Author: SKUp İzmir

On the occasion of the Car-Free Day celebrated as part of the European Mobility Week, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality introduced to the press the Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, which it has been working on with the European Union. To be completed in 2 years, the plan will make the city safer, cleaner and more accessible, and allow Izmir Metropolitan Municipality to more easily acquire international loans and improve its institutional capacity.

Continuing its efforts to make the city sustainable, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality has publicized the EU Support to Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (EU Support to Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan-SUMP Izmir). The project, which was introduced at Swissotel Büyük Efes Izmir during the Car-Free Day as part of the European Mobility Week on September 16-22, is funded by the Republic of Turkey and the EU. Known by the acronym SUMP Izmir, the project aims to contribute to the livability and sustainability of the city through safer, cleaner, accessible and affordable mobility.

Transportation will no longer be a problem
In his opening speech Tunç Soyer, Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, stated that they have achieved two great successes in Izmir in improving the quality of life and combating the climate crisis and said, “Izmir became one of the first cities in Turkey to receive support from the EU on the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan. Secondly, with the vision we put forward, we earned our city the title of the world’s first and only Cittaslow Metropolis.” Emphasizing the importance of SUMP Izmir for the city, Mayor Tunç Soyer said: “This plan defines a brand new and lasting horizon for our city, which has become the world’s first Cittaslow Metropolis. It offers a versatile and holistic solution that connects all areas of the city, making transportation no longer a problem. We are working to be one of the pioneers of change in transportation in Izmir. I know that we will achieve this change together with the power we get from common sense. I wholeheartedly believe that a model that is in harmony with our nature is possible in transportation as in every field. Another world is possible…”

The focus will be on respect for people and the environment, not vehicles
Delivering the other opening speech, Head of the EU Delegation to Turkey Ambassador Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut said: “I think it is not a coincidence that we are launching Izmir’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan on ‘Car Free Day’. Izmir is also playing a leading role in the transition to Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning. The Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan will create a people-oriented, accessible, safe, health-oriented and resilient transportation vision for Izmir. What makes it different from traditional transportation planning is that the focus is not on vehicles, but on people and respect for the environment. The project will be carried out jointly by various departments of the municipality such as zoning and environment, and stakeholders and citizens will have an important voice in determining the vision.”
The meeting was followed by a presentation by Prof. Dr. Ashraf Hamed, SUMP Izmir Team Leader, on the technical details of the project.

SUMP Izmir will be built with a common sense
From scoping and collecting people-oriented mobility data to strategy development, action plans and capacity building, SUMP Izmir will be completed in 2 years. The plan will serve as a strategic document and will enable the organization to more easily find international loans and improve its institutional capacity. The plan, which focuses on common sense, will be developed with 200 stakeholders from civil society organizations to professional chambers.
The contract for the EU Support to Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan Project was signed on June 21, 2022 between an international consortium of companies from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Turkey and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, General Directorate of EU and Foreign Affairs, Department of EU Investments.

BISIMs are free of charge on Car Free Day
BİSİM bicycles provide free service within the scope of the ninth Car-Free Day organized in Izmir. On Gaziosmanpaşa Boulevard, which is closed to traffic right in front of Swissotel Büyük Efes Izmir, where the SUMP launch was held, awareness-raising activities ranging from children’s yoga to the slowest bicycle tournament are ongoing as part of the Car-Free Day. Mayor Soyer and Ambassador Meyer-Landrut will also participate in the Car-Free Day activities during the day.

Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey Ambassador Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut met with citizens on Gaziosmanpaşa Boulevard, which was closed to traffic on Car-Free Day as part of the European Mobility Week. Mayor Soyer and Ambassador Meyer-Landrut also visited the stands about sustainable transportation.

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality celebrated the European Mobility Week with awareness-raising events and ended the week with the celebration of the Car-Free Day on the last day. Gaziosmanpaşa Boulevard was closed to traffic for the ninth Car-Free Day in Izmir. Many events were organized on the boulevard, from children’s yoga to the slowest bicycle tournament. The stands set up to promote sustainable transportation attracted interest. Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey Ambassador Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut also visited the stands.

