Professor Tan Yigitcanlar

Main Areas of Research

Investigation into Smart Technologies, Communities, Cities and Urbanism: This stream of research examines the disruptive effects, along with the beneficial impacts, of urban technologies and digital transformation of urban services and infrastructures on our cities and societies. The research in this theme covers, but not limited to, the following topics:

• Artificial intelligence;
• Citizen science (e.g., crowdsourcing, volunteered geographic information);
• Gamification and gamified applications;
• Machine learning;
• Smart campus;
• Smart city;
• Smart community;
• Smart mobility (e.g., autonomous driving, mobility-as-a-service);
• Smart precinct;
• Smart urban technology;
• Smart urbanism.

Investigation into Sustainable and Resilient Cities, Communities and Urban Ecosystems: This stream of research explores existing and prospective urban and environmental dynamics and challenges to determine strategies for planning and designing sustainable, resilient, responsive and liveable natural and built urban environments. The research in this theme covers, but not limited to, the following topics:

• Climate change;
• Disaster vulnerability assessment and analytics;
• Extreme heat vulnerability;
• Post-Anthropocentric urbanism.
• Sustainable transport (e.g., accessibility planning, transport-related social exclusion);
• Sustainable urban and infrastructure development;
• Urban and environmental sustainability performance assessment;
• Urban heat island;
• Urban renewable energy;
• Water sensitive urban design;
• Wind sensitive urban design;
• Zero waste.

Investigation into Knowledge-Based Development of Cities and Innovation Districts: This stream of research scrutinises the impacts of global knowledge and innovation economy on our cities and societies, along with developing strategies for space and place making for knowledge-based activities in cities. The research in this theme covers, but not limited to, the following topics:

• Cluster performance analysis;
• Innovation district;
• Knowledge and innovation economy;
• Knowledge industry, business and worker;
• Knowledge-based urban and regional development;
• Place making and branding;
• Responsible urban innovation;
• Urban innovation system;
• Urban knowledge and innovation spaces.

Journal Editorship

• Sustainable Cities and Society (Elsevier), Associate Editor (2020-Present)
• Sustainability (MDPI), Section Editor-in-Chief (2016-Present)
• Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity (Elsevier), Associate Editor (2015-Present)
• Cities (Elsevier), Editorial Board Member (2020-Present)
• Land Use Policy (Elsevier), Editorial Board Member (2020-Present)
• Journal of Urban Technology (Taylor & Francis), Editorial Board Member (2017-Present)
• Journal of Knowledge Management (Emerald), Editorial Board Member (2017-Present)
• Knowledge Management Research and Practice (Taylor & Francis), Editorial Board Member (2015-Present)
• International Journal of Information Management (Elsevier), Editorial Review Board Member (2020-Present)
• Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management (ISWA), Editorial Board Member (2015-Present)
• Measuring Business Excellence (Emerald), Editorial Board Member (2015-Present)
• Urban Science (MDPI), Editorial Board Member (2015-Present)

