SUMP Türkiye project comes to an end
After three years, SUMP Türkiye has come to a close! This EU project has supported the promotion of EU sustainable urban mobility practices across Türkiye, contributing to the creation of a more accessible and inclusive transport system.
After the International Urban Mobility Conference, which took place on 7-8 July 2025 in Ankara and featured the participation of our Secretary General of POLIS Karen Vancluysen, and of our Project & Climate-Neutral Cities Mission Taskforce Coordinator & Urban Nodes Taskforce Co-coordinator Marko Stančec, the finalisation of the White Policy Paper, and a final policy dialogue meeting, the SUMP Türkiye project has come to an end.
Throughout the project, a team of international and local experts assisted the Union of Turkish Municipalities, which includes more than 1,400 municipalities, in supporting the uptake of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) and implementing a network and plans supporting participation in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK (EMW). Participation in and outputs of the project also support the alignment of Türkiye’s national policy and regulatory frameworks towards EU accession efforts. The project was structured in three components: policy dialogue and papers, capacity building, and communication and visibility.
Component I: Policy Dialogue and Policy Papers on Sustainable Urban Mobility
The first part involved the establishment of a National SUMP Support Programme. This includes a set of activities implemented by higher levels of government (regional, provincial, or national) to support cities and municipalities with SUMPs. The objectives included:
- Help local governments with their SUMPs
- Encourage more local governments to do SUMPs
- Better quality, better funded SUMPs
- Align local transport policy more closely with national policy
The path to the key final document of the project, the White Policy Paper, was comprehensive and well-researched. The research included a situation analysis, surveys, focus groups, interviews, stakeholder workshops, data gathering from municipalities, studies on best practices, and a Green Policy Paper. Moreover, its realisation included 16 task force meetings, the establishment of annual policy dialogue plans and 6 policy dialogue meetings, and a study visit to EU institutions.
The White Policy Paper was presented in the final Policy Dialogue Event. The event covered several key topics, including:
- Developing sustainable mobility in the Turkish city of the future
- Global trends in sustainable urban mobility
- Urban mobility in Türkiye
- Objectives and goals for sustainable urban mobility in Türkiye
- Implementation roadmap and action catalogue
- Regulatory and institutional reforms
- Monitoring, evaluation, and continuous improvement (KPI Report)
Component II. Capacity Building
The second objective was to build capacity among experts and decision-makers for strategic, integrated planning and sustainable mobility policy solutions. To achieve this, the project translated a range of SUMP topic guides and handbooks, hosted 3 study visits to EU cities, institutions and experts, held 8 in-person training events, and 36 online training sessions structured as 5-hour webinars. These covered a wide range of topics in great detail, including:
- Phases of the SUMP cycle
- Planning for a resilient urban mobility system
- EMW
- Traffic congestion and air quality
- Road safety
- ITS and big data for sustainable mobility planning
- Accessibility planning
- Urban logistics and last-mile solutions
- Combined mobility and multimodal passenger transport hubs
- Public transport planning, development, and management
- Mobility as a Service (MaaS)
- Green and sustainable financing for Transportation
- Urban rail systems operation and maintenance
Component III. Communication and Visibility
The final component of the project aimed to enhance the visibility of sustainable urban mobility and to promote EMW in Türkiye. One key accomplishment here was the registration of more towns and cities in EMW in 2023 than in any other country: 669!
Other key outcomes included:
- The development of and an annual update of a communication strategy and action plan
- Establishment of a website to support participation, education, and share results
- Annual EMW launch events
- Tailored social media campaigns
- Promotional materials and influencers
- International Urban Mobility Conference
We hope the effort has left Türkiye with the capacity and knowledge to continue building upon these networks and efforts. We look forward to watching the continued transformations towards sustainable urban mobility in Türkiye in the future.
For more information about the project and results, you can look at the following resources:
Website: https://www.skupturkiye.org.tr/en/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@skupturkiye
Project highlights video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN3_KVnecMcr
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