The Car-Free Day started this morning (September 22, 2022) with the public announcement of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality’s EU Support to Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (EU Support to Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan-SUMP Izmir).

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality celebrates the European Mobility Week with awareness raising activities. Metropolitan Municipality staff rode bicycles to school with students from Cumhuriyet Primary School in Selçuk.

Continuing its efforts to make the city sustainable, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality continues its activities within the scope of the European Mobility Week on September 16-22. Metropolitan Municipality staff rode bicycles to school with the students of Selçuk Cumhuriyet Primary School to raise awareness. With the participation of local non-governmental organizations, the “Bike to School” event gathered groups of students under the supervision of parents, meeting them at a designated point and cycling to school with balloons and flowers. On Saturday, September 17, 2022, bicycle groups met at Konak Pier and organized a ride to Inciraltı City Forest.

Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan will be introduced
On the last day of the September 16-22 European Mobility Week, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality will introduce the EU Support to Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (EU Support to Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan-SUMP Izmir). The meeting, which will also be attended by the Head of the EU Delegation to Turkey Ambassador Meyer-Landrut, will be hosted by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer. Funded by the Republic of Turkey and the EU, the SUMP Izmir support project aims to contribute to the livability and sustainability of the city through safer, cleaner, accessible and affordable mobility. From scoping and collecting people-oriented mobility data to strategy development, action plans and capacity building, SUMP Izmir will be completed in 2 years. The plan will serve as a strategic document and will enable the organization to more easily find international loans and improve its institutional capacity. The plan, which focuses on common sense, will be developed with 200 stakeholders from civil society organizations to professional chambers.

The contract for the EU Support to Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan Project was signed on June 21, 2022 between an international consortium of companies from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Turkey and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, General Directorate of EU and Foreign Affairs, Department of EU Investments.

BISIMs are free of charge on Car Free Day
On September 22nd, the last day of European Mobility Week, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality will celebrate Car-Free Day after the launch of SUMP. Gaziosmanpaşa Boulevard, which will be closed to traffic during the ninth Car-Free City Day in Izmir, will be the address of day-long activities from children’s yoga to zumba, from the slowest bicycle tournament to the wooden bicycle tournament. BİSİM bicycles will provide free service on Car-Free Day.
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality staff will bike to work on September 19-20-21 to raise awareness across the city.

In collaboration with the European Union, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality will introduce the Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan to the press on September 22nd. To be completed in 2 years, the plan will make the city safer, cleaner and more accessible, and allow Izmir Metropolitan Municipality to more easily acquire international loans and improve its institutional capacity. On the same day, Car-Free Day will also be celebrated.

Continuing its efforts to make the city sustainable, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality will introduce the EU Support to Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (EU Support to Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan-SUMP Izmir), which is carried out with the European Union (EU) on the last day of the European Mobility Week (September 16-22). The meeting, which will also be attended by the Head of the EU Delegation to Turkey Ambassador Meyer-Landrut, will be hosted by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer.
Funded by the Republic of Turkey and the EU, the SUMP Izmir support project aims to contribute to the livability and sustainability of the city through safer, cleaner, accessible and affordable mobility.

To be created with a common sense
From scoping and collecting people-oriented mobility data to strategy development, action plans and capacity building, SUMP Izmir will be completed in 2 years. The plan will serve as a strategic document and will enable the organization to more easily find international loans and improve its institutional capacity. The plan, which focuses on common sense, will be developed with 200 stakeholders from civil society organizations to professional chambers.

The contract for the EU Support to Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan Project was signed on June 21, 2022 between an international consortium of companies from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Turkey and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, General Directorate of EU and Foreign Affairs, Department of EU Investments.