Book Series Editorship

• Smart Cities Book Series (Elsevier), Editor-in-Chief

International Event Organisation

• Special Session Organiser, I Workshop on Quantum Economics and Sustainable Futures, 22nd International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, 26-28 Jun 2024, Salamanca, Spain.
• Chair, Urban AI Seminar, QUT City 4.0 Lab and Centre for Future Enterprise, 6 Nov 2023, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
• Special Session Organiser, The 20th International Conference on Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence, University of Minho, 12-14 July 2023, Guimarães, Portugal.
• Local Organisation Committee Member, Sustainability Research and Innovation 2022 Conference, Oceania Satellite Event, Belmont Forum, 29 Jun-1 Jul 2022, Brisbane, Australia.
• Local Organisation Committee Member, The Inaugural Sustainability Research and Innovation Conference, Belmont Forum, and Future Earth Australia, 14-17 Jun 2021, Brisbane, Australia.
• Chair, The Inaugural Australia-Brazil Smart City Research and Practice Forum, Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 4-8 Nov 2019, Florianopolis, Brazil.
• Summit Chair, The 12th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & National Confederation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism Santa Catarina, 4-8 Nov 2019, Florianopolis, Brazil.
• Summit Chair, The 11th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & Government of Canary Islands, 20-22 Nov 2018, Tenerife, Spain.
• Scientific Committee, The 13th International Forum on Knowledge Assets Dynamics, Delft University of Technology, 4-6 Jul 2018, Delft, The Netherlands.
• Scientific Advisory Committee, The Art of Management Symposium, St John’s University, 1-2 Nov 2017, New York, USA.
• Summit Chair, The 10th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & National University of Saint Augustine, 20-22 Oct 2017, Arequipa, Peru.
• Summit Chair, The 9th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & City of Vienna, 12-13 Oct 2016, Vienna, Austria.
• International Scientific Committee Member, The 8th International Conference on Knowledge Management in Asia Pacific, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 23-24 Oct 2015, Kobe, Japan.
• Organisation Committee Member, The 1st Society of Open Innovation Conference & The 8th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, 14-18 Jun 2015, Daegu, Korea.
• Summit Chair, The 7th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & Tallinn University, 24-26 Sep 2014, Tallinn, Estonia.
• International Scientific Committee Member, International Conference for Sustainable Urban Design for Livable Cities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 14-16 Nov 2014, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• International Scientific Committee Member, The 7th International Conference on Knowledge Management in Asia Pacific, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 9-10 Oct 2014, Bangkok, Thailand.
• Summit Chair, The 6th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & Istanbul Sehir University, 9-12 Sep 2013, Istanbul, Turkey.
• International Scientific Committee Member, The 9th Annual International Conference of the International Institute for Infrastructure Renewal and Reconstruction, Queensland University of Technology, 8-11 Jul 2013, Brisbane, Australia.
• International Scientific Committee Member, The 8th International Forum on Knowledge Asset Dynamics, University of Basilicata, 12-14 Jun 2013, Zagreb, Croatia.
• International Scientific Committee Member, The 6th International Conference on Knowledge Management in Asia Pacific, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, 10-12 Oct 2012, Shanghai, China.
• Summit Chair, The 7th International Forum on Knowledge Asset Dynamics and The 5th Knowledge Cities World Summit, University of Basilicata & World Capital Institute, 13-15 Jun 2012, Matera, Italy.
• Summit Chair, The 4th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & Ibero-American Society for Knowledge Systems, 26-27 Oct 2011, Bento Goncalves, Brazil.
• Organisation Committee Chair, Regional Planning Practice Study Tour, 16-28 Jul 2011, Taipei, Taiwan.
• International Scientific Committee Member, The 6th International Forum on Knowledge Asset Dynamics, University of Basilicata, 15-17 Jun 2011, Tampere, Finland.
• Summit Chair, The 3rd Knowledge Cities World Summit, City of Melbourne, World Capital Institute & Office of Knowledge Capital, 16-19 Nov 2010, Melbourne, Australia.
• International Scientific Committee Member, The 5th International Conference on Knowledge Management in Asia Pacific, Xi’an Jiaotong University, 16-18 Sep 2010, Xi’an, China.
• Organisation Committee Chair, Regional Planning Practice Study Tour, Queensland University of Technology, 12 Jul-2 Aug 2010, Istanbul and Gallipoli, Turkey.
• International Scientific Committee Member, The 5th International Forum on Knowledge Asset Dynamics, University of Basilicata, 24-25 Jun 2010, Matera, Italy.
• International Scientific Committee Member, The 2nd Knowledge Cities Summit, Shenzhen Municipality, World Capital Institute & The New Club of Paris, 5-7 Nov 2009, Shenzhen, China.
• Organisation Committee Chair, Regional Planning Practice Study Tour, Queensland University of Technology, 27 Jul-2 Aug 2009, Seoul and Daejeon, Korea.
• Scientific Committee Member, The 2nd Infrastructure Research Theme Postgraduate Student Conference, Queensland University of Technology, 26 Mar 2009, Brisbane, Australia.
• International Scientific Committee Member, The 3rd International Symposium on Knowledge Cities, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality & Arab Urban Development Institute, 17-19 Nov 2008, Istanbul, Turkey.
• International Scientific Committee Member, Smart Urban Mobility: ATRA Seminar on Design for Smart Campus/District Mobility. Harvard School of Graduate School of Design, 22 Aug 2008, Cambridge, MA, USA.
• Organisation Committee Chair, Regional Planning Practice Study Tour, Queensland University of Technology, 27 Jul-2 Aug 2008, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• Organisation Committee Member, Malaysian Institute of Planners Technical Tour on Sustainable Practices, Queensland University of Technology, 8-13 Apr 2008, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
• International Scientific Committee Member, The 2nd International Symposium on Knowledge Cities, Malaysian Institute of Planners & Arab Urban Development Institute, 16-18 Jul 2007, Shah Alam, Malaysia.
• International Advisory Board Member, The Global Knowledge Based Development Week and The 1st Knowledge Cities Summit, UNESCO & Forum Monterrey, 15-21 Oct 2007, Monterrey, Mexico.
• International Scientific Committee Member, The 1st International Symposium on Knowledge Cities, The World Bank & Arab Urban Development Institute, 28-30 Nov 2005, Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Keynote and Invited Speeches

