The closing event of the İzmir Sustainable
Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP), co-financed with the EU under the Sectoral
Operational Programme for Transport (USOP) managed by the Ministry of
Transport and Infrastructure, took place in İzmir on 18 April 2025.
The closing event, where the outputs of SUMP
Izmir were presented, was attended by Cemil Tugay (PhD), Mayor of Izmir
Metropolitan Municipality; Jürgis Vilčinskas, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation
to Türkiye; Tijen İğci (PhD), Head of Department for EU Investments of the
Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure; Levent Yıldır (PhD), Deputy Chairman
of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Assembly; Altan İnanç, Deputy Chairman of
CHP Group of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality; Ramazan Tezcan, Secretary General
of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality; Övünç Özgen, General Director of ESHOT;
mayors of district municipalities and Izmir Metropolitan Municipality
bureaucrats.
After the opening ceremony, Prof. Dr. Yalçın
Alver, Advisor to the Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, presented the
projects developed as outputs of SUMP Izmir.
“Our aim is
to plan a 30-40, even 50-year period”
Izmir
Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Cemil Tugay (PhD) began his speech by emphasising
the importance of a sustainable, resilient, environmentally friendly, and well-planned
city that provides healthy living conditions for everyone. He noted that there
are challenges in transportation due to the city's uncontrolled growth, highlighting
that 3 million of the 4.5 million residents live around the gulf.
Emphasizing that efforts are continuing to improve public transportation, Mayor Tugay said, “The Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan is a highly valuable plan. It will certainly be one of our most important duties to implement the actions that have been proposed to us as targets. We will immediately put these in front of us as goals that we will realize in the near future. We are also trying to re-evaluate the city with a transportation master plan. SUMP Izmir will be one of its important pillars. We will work on a master plan based on this. We aim to plan a 30-40, even 50-year process.”
Noting that many
things may change with technology in the coming years, Tugay expressed that
Izmir is working to follow developments in this regard. “We shall establish
such a system that the air in the
city should be
clean, there should be no noise, and people should have healthy, safe and
comfortable public transportation alternatives other than their own private
vehicles to get from one place to another. Transportation with micromobility
vehicles should also be provided in the city. We will consider the topic in
this framework. We want a city where people can move freely and live in
healthier conditions, especially in the central living areas of the city. We
will achieve this,” he said.
“We can achieve it together“
Mentioning
Izmir's 2030 Climate Neutrality commitment, Mayor Tugay stated that they expect
contributions from the government and the European Union. “We can achieve it
together. As the mayor who will be in office until 2029, I promise that I will
work hard on this path and strive to reach a point where I can inspire other
cities both in Turkey and in the world.” Tugay concluded his words as follows:
“This is not a final, but a beginning. As of Monday, we will start working on
actions that we can implement in the shortest term and that will really make a
difference in our city with the working groups we will form on this issue.”
“Izmir is a very important city for us”
Jürgis Vilčinskas, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation
to Türkiye, stated that Izmir is one of the founding places of modern Türkiye
and added: “Izmir is a very important city for us. We are here to open a new
page in the city's transportation journey. This project can also be seen as an
indicator of the cooperation between the EU and Türkiye. Izmir has always been
a city of firsts. People of Izmir deserve a city where they can live
comfortably. It is very important to create a sustainable urban mobility plan
and a vision for it, and then to adopt it and turn it into reality.”
“We are honored to be a stakeholder of
such a meaningful project”
Tijen İğci (PhD), Head of Department for EU Investments, Directorate General for EU Affairs and Foreign Relations of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure said: “SUMP Izmir is our first sustainable urban mobility plan project completed on a metropolitan scale. This success is a source of inspiration and a roadmap not only for Izmir but also for all cities in Türkiye. This pioneering role of Izmir sends a strong message for the spread of sustainable, people-oriented, environmentally friendly transportation systems across Türkiye. SUMP Izmir is not only a plan but also the embodiment of a vision. It demonstrates Izmir's determination to become a more livable, accessible and environmentally friendly city. As the Ministry, we are honoured to be a stakeholder in such a meaningful project.”
The program ended with a panel discussion
titled “Transforming Our Cities through SUMPs: From Plan Document to Action