Istanbul, preparing the first sustainable urban mobility plan in Turkey (SUMP Project), has become a member city in the CIVITAS network

The CIVITAS is one of the most important programs that helps the European Commission achieve its goals for sustainable mobility and transport. CIVITAS cities cover more than 340 local governments and 43 countries. As the City of Istanbul, we became a part of this city network from August 2021. This network, with its fruitful outputs, supports making the terms concrete such as co-creation, co-working, participation, inclusion in order to enhance cooperation between city authorities and all other actors.

Transportation and mobility affect many different fields of study, from health to the environment, affecting urban life. City of Istanbul’s Daily number of trips, including pedestrian, private car, public transport, and shuttle services (schools and personnel), is 30,3 million. The car ownership rate, which is 201‰ in Istanbul, is lower than in many European cities; nonetheless, traffic issues are high. A new approach for mobility and transportation planning at the city level, including all transportation modes, is as important as infrastructure investment. Istanbul has become a part of this international network that focuses on transportation and mobility in this framework. It will support the sharing of experience and good practices. It will provide an opportunity to share best practice examples of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) project to be completed by the end of 2021.