• The 10th Society of Open Innovation Conference, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, 14-18 Jul 2025, Daegu, Korea.
• AI and Cities: An International Forum for Innovation and Collaboration, University of Florida, 9-10 May 2025, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
• EAI SmartZero City Taipei International Summit 2025​, Yuan Ze University, 24-27 Mar 2025, Taipei, Taiwan.
• The Deep Tech Lab’s Salamanca Tech Presentation Series. Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, 17 Feb 2025, Salamanca, Spain.
• The Applied Machine Learning Days. The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 11-14 Feb 2025, Lausanne, Switzerland.
• eGrad School Global Conference 2024: Exploring the Potential of Artificial Intelligence in Research. QUT, 26 Nov 2024, Brisbane, Australia.
• URSP Distinguished Urban Lecture Series 2024/25. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 15 Nov 2024, Hong Kong, China.
• Geography Distinguished Seminar Series. The University of Hong Kong, 14 Nov 2024, Hong Kong, China.
• Department of Public and International Affairs Seminar Series. The City University of Hong Kong, 13 Nov 2024, Hong Kong, China.
• Sustainable Real Estate Research Centre Seminar Series. Hong Kong Shue Yan University, 11 Nov 2024, Hong Kong, China.
• The PlanTech Briefing: Responsible AI for Urban Planning, Planning Institute Australia, 25 Jul 2024, Brisbane, Australia.
• The 2nd Global Urban Governance and Policy Conference, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 29-30 Jun 2024, Shanghai, China.
• Economic, Social, and Cultural Transformation for Sustainable Development: An International Conference, Qatar University, 24-25 Apr 2024, Doha, Qatar.
• The 30th Anniversary Commemoration Event of School of Public Affairs, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, 27-28 Mar 2024, Nanjing, China.
• URBIS New Year Industry Event on Artificial Intelligence and the City. URBIS, 8 Feb 2024, Brisbane, Australia.
• Cities International Conference, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, 25-26 Oct 2023, Surabaya, Indonesia.
• Innovation District Alternative Planning Workshop, University of Melbourne, 10 Oct 2023, Melbourne, Australia.
• QUT Centre for Robotics AI Event: Generative AI Opportunities, Challenges and Uncertainties, Queensland University of Technology, 15 Jun 2023, Brisbane, Australia.
• Australia-Asia Dialogue for Urban Innovation Seminar Series, The Melbourne University, 8 May 2023, Melbourne, Australia.
• Open Research for Climate Justice, Queensland University of Technology, 24 Oct 2022, Brisbane, Australia.
• BioUrbEcon: Growing a Bio-based Urban Economy, Queensland University of Technology, 15 Sep 2022, Brisbane, Australia.
• Urban Geography Workshop on Creativity and the Built Environment Nexus, The University of Melbourne, 12-13 Jul 2022, Melbourne, Australia.
• National Forum on Urban Freight Logistics Education, iMove and Queensland University of Technology, 17 Jun 2022, Brisbane, Australia.
• The 14th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute, 16-19 Nov 2021, Bento Gonçalves, Brazil.
• Sustainable Smart Cities and Territories International Conference, 27-29 April 2021, Texas A&M University-Qatar, Doha, Qatar.
• Virtual Conference on the Intersection of Smart Cities with Housing and Community Development, Virginia Tech, 15 Feb 2021, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
• Moreton Bay Regional Council Planning and Development Committee Seminar Series, Moreton Bay Regional Council, 15 Oct 2020, Caboolture, Australia.
• The State-of-the-Art Research in Artificial Intelligence and Ubiquitous City Seminar, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, 23-25 Sep 2020, Hong Kong.
