Meet the Team 2026
We are an international, multi-disciplinary and multi-generational team of planners, designers, experts and educators. We are dispersed accross 4 continents, working for this event to be memorable and unique.
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Prof. Dr. Muhammed Ziya Paköz, Istanbul
Director, ITU CURE | Istanbul Technical University Bio Summary:
Prof. Dr. Muhammed Ziya Paköz is an Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at Istanbul Technical University and the Director of the ITU Centre for Post-Crisis Urban Reconstruction (ITU CURE). He served as Vice Dean of the ITU Faculty of Architecture between 2023 and 2026 and is also a Board Member of the Architects and Engineers Group (MMG). His research interests include urban transportation and mobility, spatial accessibility, urban vitality, post-disaster recovery, urban acupuncture, and urban transformation. He has coordinated and contributed to interdisciplinary research and applied projects addressing mobility patterns, accessibility, community resilience, urban regeneration, and recovery processes in cities.
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Prof. Dr. Mehmet KÜÇÜKMEHMETOĞLU Bio Summary:
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Kucukmetoglu earned his bachelor's degree in City and Regional Planning from the Middle East Technical University, Turkey and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in City and Regional Planning from The Ohio State University, USA after having successfully earned his master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the Graduate School Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. Mehmet Kucukmehmetoglu was the head of the Department of City and Regional Planning of Gebze Technical University, Turkey from 2014 to 2022. Currently, he has been pursuing his academic career in the same area as a faculty member of School of Architecture of Istanbul Technical University, and has the following areas of research interests; resource economics, policy analysis, quantitative techniques in urban and regional planning, and urban modelling. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yasin Bektaş Bio Summary:
Yasin BEKTAŞ is an Associate Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture. He received his PhD in Urban Planning from Yildiz Technical University in 2017. Between 2015 and 2016, he was a visiting researcher at the University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, where he conducted research on social-mix housing policies and their implementation in Amsterdam's social housing neighbourhoods. He has been involved in academic research and interdisciplinary projects focusing on housing policy, urban regeneration, disaster risk reduction, climate change, urban resilience, and post-disaster recovery. His current research interests particularly include housing and social-spatial transformation, disaster-resilient urban planning, climate adaptation and mitigation, and urban resilience. Bektaş is a Board Member of the ITU Center for Post-Crisis Urban Reconstruction (ITU CURE). |
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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Gün Bio Summary:
Ahmet Gün is a faculty member at the Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul Technical University (ITU), where he has been teaching architectural design studios since 2014. As part of his doctoral research, he conducted part of his study as a visiting researcher at KU Leuven (2018–2019) on a TÜBİTAK scholarship. His academic work focuses on social design, mosque architecture, participatory design, and critical spatial practices. More recently, he has been working on the decolonization of Palestine through social design, spatio-cide, and the role of architecture and art in practices of resistance; for nearly two years, he has been leading a team, in collaboration with the Architectural Research Association (MİMARDER) and the Architectural Thought Platform (MDP), conducting readings, workshops, and signature campaigns addressing the spatial occupation of Palestine. Gün is a Board Member of the ITU Center for Post-Disaster Urban Reconstruction (CURE) and a Board Member of MİMARDER.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fatih Eren Bio Summary:
Fatih EREN is an Associate Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture. He completed his PhD on the internationalization process of the Istanbul real estate market at the University of Sheffield between 2007 and 2013. He worked as the Director of the Centre for Urban Studies at the Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN), an international think tank based in the UK, between 2010 and 2016. He has more than 22 years of experience as an academician in the higher education sector and has been involved in numerous public- and private-sector-supported research and development projects as a coordinator, manager, researcher, and consultant. He is currently the national project leader of the 'F-DUT-2024-0260 AQuatic Urban ecosystems Alive Project (AQUAlive)', which is funded under the European Commission's Horizon Europe (HORIZON-CL5-2021-D2-01-16) Driving Urban Transitions 2024 Programme. Eren is a Board Member of the ITU Center for Post-Disaster Urban Reconstruction (CURE).
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ferhat PAKDAMAR Bio Summary:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ferhat PAKDAMAR is an academic in the Department of Architecture at Istanbul Technical University (ITU). He completed his master's and doctoral studies at ITU. Prior to his current role, he served as Vice Dean at the Faculty of Architecture, Gebze Technical University. He currently serves as the Chair of the Classroom and Studio Allocation Commission at the ITU Faculty of Architecture. Dr. Pakdamar's research interests encompass structural mechanics, seismic behavior of structures, applications of artificial intelligence and fuzzy logic in architecture, and the structural preservation of historical monuments. Alongside his teaching and mentoring responsibilities, he has extensive field experience as a seismic expert, having conducted risk assessments and retrofitting designs for numerous building projects and over 100 bridges and viaducts in Istanbul.
