Savaş Zafer Şahin

Savaş Zafer Şahin graduated from the Department of City and Regional Planning at Middle East Technical University (METU) and subsequently worked as an urban planner in both central and local governments in Türkiye.

He completed two master’s degrees, one at The University of Kent in the UK and another at METU, focusing on the relationship between local politics and local governments. He later earned his PhD in Ankara with a dissertation on the relationship between urban planning and politics. Şahin has been actively involved in civil society activities and the Chamber of City Planners in Ankara. He currently serves as a full-time faculty member at Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University. He has made significant contributions to public policy-making processes at the national level and has received various awards in both international and national competitions in the field of urban planning. His academic publications cover topics such as urban planning, urban transformation, citizen participation, digitalization, urban infrastructure, and the preservation of historical areas. He is a member of the German Academy for Spatial Research and Planning (ARL) and the French Institute of Anatolian Studies (IFEA), and he actively participates in international research projects.

For the past decade, Şahin has been contributing to the development of citizens' assemblies in Türkiye. Since 2019, he has been serving as the Vice President of the Ankara City Council. In recognition of his contributions to the advancement of democratic participation in Türkiye, he received the "Facilitator Impact Award" from the International Association of Facilitators in 2020 and the "Best Practice in Citizen Participation" award from the International Observatory of Participatory Democracy (IOPD) in 2021.