• The Artificial Intelligence and the Smart City Webinar, QUTeX Real World Futures, Queensland University of Technology, 25 Jun 2020, Brisbane, Australia.
• The Inaugural Australia-Brazil Smart City Research and Practice Forum, Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 4-8 Nov 2019, Florianopolis, Brazil.
• The 12th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & National Confederation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism Santa Catarina, 4-8 Nov 2019, Florianopolis, Brazil.
• The 5th Society of Open Innovation Conference, Meijo University, 28 Jun - 1 Jul 2019, Nagoya, Japan.
• Industry Breakfast on the South East Queensland 2032 Olympic Bid, Emporium Hotel, 12 Jun 2019, Brisbane, Australia.
• The Congress of Mayors on Knowledge-Based Development, University of Caxias do Sul, 30 Nov 2018, Caxias do Sul, Brazil.
• The 11th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & Government of Canary Islands, 20-22 Nov 2018, Tenerife, Spain.
• The Beyond Smart City Seminar, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, 27 Sep 2018, Curitiba, Brazil.
• The Connected Smart Cities 2018 Conference, Sator–Organiser and Idealiser of Connected Smart Cities, 4-5 Sep 2018, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
• The Congress of Mayors on Smart Cities, Federation of Santa Catarina Municipalities, 13-14 Jun 2018, Florianopolis, Brazil.
• The Zero Waste Cities International Congress, Institute of Zero Waste Brazil, 5-7 Jun 2018, Brasilia, Brazil.
• The Smart City Business America Congress & Expo, Smart City Business America Institute, 16-18 Apr 2018, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
• The 2nd Symposium on the Ponte Viva Project and the Future of Hercílio Luz, Federal University of Santa Catarina, 11 Apr 2018, Florianopolis, Brazil.
• From Smart City to Sustainable Smart City Seminar, University of Caxias do Sul, 3 Mar 2018, Caxias do Sul, Brazil.
• Open Innovation Academy of SOItmC International Lectures, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, 27 Nov - 6 Dec 2017, Daegu, Korea.
• Daejeon Global Innovation Forum, World Technopolis Association, 12-14 Sep 2017, Daejeon, Korea.
• The Smart Cities Expo World Forum 2017, International Convention Centre Sydney, 31 Aug - 1 Sep 2017, Sydney, Australia.
• Brisbane City Council’s Young Professionals’ Forum, Brisbane City Council, 25 July 2017, Brisbane, Australia.
• The Sustainability and Life Cycle Thinking Summer School, University of Messina, 3-7 Jul 2017, Messina, Italy.
• The 10th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & National University of Saint Augustine, 20-22 Jun 2017, Arequipa, Peru.
• The 3rd Society of Open Innovation Conference, Riga Technical University, 15-18 Jun 2017, Riga, Latvia.
• International Conference on Smart Governance, Sustainability, and Public Policy around the World, Seoul National University, 15-18 Dec 2016, Jeju, Korea.
• Global Knowledge for Development Summit, Knowledge Management Austria, 14 Oct 2016, Vienna, Austria.
• The 9th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & City of Vienna, 12-13 Oct 2016, Vienna, Austria.
• The Past & Present Dangerous Thinkers Event, Consult Australia FutureNet, 14 Jul 2016, Brisbane, Australia.
• The 2nd Society of Open Innovation Conference & Consortium of Supply Chain and Operations Management Conference, San Jose State University, 31 May-3 Jun 2016, California, USA.
• The 21st AABI General Assembly and International Conference, Asian Association of Business Incubation (AABI), 28-30 October 2015, Daegu, Korea.
• The 5th World Sustainability Forum, MDPI Publishing & University of Basel, 7-9 Sep 2015, Basel, Switzerland.
• The 1st Society of Open Innovation Conference & The 8th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, 14-18 Jun 2015, Daegu, Korea.
