Urban Planning for Sustainability: Ankara's Planning Experience in Creating Sustainable Urban Form and Transport

Urban transport problems resulting from high levels of mobility and car usage are major challenges facing most urban areas worldwide. While past decades saw various transport policies and measures to restrict and manage car usage in the cities, it has been increasingly recognized that urban form, development patterns, and density levels affect travel behavior and car usage, and that therefore urban planning can be a major tool in solving transport and traffic problems. Sustainable development debates support this line of thought, emphasizing the most appropriate urban form for creating sustainable urban transport systems. Certain planning approaches, such as intensification of urban development and corridor development that support public transport usage, together with higher density and diversity in development, are promoted as sustainable alternatives to the prevailing lower-density urban sprawl. This paper assesses the effectiveness of such planning approaches, focusing on the planning experiences of Ankara, the capital of Turkey.