Ho Chi Minh City’s residents are heavily reliant on motorbikes for transport as they are considered the most convenient by offering door-to-door service and the ability to park anywhere within HCMC. Currently, there is a low use of public transport in the city; only 4 per cent of residents use buses. Apart from the dominance of private vehicles, many residents are dissatisfied by the current coverage of the bus network. The ticketing system also limits public transport use; the current fares are not affordable and do not promote buses.

There has been interest by Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Committee (HCMC-PC) to increase public transport ridership by 2025 to reach 20-25 per cent of the city’s transport demand. With this in mind, the current management centre requires capacity building and support in anticipation for the new routes. There is perceived interest in introducing a smart ticketing system for the current public transport routes; the ticketing system will integrate the bus operators into a single ticketing system and will allow the integration of the upcoming routes (MRT, BRT and monorails). The smart ticketing system will aim to optimise public transport routes by enhancing collaboration amongst bus operators, while enhancing the reliability of public transport to increase ridership.

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ranks among the ten cities most affected by climate change as 45 per cent of land in HCMC is less than 1 metre above sea level. Large parts of the city are exposed to floods on a regular basis, causing economic damage to key infrastructure. Canals and drains have been set up to help mitigate flooding and allow water drainage built during the French era to meet the demand of a population of what was then 2 million. The system has since been expanded but it still does not meet the demand of the growing population. The current database of drains and canals is facing several issues concerning data management and reliability; it has not been updated regularly to match the current status of the drains and many documents have also been lost or damaged due to the war, resulting in critical gaps. This is crucial as the current system is at the edge of its capacity and, without a database, the city will not be able to expand the canals and drain network. The project hence proposes to develop an inventory that compiles the information on the canals and drains network, which is updated regularly. It will provide a framework for the city to expand its network of canals and drains in the future, while also providing technical assistance and mechanisms on data management and sharing between multiple agencies.
 

The Global Future Cities Programme aims to provide technical assistance to the development of the first Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan of Istanbul, with the specific goal of increasing accessibility, connectivity, social inclusion and sustainable economic growth in the
megacity.

A Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) is the result of a structured process comprised of status analysis, vision building, objective and target setting, policy and measure selection, active communication, monitoring and evaluation. In principle, it is a strategic plan designed to satisfy the mobility needs of people and businesses in cities and their surroundings for a better quality of life. It builds on existing planning practices with due consideration of integration, participation, and evaluation principles.

The SUMP for Istanbul will address the integration and coherence with the existing planning frameworks and build upon participatory processes to ensure future implementation and sustainability.
 

Urban Planning Training and Capacity Development Programme for Resilient Istanbul

With this magnitude of agglomeration and urban vitality, the Greater Municipality needs a new approach with an innovative methodological framework towards an inclusive, resilient and sustainable future for Istanbul. This project aims to support capacity development for the “Next Generation Participatory Planning Framework” in urban planning processes of the Municipality based on open government vision.

The project will focus on a specialized and localized capacity development programme for participatory planning for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) which will ensure proactive participation of all inhabitants of Istanbul (including women, disadvantageous groups, refugees, tourists etc.) through inclusive and transparent lenses in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) New Urban Agenda (NUA). In addition, the challenges of the new Information Age (such as digital divide among different social groups) and associated other urban dynamics will be considered in the new framework design with a focus on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) enabled multi-channel and multilingual participation methodologies

The Global Future Cities Programme aims at technically assisting the implementation of smart city technologies to improve the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality’s capacities in urban management to increase quality of life, social inclusion, sustainable mobility and comprehensive urban planning.

The specific objectives of this intervention are: i) Increasing the mobility of Bursa citizens by improving the traffic and public transportation management capacity of the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality (BMM); ii) Integrating mobility policies with complementary urban management areas (e.g. health, culture, safety, waste management, energy) to increase accessibility to municipal services; and iii) Increasing the BMM and other relevant public organisations in Bursa’s capacity for data collection, management and analysis, for better service provision.

To achieve this goal, the intervention will assess the existing situation and set a policy implementation agenda (strategic plan) for city stakeholders to improve their institutional capacity (human resources, theoretical and practical knowledge) for smart city policies. Additionally, the intervention will include a pilot development on sustainable transport management.

