Page 264 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 3

Environmental Sustainability and Cycling as a
Transport Mode: Best Practices

increasing number of urban areas developing with car dependency is creating
unequal and inaccessible places for non-car-driving individuals, including the
elderly and children, as well as social groups with low socio-economic levels.
Based on the fact that such car-dependent trends are unsustainable today, it
is essential to take measures to reduce the use of automobiles and to expand
the use of alternative types of transportation.
In order to make urban transportation more sustainable, it is considered by
policymakers that two main solutions are interrelated. The first solution is the
development and improvement of public transportation, walking and cycling
infrastructure and quality, that are alternatives to the automobile in urban
transportation. The second one is the restriction of the use of automobiles
in urban areas, especially in city centers, and abandoning their widespread
use. It is possible to make people quit the use of cars in the urban areas by
means of additional taxes and extra charges and traffic calming measures,
by reducing the capacity through transformation of roads into sustainable
public areas and lane narrowing, by imposing restrictions for car parking for
the purpose of human-oriented transformation of city center, in particular; but
these practices should be supported by improvements in public transport,
walking and cycling facilities.
In this research, environmentally unsustainable elements in transport will be
specified in particular, and car dependence will be explained as the most basic
reason behind unsustainable transport. Mentioning the importance of cycling
as an urban transport mode in the solution of getting rid of car dependency
to ensure environmental sustainability, the examples of European cities that
are prior in this respect, such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen, as well as the
cities of Munich, Paris, Montreal, and Ankara -from Türkiye-, where significant
steps have been taken for the adoption of bicycle culture will be examined.
The main aim of the research is to reveal that safe, inclusive, and planned
bicycle-oriented urban transport could play an active role in solving the
environmental problems caused by car dependency in Turkish cities, together
with the lessons learned from the best practices.

1. Urban Transportation and Environmental Sustainability

The concept of sustainability, in general, refers to the necessity of a long-term
perspective to ensure the reduction of demand for environmental resources.
It also explains the need to make the necessary changes to achieve the goals
for social and economic development (Newman and Kenworthy, 2000). Global
warming, greenhouse effect and increasing consumption of non-renewable
resources constitute the main components of environmental problems, and
transportation sector emerges as the primary factor that significantly contributes
to these problems (Low, 2003). Policy changes aimed at taking more sustainable

Year 2 / Issue 3 / January 2023 249