Murat Ayyildiz, City of Istanbul

Meet Murat Ayyildiz – Nominated by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality

From Istanbul to shaping the city’s future mobility

Born, raised and based in Istanbul, Türkiye, Murat works as a Transport Engineer and Project Coordinator at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM).

His work bridges technical engineering and strategic management with a focus on advancing smart city digital infrastructure, optimising urban mobility and leading high-impact international collaborations.

Guided by Istanbul’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) and Vision 2050 strategy, IMM is working to transform the city into a greener, smarter and more resilient metropolis. Its priorities include decarbonisation through the expansion of urban rail, active mobility and first- and last-mile integration, low-emission zones and demand management, AI-driven intelligent transport systems and greater social inclusion and transit equity.

Connecting international innovation with local challenges

Murat contributes to these priorities through the development and management of European projects funded under Horizon Europe and EIT Urban Mobility. He focuses on designing and implementing innovative use cases that align with IMM’s mission, vision and strategic targets, helping translate international funding and innovation frameworks into sustainable solutions for Istanbul’s transport network.

Based within the Transport Management Center (TMC), he is also involved in research and development activities aimed at strengthening technical and operational capabilities in smart city technologies and data-driven traffic management.

A key area of this work is the advancement of traffic signalling systems, where Murat develops technical proposals and innovative strategies to support smarter, more adaptive and efficient infrastructure.

Leading the way towards future urban mobility

One project Murat is particularly proud of is the AcceptRemote project, which he leads and coordinates the İstanbul pilot operation. The initiative uses a Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) approach to enable the safe, real-time management of an SAE Level 4 autonomous vehicle through advanced teleoperation methods in Istanbul’s complex, real-world traffic conditions.

The project aims to implement remotely managed autonomous systems in passenger transportation in a way that is safe, inclusive and sustainable. Alongside the technical aspects, Murat’s work considers societal needs, user expectations and public safety standards.

Imagining a more sustainable Istanbul

For Murat, one of Istanbul’s biggest mobility challenges is managing a population of more than 16 million people within a deeply rooted car-centric culture. While the scale of the city places significant pressure on its transport network, he believes that the challenge extends beyond infrastructure to achieving a major behavioural shift towards sustainable and shared mobility.

Why the Emerging Leaders program?

Murat first learned about the Emerging Leaders program through his director, who encouraged him to pursue the opportunity as a way to support both his professional development and the future of sustainable mobility in Istanbul.

He sees the program as an opportunity to combine his hands-on engineering experience with strategic training, mentorship and an international network. His ultimate goal is to play a decisive role in leading the positive transformation of Istanbul’s urban mobility.

Growing as a people-centred leader

Through the program, Murat hopes to strengthen his coordination, strategic management and communication skills, while becoming a more people-centred leader who can recognise and unlock the potential of his colleagues.

He is also looking to develop his ability to bridge vision with reality, aligning ambitious ideas with practical constraints. Through cross-border knowledge exchange with fellow emerging leaders, he hopes to contribute to a culture of collective growth while bringing new perspectives, benchmarks and collaborative opportunities to Istanbul and his organisation.