Through smart technologies implementation, Bursa will establish a high-quality data system which will improve service provision, decision-making processes, the development and application of urban policies and plans, intelligent use of resources, among other benefits.
 

The Global Future Cities Programme aims to provide technical assistance to the development of the “Sustainable Urban Transformation Master Plan for Bursa.” This intervention will identify an integrated urban renewal approach that takes into account social inclusion, environmental sustainability, and urban planning standards while looking at financial feasibility. The intervention will develop an alternative proposal for the Yalova Yolu urban renewal project that will be prepared with a participatory approach. To achieve this, the intervention will undertake context and legal analysis; develop an urban development model by improving existing urban renewal project towards achievement of intervention objectives; develop a viable financial plan for project implementation; prepare a step-by-step implementation guide and undertake a wider impact assessment.

The ‘Sustainable Urban Transformation Approach for Bursa’ intervention focuses on preparation of an Urban Transformation Master Plan for the whole metropolitan area of Bursa. This plan will be based on a thorough assessment of risks and potentials of the city and will provide sustainable urban transformation strategies that are aligned with the objectives of UN Sustainable Development Goals, New Urban Agenda, the Turkish National Urban Transformation Action Program and the Global Future Cities Program.
Additionally, the intervention will strengthen Bursa Metropolitan Municipality’s capacity
    • to use digital platforms for increased transparency, efficiency and robustness of planning processes and to communicate effectively with community and stakeholders, 
    • to involve key stakeholders in shaping urban transformation strategies,
    • to align the urban transformation process to different city-level plans with new data-driven planning methods, and
    • to explore alternative assessment and financing mechanisms that can be used for urban renewal within the Turkish legal system.

The Global Future Cities Programme aims to support the municipality in the preparation of a city-wide Bicycle Strategy and Master Plan, as well as assisting the pilot implementation development in a prioritized area of the city.

The recently prepared Transportation Master Plan for 2038, which is yet to be approved, proposes an extended network of bicycle roads; however, a Bicycle Transport Master Plan does not exist for Ankara. Additionally, as was demonstrated in the charrette that took place within the framework of the Programme, most stakeholders support the promotion of public transport systems, especially non-motorized mobility, as a main strategy for reducing traffic congestion in the central areas of Ankara.

The proposed intervention seeks to integrate a bicycle transportation system within the existing mobility network of Ankara. It will address systemic improvements between bicycle-pedestrian and bicycle-motor vehicle interaction, the feasibility of park and ride systems integration and the design of a bicycle road network. The pilot project will develop the first stage for implementing the Bicycle Master Plan in a specific area of the city. Furthermore, the overall strategy will include subsequent phases to extend the network from the pilot to a larger area and to city-wide in the mid and long term. Finally, communication campaigns and capacity building will be part of the intervention in order to ensure the sustainability and ownership of the final outcome by citizens and institutions
 

The Global Future Cities Programme aims to provide technical assistance and capacity building to the Çankaya District Municipality for improving the streets and the open public space of its neighbourhoods to favour a more liveable urban environment and to promote better quality of life.

The intervention targets neighbourhood scale actions and the incentive revolves around changing the streetscape, including cross-sections, towards better
open public spaces and urban quality. The development of living streets, designed primarily for the interests of pedestrians and cyclists, contributes to a more safe space, especially for children, elderly and women while, at the same time, reducing barriers for the disabled.

The approach to implement street redesign and upgrades, while increasing the proximity and accessibility of urban services and developing more accessible and safer open public spaces for pedestrians, has a high impact on the quality of life of residents. Furthermore, the streets are often catalysts for increasing urban economy and security and strengthening the sense of community identity and collective ownership.

The intervention will develop urban designs, implementation plans and replicable methodologies. Additionally, it will include neighbourhood design workshops, public information exchange tools and joint decision-making mechanisms at a local level. This localised planning approach can also use digital planning tools for better data utilisation and, potentially, be integrated into the nationwide Smart City Strategy currently being developed by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization.