Project Team

Principal Investigator

Havva Ezgi Doğru Zırığ

Assistant Professor

Anadolu University, Department of Sociology

She received her bachelor’s degree from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Middle East Technical University, her master’s degree from the Cultural Studies programme at Sabancı University, and her PhD in 2017 from the Department of Political Science at York University (Canada). She conducted her postdoctoral research at the Department of Global Development Studies at Queen’s University, Canada. Her work focuses on theories of the state, political economy, urbanisation and the sociology of youth. Her research has appeared in journals including New Political Economy, Geoforum, Amme İdaresi, Mülkiye and Praksis. Her book Çılgın Projelerin Ötesinde: TOKİ, Devlet ve Sermaye was published by İletişim Yayınları in 2021. She is a member of the Board of the Turkish Social Sciences Association and of the Editorial Board of Praksis. She has been a faculty member in the Department of Sociology at Anadolu University since 2019.

Anadolu University (opens in a new tab)

Advisors

Işıl Erol

Professor

Özyeğin University, Faculty of Business, Department of International Finance

She received her bachelor’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Middle East Technical University in 1998 and a master’s degree in Economics from the same university in 2000. She completed a second master’s degree at the University of Cambridge in 2001 and a PhD in Real Estate Finance in 2004. Her work concerns housing economics, real estate finance, the financialisation of housing markets, housing affordability and housing wealth inequalities. Her research has appeared in international journals including the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Regional Studies, Applied Economics and the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics. She has held faculty positions at Middle East Technical University, Queensland University of Technology and the University of Reading. Since 2022 she has been a professor in the Department of International Finance at Özyeğin University’s Faculty of Business, where she is academic director of the Alp Alkaş Retail and Real Estate Center.

Özyeğin University (opens in a new tab)

Berkay Ayhan

Assistant Professor

Istanbul University, Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Public Administration and Political Science

He received his bachelor’s degree from the Department of Economics at Gazi University, his master’s degree from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Middle East Technical University, and his PhD in 2017 from the Department of Political Science at McMaster University (Canada). His dissertation received the Turkish Social Sciences Association’s 2019 Young Social Scientist Award. His work covers political economy, public administration, public policy, financialisation and household indebtedness. His research has appeared in journals including Globalizations, International Review of Administrative Sciences, Turkish Studies, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, Amme İdaresi and Praksis. Between 2020 and 2024 he was a faculty member in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Kadir Has University. Since 2024 he has been a faculty member in the Department of Public Administration and Political Science at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Political Sciences.

Istanbul University (opens in a new tab)

Researcher

Temmuz Gönç Şavran

Professor

Anadolu University, Department of Sociology

She received her bachelor’s, master’s and, in 2010, PhD degrees from the Department of Sociology at Anadolu University. Her work covers social inequalities, the sociology of health, working life, gender and sociological research methods. Her research has appeared in journals including İstanbul Üniversitesi Sosyoloji Dergisi, Sosyoloji Araştırmaları Dergisi, Ankara Üniversitesi SBF Dergisi and Fe Dergi. She has held academic positions in the Department of Sociology at Anadolu University since 2001 and has been a professor since 2024.

Anadolu University (opens in a new tab)

PhD and Master’s Fellows

Umut Berk Karaaslan

PhD Fellow

Anadolu University, Department of Sociology

Umut Berk Karaaslan is a PhD student in the Department of Sociology at Anadolu University. In the master’s thesis, completed at the same university in 2024, Umut Berk examined Eskişehir’s urbanisation from an urban political ecology perspective, focusing on urban environmental injustice in the Gündoğdu neighbourhood. Umut Berk’s work covers urban political ecology, social inequalities, environmental justice, the climate crisis and sustainability. Umut Berk worked as a youth worker at Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality and took part in organising workshops and events on the climate crisis, sustainability and youth participation. Alongside civil society work, he writes on culture, art and ecology.

Melik Dibek

Master’s Fellow

Anadolu University, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Journalism Programme

Melik Dibek played an active role in organising and conducting the focus group discussions held in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Melik also plays an active role in creating and managing the project’s social media accounts.

Melik Dibek is pursuing a thesis-based master’s degree in the Journalism Programme at Anadolu University’s Graduate School of Social Sciences. Alongside academic work, Melik is active in journalism, culture and the arts, and communication.

Hayrettin Gül

Master’s Fellow

Anadolu University, Department of Sociology

Hayrettin Gül graduated from the Department of Sociology at Anadolu University in 2024 and continues master’s studies in the same department. Hayrettin has taken part in several field studies, notably “Migrant Health in Eskişehir”.

Undergraduate Fellows

Mert Büyükkaya

Undergraduate Fellow and Field Team Leader

Mert Büyükkaya coordinated the team during the fieldwork of the tenant survey in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, and played an active role in carrying out the survey, analysing field data and evaluating the research findings.

Sude Kaymaz

Undergraduate Fellow

Sude Kaymaz played an active part in the fieldwork of the tenant survey in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, and contributed to organising and analysing field data and interpreting the research findings.

Özkan Sönmez

Undergraduate Fellow

Özkan Sönmez took part in the fieldwork of the tenant survey in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir and contributed to the collection of the research’s primary data.

Nidanur Şanlı

Undergraduate Fellow

Nidanur Şanlı took an active role in the fieldwork of the tenant survey in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir and contributed to the research’s primary data collection.