Speakers
Description
Climate change and urban planning exhibit a strong interplay. Achieving sustainability goals critically depends on the integration of climate action plans developed at both national and local scales into spatial plans. Having become a party to the Kyoto Protocol (2009) and the Paris Agreement (2021), Türkiye has maintained its commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, in line with these commitments, developed national-level strategies and action plans. At the local level, 18 metropolitan municipalities have prepared their own climate action plans, thus taking an active role in combating the climate crisis.
This study examines how national-level climate action plans are reflected locally and assesses the degree of integration between local climate action plans and spatial plans, focusing on the case of Gaziantep. Gaziantep prepared its first Climate Change Action Plan in 2011, updated it in 2016, and, having signed the Covenant of Mayors in 2017, established its Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) in 2018. Subsequently, in 2021, the city joined the Green Cities Program and published the “Green City Action Plan” in the same year, articulating a vision for sustainable and resilient urban development.
An evaluation of the local plans prepared after 2011 in Gaziantep’s urban center (the districts of Şehitkamil and Şahinbey) indicates that the integration of climate action plans into spatial plans has remained limited. For instance, despite the development of renewable energy projects under SECAP, direct alignment with spatial plans has not been achieved. Moreover, the Green City Action Plan particularly underscores the lack of a long-term and holistic approach within the “Land Use” sector. This underscores the need to update local land-use plans (Master Development Plans and Implementation Development Plans) in harmony with the climate action plans.
The Green City Action Plan is divided into sectors under the headings of “water, energy, solid waste, transportation, land use, buildings, industry, and climate action.” Within the water sector, under the sub-action of “developing an integrated plan for water resources management,” projects and actions focusing on rainwater management and water reclamation are proposed to combat drought risk. In the transportation sector, the sub-action of “continuing the expansion of the rail system network,” as well as the “ecological village” sub-action under the climate action sector, both have clear links to local land-use plans (Master and Implementation Plans). In the industrial sector, the sub-action of “establishing an industrial zone for renewable energy production” includes the objective of preparing the necessary zoning and parceling plans. However, research findings indicate that these sector-specific sub-goals are not sufficiently integrated into spatial planning processes.
In conclusion, in the Gaziantep case, the relationship between local-scale climate action plans and spatial plans is not at a satisfactory level in terms of enhancing resilience to climate change and achieving sustainable urban development. It is critically important for the strategies identified in climate action plans to be concretely reflected in spatial plans of varying scales and degrees of detail in order to ensure that the urban environment becomes both sustainable and climate-resilient.
References
Carter, J & Sherriff, G (2011), Spatial Planning for Climate Change Adaptation Identifying Crrosscutting Barriers and Solutions. University of Manchester, Centre of Urban and Regional Ecology.
Gilman, R. (1992). Sustainability By Robert Gilmanfrom the 1992 UIA/AIA Call for Sustainable Community Solutions. [Online] Available at: http://www.context.org. (Accessed: 13.10.2024)
Tuts, R, Kehew, R et al. (2015), Guiding Principles for City Climate Action Planning, UN-Habitat, Nairobi.
United Nations (1992), United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change, United Nations. [Online] Available at: https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf . (Accessed: 05.11.2024)
United Nations (2015), Paris Agreement, United Nations. [Online] Available at: https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/english_paris_agreement.pdf. (Accessed: 08.11.2024)
| Keywords | Sustainability; Climate Change; Climate Action Plan; Spatial Planning |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