• The 7th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & Tallinn University, 24-26 Sep 2014, Tallinn, Estonia.
• The 6th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & Istanbul Sehir University, 9-12 Sep 2013, Istanbul, Turkey.
• The World Secretariat of City Prosperity Index, Middle East Regional Centre of Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme, UN-HABITAT, 10-11 May 2013, Tehran, Iran.
• The 5th Alliance for Healthy Cities Global Conference, Griffith University & Logan City Council, 24-27 Oct 2012, Brisbane, Australia.
• The 7th International Forum on Knowledge Asset Dynamics & The 5th Knowledge Cities World Summit, University of Basilicata & World Capital Institute, 13-15 Jun 2012, Matera, Italy.
• International Symposium and Workshop on Ubiquitous Cities, University of New South Wales, 28-29 Nov 2011, Sydney, Australia.
• The 4th Knowledge Cities World Summit, World Capital Institute & Ibero-American Community for Knowledge Systems, 26-27 Oct 2011, Bento Gonçalves, Brazil.
• The 6th International Forum on Knowledge Asset Dynamics, Tampere University of Technology, 15-17 Jun 2011, Tampere, Finland.
• The 4th International Symposium on Knowledge Cities, World Bank & Al-Medina Municipality, 1-2 Mar 2011, Al-Medina, Saudi Arabia.
• The 3rd Knowledge Cities World Summit, City of Melbourne, World Capital Institute & Office of Knowledge Capital, 16-19 Nov 2010, Melbourne, Australia.
• The 5th International Forum on Knowledge Asset Dynamics, University of Basilicata, 24-25 Jun 2010, Matera, Italy.
• The Revive MTY Forum 2010, Monterrey University of Technology, 3-4 Jun 2010, Monterrey, Mexico.
• The 2nd Knowledge Cities Summit, Shenzhen Municipality, World Capital Institute & The New Club of Paris, 5-7 Nov 2009, Shenzhen, China.
• The 2nd International Seminar on Future City. U-City Research Cluster, Hanbat National University, 28 Jul 2009, Daejeon, Korea.
• The 2009 Australian Higher Education Congress, The Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia, 24-25 Mar 2009, Sydney, Australia.
• Gold Coast City Council Urban Design Seminar, Gold Coast City Council, 11 Feb 2009, Gold Coast, Australia.
• The 3rd International Symposium on Knowledge Cities, Istanbul Municipality & Arab Urban Development Institute, 17-19 Nov 2008, Istanbul, Turkey.
• International Symposium on Land, Transport and Maritime Technology, Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, 5-6 Nov 2008, Seoul, Korea.
• International Knowledge Week, Ibero-American Community for Knowledge Systems, 29-31 Oct 2008, Manizales, Colombia.
• The 1st Knowledge Cities Summit, UNESCO & Forum Monterrey, 17-20 Oct 2007, Monterrey, Mexico.
• The 2nd International Symposium on Knowledge Cities, Arab Urban Development Institute & Malaysian Institute of Planners. 16-18 Jul 2007, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• Youth in the Middle East and North Africa Conference, Arab Urban Development Institute, 4-6 Dec 2006, Rabat, Morocco.
• The 1st International Symposium on Knowledge Cities, The World Bank & Arab Urban Development Institute. 28-30 Nov 2005, Medina, Saudi Arabia.
• Symposium on E-government: Opportunities and Challenges, The World Bank & Arab Urban Development Institute. 10-12 May 2003, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.
• International Symposium on Future Cities, The World Bank & Arab Urban Development Institute. 10-12 Nov 2001, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• The 8th National ESRI and ERDAS Users Conference, Economic and Social Research Institute, 6-7 Jun 2002, Ankara, Turkey.
• The ESRI European and MENA Conference, Economic and Social Research Institute, 18-20 Oct 2000, Istanbul, Turkey.