Graduated from Ankara Atatürk Anatolian High School and METU City and Regional Planning Department respectively. After the graduation as an urban planner he worked as a research assistant in the METU team of EU/FP6 INSURE Project (Framework for Sustainability Indicators) for three years. In the last year of the INSURE Project Ali Rıza Demirel worked as an executive assistant at METU Research and Implementation Center for Built Environment and Design (RICBED). Later on he started to work as an urban planner at ILBANK Spatial Planning Department. After completing the METU Information Technologies Certificate Program in 2014, he became the director of Geographic Information Systems Unit of Spatial Planning Department. His department is giving technical and financial support for local governments’ smart city projects and applications. At the same time he is working as the technical coordinator of Component A (Sustainable City Planning and Management) of Sustainable Cities Project which is carried by ILBANK and World Bank. Also he has MBA from Hasan Kalyoncu University.