02 September - Session 2

Mr Utku Cihan, Head of Transportation, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey

Utku Cihan received his BSc degree from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in 2005 and his MSc degree in Urban Systems and Transportation Management Program in 2013. He still continues his PhD education in the area of Sustainable Transport. Utku Cihan worked in the Transportation Department of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality from 2008 to 2019, and served as the Transportation Planning Chief and Public Transportation Services Manager. In 2019 he was appointed as the Manager of Transportation Planning in Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and has been working as the Head of Transportation Department in Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality since February 2020. Additionally, he is a board member of Pedestrian Association and founder member of Cycling for Transport Association in Turkey.

Mr Erol Algun, Transport Planning Branch Manager, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey

Erol Algun has served as Transport Planning Branch Manager at Ankara Metropolitan Municipality since 2008. He is responsible for a variety of transportation and planning projects including planning and reorganisation of junctions and parking planning and construction projects.

Mr Jean Mattos Duarte, Deputy Secretary, Prefeitura Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Master of Public Administration, MBA in Strategic Project Management and Bachelor of Administration with Qualification in International Business. Logistics Analyst at the Federal Data Processing Service (SERPRO), assigned to the Municipality of Belo Horizonte as Assistant Municipal Secretary for Planning, Budget and Management, also responsible for the Sub secretariat of Management Modernization, where he develops projects for digital transformation, relationship with the citizen, bureaucracy reduction, process redesign, and ICT policies. He has held other management positions in the Minas Gerais State Government. Professor of undergraduate and graduate courses in administration, logistics, public procurement, planning and public budgeting fields.

Mr Manoj Rampersad, Senior Manager, eThekwini Transport Authority, South Africa

Manoj Rampersad is the Senior Manager: Transport Planning within the Strategic Transport Planning Department of the eThekwini Transport Authority, eThekwini Municipality (Durban, South Africa). He has a Master of Town and Regional Planning from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is registered as a Professional Planner with South Council for Planners (SACPLAN). He has almost 30 years of combined experience in land use and transport planning, both at a professional, management and technical level, with over 25 years in strategic transport planning, of which 10 years is at a senior management level and is responsible for statutory, strategy and policy planning and development, including: Land transport planning in terms of the National Land Transport Act (5 of 2009); Development of land transport policy and strategy, and research; Undertaking long term planning (forecasting & modelling) and preparation of transport plans; Land use/transport integration; Developing modal and network strategies; Developing infrastructure and funding strategies. Manoj is the City lead on the eThekwini Transit Oriented Development (eTOD) work-stream with the UK Prosperity Fund (UKPF) through the Global Future Cities Programme.

Ms Vicky Delbridge, Head of Cities that Work, International Growth Centre, UK

Victoria Delbridge is the Head of the International Growth Centre’s Cities that Work initiative. She is working with Paul Collier, Ed Glaeser, Astrid Haas and Tony Venables, to develop a network of economists, urban planning practitioners and policymakers to translate economic research into clear urban policy guidance. Victoria holds an MSc in Economics for Development from the University of Oxford, and a BSc in Environmental and Geographical Science and Economics from the University of Cape Town. Prior to her Masters at Oxford, Victoria was an economist at the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism in South Africa. Her current research areas include urban land use planning, public infrastructure and service provision, urban employment, municipal finance and city-level data strategies.

Mr Shahrukh Wani, Cities Economist, International Growth Centre, UK

Shahrukh Wani is an economist at the International Growth Centre’s Cities that Work initiative at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. In this role, he supports evidence-based policy reforms in Africa and South Asia with a focus on public finance and urban governance. His work has included collaborations with policymakers in Afghanistan, Uganda, Pakistan, and Zambia on areas such as property taxation, fiscal and administrative decentralisation, and urban infrastructure provision. Before joining the IGC, Shahrukh conducted economic analyses for ActionAid on Pakistan’s tax system, supported a statistical poverty measurement tool at the Grameen Foundation and the Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), and helped set up an accelerator program for social enterprises in Islamabad. Additionally, Shahrukh frequently contributes opinion pieces on economic policy to various newspapers.

Ms Maggie Baddeley, Design Council Expert, Design Council, UK

Maggie is a town planner and chartered surveyor (planning and development). She specialises in assisting with complex project related development management issues and has considerable expertise in the development planning process at all stages, including the drafting of emerging plan policies in relation to reflecting diverse development interests and wide-ranging needs. Maggie has most recently worked on progressing mixed use developments at all scales and preparing a local plan evidence bases that includes social infrastructure delivery and urban living studies. She is a design review panel chair and member in London, the South-East and East of England integrating her extensive knowledge and experience of planning with her keen interest in promoting quality design and the creation of places where people want to live work and spend time. She is also High Streets Task Force expert and a member of the mayor of London’s Infrastructure Advisory Panel.

Ms Nicola Kane, Head of Strategic Planning, Insight and Innovation, Transport for Greater Manchester, UK

Nicola is currently enjoying the challenge of developing and delivering Greater Manchester's 2040 Transport Strategy. She is a chartered town planner (MRTPI) and qualified transport planning professional (TPP) with a deep interest in how transport can improve people's lives and the places they live, work and visit. She was awarded transport planner of the year 2017 by the Transport Planning Society for her role in leading the development of the 2040 Transport Strategy. She has particular experience in transport policy and strategy development, innovation, travel behaviour change, masterplanning and development planning. She is also a member of the Institute of Transport Studies' Advisory Board at the University of Leeds. The following are among her specialities: Transport Strategy and Prioritisation, Transport Policy, Travel Behaviour Change, Accessibility Planning, Spatial Planning.

Mr Ryan Christopher Sequeira, Senior Urban Mobility Expert, UN-Habitat’s Urban Lab

Ryan Christopher Sequeira is overseeing the 18 mobility projects of the Global Future Cities Programme. He advises projects under the UN Cities Investment Facility, an upstream project development endeavour to prepare bankable, SDG-compliant projects for pitching at the Investor Fair of the 11th World Urban Forum and serves as an expert reviewer for the transportation projects of the ASEAN Sustainable Urbanisation Strategy. Before he joined UN-Habitat, Ryan worked on 59 rail and road transit nodes, 2.3 million square meters of allied Transit-Oriented Development, and 250 kilometres] of Complete Streets for the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation, and National Institute of Urban Affairs. Most recently, he worked on the infrastructure rejuvenation of 13 wastewater districts for the New York State Water Resources Institute as an Infrastructure Project Management & Finance Fellow at Cornell Institute of Public Affairs. His latest publication, on the Politics of Infrastructural Aesthetics of the Delhi BRT, was published in the International Development Planning Review and he is currently co-authoring a SIDA funded normative study on Integrated Capital Investment Planning.