Assoc. Prof. Muhammed Oğuzhan Mete Bio Summary:
Dr. Muhammed Oğuzhan Mete is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geomatics Engineering at Istanbul Technical University (ITU) and serves as Vice Dean for Student Affairs of the ITU Faculty of Civil Engineering. He holds his BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees from the Geomatics Engineering program at ITU. His research spans land management, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), artificial intelligence, machine learning, and geospatial big data, with a particular focus on spatial analysis and decision support systems that integrate GIS with AI and data-driven approaches. His work also covers disaster management, climate change, and real estate valuation. He takes part in numerous national and international research projects funded by different institutions. At ITU, he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses including Fundamentals of GIS, Spatial Analysis and Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence in Geomatics Engineering, Urban Land Readjustment, and Real Estate Valuation. He is also a member of the ITU Centre for Post-Crisis Urban Reconstruction (ITU CURE). Numan KILINÇ Bio Summary:
He graduated from Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Department of Urban and Regional Planning in 2011 and from Istanbul University Department of Law in 2018. He received his PhD from Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Department of Urban and Regional Planning in 2021. He currently serves as a faculty member at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Architecture, ITU; he continues his research in areas such as reconstruction law, urban planning, plan changes, value capture, and makes national and international contributions in these areas. |
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Prof. Dr. Pietro Elisei, Rome/ Bucharest
Co-Curator for IUPF | University of Rome Tor Vergata / Managing Director, Urbasofia Bio Summary:
Prof. Pietro Elisei is an internationally renowned town and regional planner, urban regeneration expert, and senior policy advisor. Holding a Doctorate in Urban Policy Design from Roma Tre University and post-doctoral research credentials from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, he has served as President of ISOCARP (International Society of City and Regional Planners) and as an expert consultant for the European Commission (URBACT, UIA), UN-Habitat, and UNECE. As Managing Director of Urbasofia, he leads international research projects on circular cities, urban resilience, smart governance, and heritage-led development. Serving as Co-Curator for IUPF, Prof. Elisei connects academic rigor and European policy frameworks with ground-level urban realities.
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Rolf Schuett, Kernen im Remstal, Germany
President, IUPF Dear Colleagues, Innovators, and Community Champions,
On behalf of the International Urban Professionals Forum (IUPF), and the I invite you to the Emerging Communities Forum (ECF 2026) at the Taşkışla Campus, ITU Faculty of Architecture in Istanbul, (October 7–9, 2026).
ECF marks a fundamental shift in how global conferences are done. At our core are not our professions, but our communities.
This gathering initiates a lasting movement—building a direct bridge between grassroots activists, micro-innovators, and local creators with global policymakers and municipal leaders.
The "Emerging Communities" we champion represent the vast majority of the global population—the millions driving everyday urban resilience who still fight for formal representation at international policy tables. ECF exists to give them that stage.
We are profoundly grateful to ITU CURE for making this vision a reality at the iconic ITU Campus, and we recognize the Global Development Alliance (GDA) for their vital support across our programs.
Whether you are a micro-activist, academic, or policymaker, your voice is essential to rewriting the urban narrative. Join us in Istanbul.
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Prof. Dr. Ali A. Alraouf, Washington DC
Head of ECF Awards Programme | Architect, Urban Designer & Planner Prof. Ali A. Alraouf is an internationally acclaimed architect, urban planner, and researcher specializing in sustainable urbanism, knowledge-based development, and post-carbon city transformations. A former Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley, he currently serves as Head of Capacity Building, Training, Research, and Development at Qatar's Ministry of Municipality, Visiting Professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), and Leader of the Green Urbanism Group at the Qatar Green Building Council.
With over 105 peer-reviewed publications, books, and chapters to his name, Prof. Alraouf has provided expert consultancy to major international organizations including UN-Habitat, UNESCO, ESCWA, and ICOMOS. His research on Middle Eastern urban development has earned numerous accolades, notably the ISOCARP Book Award (2018) and the UC-Berkeley Best Research Paper Award (2018). As Head of the ECF Awards Programme, he brings global academic rigor, institutional leadership, and a deep commitment to sustainable practice to celebrate impactful urban contributions from around the world.
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Darinka Golubovic, Belgrade
ECF Awards | IUPF Treasurer Prof. Dr. Darinka Golubović-Matić is a distinguished spatial planner, researcher, and educator based in Belgrade with over two decades of international experience in urban development and territorial governance. She holds a Ph.D. in Spatial Planning from the University of Belgrade and serves as a professor and academic advisor across several prominent European institutions.
Throughout her career, Prof. Golubović-Matić has combined academic rigor with practical policy design, contributing as a senior expert to multi-scalar urban regeneration projects, cross-border spatial strategies, and heritage-led development across South-Eastern Europe. An active leader in global planning networks, including ISOCARP, she focuses her research on strategic spatial resilience, participatory governance mechanisms, and climate-adaptive urban design. At ECF 2026, she brings her extensive expertise in South-Eastern European planning systems to bridge regional practitioner networks with global urban policy frameworks.
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Viviane Viniarski, Curitiba, Brazil
ECF Communications Officer | IUPF Board Member
On behalf of the International Urban Professionals Forum (IUPF), we warmly invite you to join us at the Emerging Communities Forum (ECF) from October 7-9 in Istanbul.
We are moving away from the typical conference setup to create an open space where practitioners of all generations can connect, share real, ground-level stories, and work alongside community leaders and international experts to address Istanbul's current metropolitan challenges.
You can contribute by participating in our Call for Stories, the NextGen Workshop, or the GDA Awards. We look forward to welcoming you to Istanbul!
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Our Main NextGen UP Programme Players
The NextGen UP Workshop is anchored by an international team of senior planners, researchers, and urban designers dedicated to empowering the next generation of spatial practitioners. Combining decades of academic leadership and field experience across Western, Eastern, and Central Europe, this mentor team bridges spatial planning, tactical urbanism, and cross-border education.
Together, this senior team leads the workshop's methodology—guiding young planners from around the globe to translate raw, grassroots "New Urban Narratives" into actionable design concepts and policy recommendations during the forum.
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Contact Form
After the successful NextGen UP Workshop 2026, our team is already working on the next one in 2027. If you want to be part of it, do not hesitate to contact us!
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