Dr Guldem Ozatagan

Personal statement:

I am a human geographer with a background in spatial planning. My work focuses on:
(1) Geographical inequalities, with a particular interest in places affected by long-term stagnation, socio-economic deprivation and institutional withdrawal
(2) Sustainability flashpoints and just transitions, particularly in relation to transitions to sustainable mobility, renewable energy, coastal adaptation and food and farming.
(3) Place, planning and engagement, and related to this, the governance of sustainability transitions

I take critical place lens in investigating these issues and combine a range of qualitative methods, including policy and media analysis, interviews, surveys, focus groups, public and stakeholder workshops. My research engages with a range of interdisciplinary audiences through publications in geography, urban/regional studies, environment and planning journals and policy facing evidence reviews.

Collaboration opportunities:

I am open to collaborations with people and organisations interested in low-carbon travel, coastal adaptation, siting of wind energy, food and farming and using unconventional/creative methodologies in their engagements with these topics.

I am the co-editor of the UGoverN Blog, which is open to short articles on the governance and planning of transitions to sustainable living.

Publications:

Binaries Again! Revisiting the Urban-Rural Question through Geographies of Discontent, Habitat International. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2024.103162

Political Twists and Turns in Left-Behind Places: Reactions of an Extractive Heartland to Changing State Strategies, Regional Studies. https://doi.org.10.1080/00343404.2023.2249505

Emerging Policy Responses in Shrinking Cities: Shifting Policy Agendas to Align with Growth Machine Politics, Environment and Planning A. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X20975032

Pathways to a resilient future: A review of policy agendas and governance practices in shrinking cities, Cities. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2021.103226

Sustainable Futures of Agro-food? Izmir’s sustainable agro-food transitions in the making, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2021.08.003