Reclaim Istanbul is the blog of Yasar A. Adanali, Istanbul-based urban activist / researcher.

Short bio:

Yasar Adanali worked, both professionally and voluntarily, on development planning, research and management in London, South America and Tanzania. He continues to work in Turkey and Middle-East. He has a BA on social and political sciences from Sabanci University (Istanbul) and a master degree on development and planning: social development practice from Development Planning Unit, University College London (UCL), with specific focus on poverty reduction and social inclusion policies and practices at the urban level. His PhD research is on spatial democracy and urban governance. He worked as an urban development specialist with Red de Coordinacion Urbano Popular (RED), the network of NGOs and CBOs working for social inclusion and poverty reduction in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Working as the assistant coordinator to the project on Innovative Social Inclusion Policies of the Local Authorities, organized by the UCL and the United Cities and Local Governments, he had gathered and documented policy experiences around the world. Yasar coordinated a research team worked on the Istanbul Forced Eviction Map, which was first exhibited at the International Architectural Biennale Rotterdam and at the Open City Istanbul Exhibition. He works with Doga Dernegi (Nature Association of Turkey) and people of Hasankeyf on developing alternative futures for the heritage town as opposed to the Dam Project. He works as a development specialist for Stuttgart University on UNRWA’s projects on improvement of the Palestinian Refugee Camps. He teaches participatory planning practice course at TU Darmstadt, Germany. He is a voluntary member of Solidarity Studio (Istanbul).