Page 90 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 4

Smart Cities and Sustainable Urban Regeneration

taking into account the actions taken since 2003 (see e-Transformation Türkiye
Project) and the smart city targets prioritized as from 2019 (see the 2020-2023
National Smart Cities Strategy and Action Plan (NSCSAP)), although important
steps have been taken in the digital transformation of cities, these steps are
fragmented and have not yet had the expected cumulative impact. Similarly,
according to the report published by the United Nations, it is seen that the
targeted progress in sustainability has not yet been achieved and even there
is a decline in this field by 2022 (see United Nations, 2022).
With the population they host, the surface area they cover and the multi-
layered systems they have, cities are the areas where the practices related to
both sustainability and smart components are tested and large-scale effects
are achieved. The lack of any performance indicator set that addresses both
the planning and design processes of urban regeneration and smart cities
makes monitoring and evaluating the existing practices - as well as those to be
implemented in the future - challenging. This makes it difficult to identify road
maps and actions that need to be modified, developed or maintained in order
to achieve the goals currently set out in both sustainability and smart urbanism.
Therefore, this study aims to define sustainable urban regeneration as a tool
for establishing smart cities and creating a common performance indicator
matrix for the measurement and evaluation of this process. To develop such
a matrix, it is benefited from qualitative research methods (literature review,
document analysis, content analysis). First of all, the 2020-2023 National Smart
Cities Strategy and Action Plan (NSCSAP), which outlines the national legal and
administrative framework for smart cities, is analyzed and the parts that give
reference to urban regeneration are gathered. Following that, three examples
as being the important showcases of smart urban regeneration in Türkiye are
briefly delivered. Finally, an operational performance indicator matrix is created
by bringing together the components of sustainable urban regeneration and
the performance indicators defined in NSCSAP that have direct relationship
with urban regeneration practices. The relevant matrix can be used as a basis for
the formation of a detailed and common performance indicator set to achieve
both international and national smart urban(ism) and sustainability goals, and it
is also open to development by being detailed at a local scale.

2. Smart Cities and Urban Regeneration: National Strategies,
Targets and Practices

Considering the steps taken in smart urbanism in Türkiye since 2003, the
2020-2023 NSCSAP differs in terms of both the strategic objectives it covers,
the concrete and detailed actions it puts forward to achieve these objectives,

Year 2 / Issue 4 / July 2023 79