Meet Our New Visiting Scholar: Pinar Çobanyilmaz

We’re excited to announce Pinar Çobanyilmaz as the Initiative on Cities Visiting Postdoctoral Scholar. She is a Turkish urban scholar who is currently researching urban and rural climate resiliency measures and management after forest fires. Her academic research areas include climate change and urban resilience, the right to the city, urban conflicts, the politics of urban space, mega projects and urban regeneration, and planning theories.

Dr. Çobanyilmaz received an undergraduate and a master’s degree from Gazi University’s Department of City and Regional Planning, focused on climate resiliency measures taken by the University. She worked as a research assistant and received her doctorate in Urban Planning from Middle East Technical University. Her doctoral dissertation focused on Urban Social Movements and the Production of Urban Space. While a research assistant at METU, she participated as an instructor in planning studios. These studios are fundamental courses in planning education, where undergraduate and graduate students engage with both urban planning and design’s theoretical and practical dimensions. In addition to studio work, she assisted in teaching theoretical classes for undergraduate students.

After earning her doctoral degree, she worked as a Program Coordinator at the Institute of Urban Studies. She contributed to academic studies and led projects primarily focusing on local governments. Notably, she executed the Handbooks for Local Governments project, which involved broad participation from government institutions, academia, civil society organizations, and experts. She co-authored The Right to the City Handbook for Local Governments and Safety on the Axis of Climate Change for the Republic of Turkey’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. Additionally, she played an active role in organizing a series of conferences on various urban issues. As an Urban and Regional Development Advisor, Pinar continued her professional career at the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH. She contributed to the Resilient Cities and Communities project, which provides technical assistance to earthquake-affected municipalities. This project strengthened municipal capacities in terms of technical expertise, human resources, and networking capital.

Beyond her institutional experience, Pinar has maintained freelance consultancy work and pursued independent academic studies in her field. She has also remained actively involved in volunteer work to further contribute to her profession.