Arzu Tekir

Arzu Tekir is the director of World Resources Institute Ross Center for Sustainable Cities in Turkey. The WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities uses technical expertise, cutting-edge research, and on-the-ground partnership to ensure cities drive sustainable economic opportunity. Arzu and her team have worked with national government and fourteen cities in Turkey and two cities in Africa (Ethiopia and Ghana), respectively, to improve citizens’ quality of life and to improve urban mobility, urban sprawl, and urban efficiency. 

Arzu joined the WRI’s urban transport initiative, EMBARQ, as the operations manager in Turkey in January 2011 after more than ten years of work experience in strategic planning and business development. She was appointed as the country director in December 2011 and then established the Sustainable Transportation and Cities Association in Turkey.

Previously, Arzu worked as a consultant, a market researcher, and business and investment planner in the IT sector. She has also worked as a European Union projects coordinator and external relations director for IT companies.

Arzu was an MBA lecturer at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. She earned her master’s degree in econometrics from Dokuz Eylul University and holds a bachelor's degree in statistics from Ege University in Izmir.