Ela Babalık

Prof. Ela Babalık is a city planner and transport planning and policy expert. She completed her Bachelors Degree in City Planning at Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey; her Masters degree in Urban Policy Planning in the same university, and her PhD degree in Urban Transport Planning at University College London, UK. Since 2000, she has been a full-time member of the academic staff at METU Department of City and Regional Planning, teaching city planning studio courses as well as urban transport planning, transport systems design and transport policy courses. Since 2023, she has been teaching the urban transport themed courses as a part-time academic member. Her research topics include transport policy, urban mobility, sustainable mobility and transport, start city and intelligent transport, climate change and the transport sector, public transport planning and operation. She has been involved in a number of research and action projects on transport, both national and international, including EU framework projects and Turkey’s Climate Change Action Plan (2010-2011) and Adaptation Plan (ongoing) with UNDP and Turkish ministries. Ela Babalık has also been actively involved in the Association of European Schools of Planning [AESOP], acting as the association’s representative in the Global Planning Education Associations Network [GPEAN] from 2013 to 2019 as well as chairing the network from 2017 to 2019.