About me.
Assist Prof | Bilkent University
Postdoc | MIT Senseable City Lab
PhD | University of Melbourne
MSc | BSc | METU
I'm an urban scientist exploring what gives cities their shape and how that shape affects the way we live, move, and experience the built environment. Urban form is at the core of everything I do. I approach it through morphometrics, spatial analytics, and machine learning. Not just to measure what exists, but to understand how it works and how we might change it for the better.
Currently, I'm an Assistant Professor of Urban Design and Morphology at Bilkent University and a Postdoctoral Researcher at MIT Senseable City Lab, where I'm conducting morphometric research on public open space accessibility, streetscape perception, UNESCO cultural heritage sites, and informal settlements. My research has been published in leading journals including Cities, Environment and Planning B, Urban Design International, and Urban Morphology. My ongoing work at MIT is supported by a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship (2025–2026). The follow-up research on public open space accessibility in Ankara will be realised through a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Fellowship at Bilkent University (2026–2028).
My academic journey started at METU, where I studied urban planning and design. My master's thesis focused on urban complexity, emergence, and the idea of incremental design via responsive condition-making. That work sparked a desire in me to understand the most elusive dimension of urban space. Time.
I carried that question to the University of Melbourne, where my PhD focused on urban form evolution through data-driven methods. I developed a quantitative framework to test how morphometrics can explain change and persistence in cities and the way they transform over decades and centuries. That research was recognized with the Melbourne Centre for Data Science Doctoral Academy Fellowship (2022), the Bharat Dave Prize for Novel Approaches in Design Research (2023), and the Dean's Publication Prize for Research Excellence (2023). During my time at Melbourne School of Design, I taught and coordinated Master of Urban Design and Architecture studios, along with several courses on urban design and morphological mapping.
Now at Bilkent LAUD, alongside my research, I continue to teach urban design studios and two courses fundamental to my broader aim of developing an evidence-based understanding of urban design practice: Measuring Urban Form and Introduction to Urban Design.