The good practices of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, which was declared the world's first Cittaslow Metropolis city in 2021, are bringing rewards to the city one by one. Stating that they have received five rewards so far with the Calm Neighborhood program, Mayor Tunç Soyer said, “With the Cittaslow Metropol, we are improving welfare and justice in the city, starting from the neighborhoods. The rewards we have received and the point we have reached on the way we follow with this target make us proud.”
The "Calm Neighborhood" program of Izmir, which was declared the world's first Cittaslow Metropol pilot city, continues to bring rewards to the city. Izmir Metropolitan Municipality continues to crown its success with the projects it has implemented in Demirköprü District, where the Calm Neighborhood application continues. The applications made in the district were recently deemed worthy of the incentive reward in the "Sustainable Applications and Projects in Public Landscape Design" category in the National Landscape Architecture competition organized every year by TMMOB Chamber of Landscape Architects.
The Cittaslow Metropol Calm Neighborhood Program brought five rewards to Izmir
The applications carried out in Demirköprü Neighborhood within the scope of the Cittaslow Metropol Calm Neighborhood Program and the successes gained in national and international competitions are as follows:
The Healthy Cities Best Practice Competition 2023- First Prize in City Planning Category
The Terra Viva Competitions Tactical Urbanism NOW 2023 Finalist
The Chamber of City Planners Raci Bademli Good Practices Reward 2023- Third Prize
The National Landscape Architecture Rewards Sustainable Practices and Projects Incentive Reward
The Marmara Urban Forum 2023- Good Practice Reward
The point we have reached makes us proud
Stating that they achieved the targets they set with Seferihisar becoming Cittaslow in 2009, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer said, “We see the success of our project with the rewards we received. Every reward we receive means a lot to us. Because the Cittaslow Metropol is a project to construct the cities of the future. There are also neighborhoods in the heart of cities. These neighborhoods are the places where interaction is most intensive. We first chose these neighborhoods as Cittaslow's application areas. We develop welfare and justice in the city, starting from the neighborhoods. For this reason, the awards we have received make us proud as they show the point we have reached.”
We designed Calm Neighborhood with the community participation
The Project Coordinator Bülent Köstem said that they have been continuing the Cittaslow Metropol Project Quiet Neighborhood Program since 2021. “Our target in our pilot applications is to identify the problems of the neighborhood with the participation of the neighborhood residents and to produce resolutions together with the residents of the neighborhood. As a result of the analyzes and interviews we conducted in Demirköprü, it was revealed that vehicle traffic poses a danger to children and demands for green areas to be made more functional and safe. For this reason, we organized the areas on 6182 street, gained by reducing vehicle traffic and parking and canceling some road sections, as a 'Calm Place' where the neighborhood residents come together and interact. In the 'Calm Space', which we designed with community participation, the activities in the area were diversified, and user diversity was provided by placing play groups for children, sports areas and walking paths for adults, and picnic tables for the elderly. After designing the area, we finalized it with the neighborhood residents by opening tables in the parks. For instance, young people wanted a basketball hoop, women wanted the treadmill to be extended, and we implemented these. With the 'Calm Route' application, pedestrian-oriented spatial arrangements such as shared roads and for the traffic density practices were implemented. In this area gained through pedestrianization, the new public spaces were created to meet the needs of neighborhood users."
What is Cittaslow Metropolis?
Izmir was declared the world's first Cittaslow Metropolis pilot city at the Cittaslow 2021 General Assembly. Izmir Metropolitan Municipality is working on the Cittaslow Metropol project with civil society representatives, academics, experts and opinion leaders to construct a metropolitan management model that will launch in Izmir and be applied all over the world. Within the scope of the project, urban and good life perspectives in the world were analyzed and brought together with the "slow life" philosophy. The Cittaslow Metropolitan city model targets for a people-oriented, sustainable, high quality of life that protects the values of the city. The Cittaslow Metropolis model has six main themes: "Society", "Urban resilience", "Food for All", "Good Governance", "Mobility" and "Cittaslow Neighborhoods". The various criteria were determined under these themes. Within the scope of these criteria, the projects are developed and implemented within the scope of the Calm Neighborhood Program in selected neighborhoods in Izmir. Within the scope of the "Calm Neighborhood" program of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, it proceeds its work in Karşıyaka's Demirköprü Neighborhood and Pazaryeri Neighborhood in Konak Agora Ruins.