Mert is a visiting PhD researcher at AMS Institute and MIT Senseable City Lab, where he investigates urban climate adaptation through computational methods. His work bridges machine anthropology, design research, and urban data science, focusing on thermal comfort and spatial behavior in urban spaces. Affiliated with TU Delft's Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering as a PhD researcher, he builds a research agenda to understand the social and physical dimensions of urban heat and how it influences the use of urban spaces and spatial equity.
Mert is currently following two research lines at the intersection of climate adaptation and spatial behavior. The first, funded through the TU Delft Climate Action Program seed fund, combines computer vision and ethnography to investigate how thermal comfort determines the social use of (residential) space. The second examines urban heat inequalities across Dutch cities, using machine learning and interpretable AI methods to inform equitable adaptation strategies.
Mert invests in this work because climate adaptation requires understanding not just temperatures but how people actually experience and navigate heated cities. Amsterdam offers a unique laboratory where physical and social structures, combined with progressive urban policy, create opportunities to reimagine cooling as infrastructure for equity.
Beyond academic research, Mert participates in national and international planning and design projects and enters urban planning and design competitions. He is also a co-founder of Simplesample, a design startup reflecting his passion for practice-oriented work.
“We can't air-condition a sidewalk, but we can design who gets shade and reaches cooling spaces.”