and competitiveness benchmark indices at regional, provincial, and district levels. His interests include public economy, local authorities, project management, quality of life studies, and happiness economy.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurtaç Yıldırım
Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nurtaç Yıldırım is the vice dean of the Faculty of Economics at Istanbul University and a member of the Department of Economics. She has completed her undergraduate degree at Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, Department of Economics (English), and received her master’s and doctorate degrees in economics from Istanbul University. Yıldırım is an expert in international trade theory and politics, international competition, political economy, and regional economic integration. She is also interested in urban studies. She has several articles and a book in the mentioned research areas.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pelin Pınar Giritlioğlu
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pelin Pınar Giritlioglu, is a member of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Istanbul University, Faculty of Political Sciences, since 2005. She has graduated from Urban and Regional Planning Undergraduate Program, and the MSc Program in Restoration in Yildiz Technical University. She has received her Ph.D. degree from the Ph.D. Program in Urban and Regional Planning at Istanbul Technical University. Giritlioğlu has served as the vice president and president of the board of directors at the TMMOB Chamber of City Planners’ (CCP) Istanbul Branch between 1998 and 2009. In 2018, she was re-elected as a member of the Board of Directors of Istanbul Branch and Board of Directors of the head office of Turkey’s CCP. She is currently the Vice President of Istanbul Branch. She was also a member of the Honorary Board of CCP. She is the writer of the book titled “Urban Renewal” –that made its second edition in 2016- and also one of the co-editors of the book titled “Law Zoning Regulations with Cases”. She has also prepared 12 books for publication and has published many articles in various scientific journals. She is carrying on her theoretical and applied studies on "urban regeneration", "urban renewal", "urban law and policy" and "urban crime".
Assist.Prof.Dr. Süleyman BALYEMEZ
Balyemez, who received his Ph.D. from Istanbul Technical University, Program of Urban and Regional Planning, has been working as a Dr. Lecturer at Istanbul Aydın University since 2012. His areas of study include participation and governance; sustainability, ecology and energy; disaster, risk management and avoidance planning.