ABOUT ME
Zeynep GÜNAY is professor of urbanism at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning of Istanbul Technical University [ITU]. Her major areas of interests are heritage politics, urban conservation and urban regeneration/renewal theories and policies. Through her scholarly works, she questions the vicious relationship between conservation vs reproduction of space with reference to neoliberal urban agenda; and she explores heritage with a particular focus on critical narratives based on conflict heritage, memory & heritage industry, heritage activitism and justice. In her taught courses, she also reflects upon critical perspectives in urban studies <politics of urbanisation vs urbanisation of politics, culture arts and urban space, body politics justice and public space> with a specific interest upon the developing world. She holds a bachelor degree in City and Regional Planning from the Middle East Technical University [2001] and Diploma with Commendation in Inner City Development and Housing in Transitional Economies Programme from the IHS Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies [2003] with MATRA Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs Fellowship. She received her first MSc degree with a specialisation on urban conservation [ITU, 2004] and her second on regeneration studies [Cardiff University, 2007]. She attained the title of PhD with her thesis on the sustainability of historic landscapes within the context of neoliberal urbanism [ITU, 2011]. Within her academic and professional career in ITU, she also serviced as a visiting lecturer in various international platforms including Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Institut D'urbanisme de Grenoble, Gran Sasso Science Institute, Technische Universität Darmstadt, and Tor Vergata. She has several international and national research and implementation projects including <Prizren Municipal Development Plan> under the supervision of UN-Habitat [2012] and UNESCO supported <Istanbul Historic Peninsula Conservation Project> [2003], which was awarded a Medal in in European Union Prize for Culture Heritage/Europa Nostra Awards 2004. She acted as the academic consultant to IPA Istanbul Planning Agency Vision 2050 Strategic Document [2021-2022]. Currently, she participates in Horizon 2020 MSCA-RISE Project on <Art, Culture, Economy to Democratize Society: Trans-making>. Her research culminates on alternative narratives on heritage, arts and conflict in Morocco, Chile, Bosnia and Sicilia through cooperation with non-governmental institutions [2017-2022]. She is also the ITU coordinator for EELISA Circular Community, and Erasmus+ Project, as part of KA220 Cooperation partnerships in higher education, entitled <CIRC.LE: Circular & Socio-Civic Learning Hub> [2021-2024]. She is the member of International Council on Monuments and Sites [ICOMOS], Association of Critical Heritage Studies [ACHS], and the former Vice President and presently the Board Member of the International Society of City and Regional Planners [ISOCARP] as the leading global networks on urban and heritage studies. She is also ISOCARP’s Director of Young Planning Professionals’ Programme [2017-2023] - where she commits to knowledge for better cities with the young generations. Until today, she has collaborated with various municipalities and institutes to lead capacity building workshops in China, Qatar, and Indonesia among others.