Osman Balaban joined the UNU Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) in September 2009 as a UNU-IAS Postdoctoral Fellow in the Sustainable Urban Futures Programme. During the first year of his fellowship, Balaban completed research on climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies in cities, with a special emphasis on urban regeneration projects. He is currently participating in the research activities of the Institute on climate change, urban sustainability, and biodiversity.

Balaban holds a bachelor’s degree in City & Regional Planning from Middle East Technical University (METU) located in Ankara, Turkey. He received his master’s degree from the Urban Policy Planning and Local Governments Programme of METU. In February 2008, he earned his Ph.D. with a dissertation titled “Capital Accumulation, The State and The Production of Built Environment: The Case of Turkey” from the City & Regional Planning Department of METU. During his Ph.D. education, Balaban spent an academic year at the University of Kent at Canterbury in England as a visiting Ph.D. researcher.

Prior to joining UNU-IAS, Balaban worked as an instructor at METU. He taught second year Urban Planning Studio at City & Regional Planning Department of that university. Throughout his academic and professional career, Balaban has participated in various projects and research on urban planning and urban development issues. His broad research interests include urban planning, urban politics and local governments, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.