Turkey Smart City Technologies

Accessing services through electronic channels and e-government is the most popular application among municipalities for smart city project. Smart applications in the fields of energy and water management are much needed. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and GIS applications, particularly by electric utilities, water, and sewage administrations, are also needed in major Turkish cities. Smart metering is still in the early stages.

The EBRD Green Cities Program identifies, prioritizes, and connects cities’ environmental challenges with sustainable infrastructure investments and policy measures. Three cities in Turkey have joined the program: Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir. For Istanbul, EBRD will provide financial support for the construction of a new 14 km metro line connecting the east and west of the city.

The EBRD and the Istanbul municipality will also work together to identify investment opportunities in green infrastructure priority areas such as urban regeneration, solid waste management, water and wastewater treatment, urban roads and lighting, urban transport, public building energy efficiency, renewable energy, and power infrastructure energy efficiency. Ankara remains in the first phases of the same program. As the first city to join the program, a syndicated loan of €105 million was provided to the Izmir municipality, which will be used for the construction of the Fahrettin Altay-Narlidere metro line with a total length of 7.2 kilometers including underground stations and electromechanical works.

U.S. companies can apply for USTDA grants to pilot smart cities projects in Turkey. In 2020, USTDA launched the U.S.-Turkey Next Generation Cities Initiative to support the development of smart cities technologies across Turkey. The Initiative streamlines access for Turkish partners to the most innovative smart cities solutions that U.S. companies have to offer and will be executed in cooperation with the U.S. Commercial Service. Under this initiative, USTDA has awarded four grants to support smart cities development in three Turkish cities. In 2022, USTDA will be supporting four more projects under smart cities, IT, and 5G topics and is now accepting project proposals.

For more information or to learn about a smart operations reverse trade mission from Turkey to the U.S. contact  Commercial Specialist Yaprak.Cakilcioglu@trade.gov.