BISIMs are free of charge on Car Free Day
On the last day of European Mobility Week, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality will celebrate Car-Free Day after the launch of SUMP. Gaziosmanpaşa Boulevard, which will be closed to traffic during the ninth Car-Free City Day in Izmir, will be the address of day-long activities from children’s yoga to zumba, from the slowest bicycle tournament to the wooden bicycle tournament. BİSİM bicycles will provide free service on Car-Free Day.

European Mobility Week kicks off tomorrow
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality will organize awareness-raising events during the European Mobility Week. Below is the agenda of events for the week starting tomorrow:

Friday, September 16th Selçuk – Bike to School
Selçuk Cumhuriyet Primary School students will bike to school at 12:00 under the supervision of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality staff.

Saturday, September 17 Izmir city center bike tour
Bike enthusiasts will meet in front of Konak Clock Tower at 18:00 and ride 7.5 kilometers to İnciraltı City Forest.

September 19-20-21 “Bike to Work”
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality staff will bike to and from work for three days to spread awareness across the city.

Thursday, September 22 is Car-Free Day
Activities will be held on Gaziosmanpaşa Boulevard throughout the day beginning at 10.00 am.

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality’s vision of sustainable and green transportation has caught the attention of Europe. The Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan to be prepared by the Metropolitan Metropolitan Municipality has been awarded a grant of nearly €3 million from the European Union’s (EU) Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) program. As a first step in the process, EU experts came to the city and provided SUMP training to the staff who will work on the plan preparation.

In 2018, the European Union launched a call for proposals through the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, and many local governments from Turkey participated with their draft projects. As a result of the evaluation, only the project titled “Technical assistance for the development of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) and training and capacity building for planning staff” prepared by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality was awarded a grant of 3 million 199 thousand 845 Euros from the EU.

As the first step of the work, the “SUMP Izmir Workshop” was organized at the Urla Köstem Olive Oil Museum. The three-day workshop, organized by the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey and the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Department of Transport, was attended by Mert Yaygel, Head of the Department of Transport, Mr. Erhan, General Manager of ESHOT, Arda Şekercioğlu, General Manager of IZULAŞ A.Ş., Mr. Sönmez Alev, General Manager of Izmir Metro A.Ş., Mr. İlyas Murtezaoğlu, General Manager of IZDENİZ and technical staff who will work on the plan.   EU SUMP Expert Kristiana Chakarova and EU Delegation to Turkey Transport Sector Manager Göktuğ Kara provided information on the essence, principles, phases and contribution of SUMP to cities.

The first and only in Turkey
Eser Atak, Deputy Secretary General of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, emphasized that Izmir is one of the few important cities in Turkey to prepare a SUMP project and the first and only city to receive support from the EU: “In the recent past, most cities were dominated by transportation approaches based on fossil fuels and automobile traffic. This approach has resulted in worsening air quality, the occupation of the city by cars, increased fatal and injury accidents, traffic congestion, noise, restricted pedestrian, cyclist and disabled mobility, and undermined social equity. SUMP, which aims to prevent all these negativities, to produce an alternative to the automobile-dependent urban development and transportation model, and to enable economic and environmental sustainability, has been adopted in many European cities and has replaced transportation master plans. In the simplest terms, SUMP can be defined as ‘an innovative, strategic transportation master plan’. It is a strategic plan designed to meet the mobility needs of people and businesses in cities and their surroundings towards a better quality of life.”

‘People’ oriented planning
Emphasizing that Izmir’s already existing vision of integrated public transport, cycling and pedestrian transportation overlaps with the SUMP project, Atak said, “Izmir Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP Izmir) will be prepared in two years. The work will be financed by a grant from the EU. The main objective of our plan is to develop a socially, environmentally and economically sustainable ‘Izmir Transportation Vision’… At its core are the principles of reducing individual car use, increasing public transport, bicycle and pedestrian access, developing shared micro-mobility opportunities, and creating a people-oriented city center, not a vehicle-oriented city center. The process also takes into account the principles of integration, participation and evaluation.”