Bahar Aksel

After her undergraduate education at Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Department of Urban and Regional Planning, she completed her master's degree at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (MSGSÜ) Department of Urban Design and then received her PhD in Urban Planning from MSGSÜ. 

 Following her doctoral thesis on the effects of place identity and city branding on the urban design scale, she began working on creative spaces and creative industries. She has served as project leader for the “Creaticity” and “Hal: Sinop Entrepreneurship and Meeting Center” projects in the field of culture and creativity-based development. She has taught and conducted studies on public space, art, and participation, and has been an instructor in EAP programs. She participated in the Creative Centers Program with the support of the British Council. Since 2002, she has been a faculty member at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University.

 Through her research and teaching on urban design, creative industries, and place-making, she continues to explore how urban spaces can be better designed/produced and expands her work into areas such as walkability, public service design and user experience, child-friendly cities, and climate-resilient urban design.