LinkedIn profile

Professional focus

Comparative urban research, urban shrinkage, strategic planning, project management, cross-national comparative planning research, comparative research design, policy analysis, benchmarking

Scientific and professional career

04/2019 - present - PhD Researcher - Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow in RE-CITY ITN: Reviving shrinking cities project; Department "International Planning Systems" at Technische Universität Kaiserslautern

Research stays in Bertelsmann Foundation (March-April 2021) and University of Amsterdam, AISSR (March-June 2020, September-October 2021)

2015-2018 - Freelance sociologist/coordinator in research projects focused on urban studies, labour markets, inequalities at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", NGOs and institutions

2013-2015 - Master of Sociology - Urban Studies at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski"

2008-2013 - Bachelor of Sociology at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski"

Other professional experience: project management, operations management, strategic planning, marketing and communications

Publications

Ivanov, B. Narratives of Crisis: How Framing Urban Shrinkage and Depopulation Shapes Policy and Planning Responses in Spain, Germany and The Netherlands. Sustainability 2021, 13, 11045.https://doi.org/10.3390/su131911045

“Shrinking Smart from theory to practice: An epistemological approach to constructing a new planning concept” in “Shrinking Cities Handbook” (in print)

Изоставени индустриални зони в постсоциалистическа София: случаят Зона Б-5-4 в „Предизвикателства на докторанти по социология“ (2018) *published in Bulgarian //  (Abandoned industrial zones in post-socialist Sofia: the case of Zone B-5-4 in “Challenges before PhD students in sociology” (2018

Participation in conferences

RE-City ITN Final Conference "Shrinking Cities Revived!", Kaiserslautern, Germany, March 2022 "Shrinking Smart as new planning concept: Benchmarking planning and policy responses to urban shrinkage and depopulation"

34th International Geographical Congress 2021, Istanbul, Turkey (virtual), August 2021 “Urban shrinkage as a challenge for policy making and planning - comparative perspective on approaches from the European Union”

Interpretive Policy Analysis Conference 2021, Virtual, June 2021 "Interpretive policy analysis of responses to urban shrinkage and depopulation: tracing change beyond the rational planning tradition"

American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting 2021, Seattle, USA (virtual), March 2021 “Framing urban shrinkage in policy and planning responses - examples from the European Union” 

CITTA Conference 2019, Porto, Portugal, September 2019: poster presentation

29.06-2.07.2017 - Moving cities – Contested views on urban life – Interdisciplinary conference of the European Sociological Association in Krakow, Poland: "Abandoned industrial zones in post-socialist Sofia"

Teaching

Presentation as part of Bachelor's course in TU Kaiserslautern, May 2021 "Dutch planning system, national shrinkage policy, government and shrinking regions" 

Presentation and interactive workshop as part of Master's course “Transforming shrinking cities towards sustainability” in TU Dortmund, January 2021 “Urban shrinkage, economy and the EU: what’s next on the policy agenda?”