Sevin Yildiz
Assistant Professor
Urban Planning and Policy
Contact
Building & Room:
263 CUPPA Hall, MC 348
Address:
412 S. Peoria St., Suite 215
Office Phone:
Email:
About
Şevin Yıldız is an Assistant Professor in the Urban Planning and Policy Department at the University of Illinois, Chicago. She researches ecological planning and urban design in the context of climate change and global urbanization, with a focus on how planning conceptualizes and negotiates values in metropolitan areas that expand into fringe ecosystems. Her primary case study is the New Jersey Meadowlands in the New York metropolitan region, where she has completed a manuscript investigating changing conceptualizations of wetlands, mangroves, and salt plains. Her publications also explore long-range planning of transitory land-to-water ecosystems in cities like Mumbai, Amsterdam, Tokyo, and New York. Şevin serves on the Chicago Department of Planning's River Ecology Task Force since 2020.
Originally trained as an architect and urban designer, Şevin has worked with the EPA Brownfields Redevelopment team and developed sustainable neighborhood grants. Her current book project focuses on the spatial analysis of the New Jersey Meadowlands, tracing land use conflicts and ecological design strategies in response to climate change, from the 1896 drainage plan to the 2017 resilience framework of the RPA. She is also conducting a comparative analysis of sub-center design in Tokyo, Mumbai, and New York. Şevin’s work has been supported by Harvard University’s Dumbarton Oaks, the New Jersey Historical Commission, and Barnard College, and her teaching reflects her global research in ecological urban design and infrastructure planning.