Smart and sustainable city strategy and action plan: Smart city transformation

Smart cities are modern urban development models that aim to enhance the sustainability of cities through technological innovations and data-driven solutions. These cities aim to create more livable and sustainable urban areas by integrating environmental, social, and economic dimensions. In order for smart cities to be successfully created, collaboration between public institutions and policymakers, technology providers, and citizens is necessary. This comprehensive approach will ensure that cities become more livable and sustainable in the future. Factors such as economic opportunities, unemployment, wars and conflicts, natural disasters, educational opportunities, and better living conditions are causing intense migration movements. These migrations lead to unplanned population growth in cities, bringing along social, economic, environmental, and transportation problems. These problems experienced in cities necessitate the development of new strategies and action plans to meet the increasing consumption needs, enhance the welfare and quality of life of city residents, and create environmentally compatible cities. In this context, the necessity of transforming cities into smart and sustainable cities emerges. Within the scope of the thesis study, the findings obtained while examining the transformation process of cities into smart and sustainable cities, the challenges encountered in this process, the effectiveness of the strategies implemented, and the success of the methods used to achieve sustainability goals have been evaluated. Additionally, these findings will contribute to the development of strategic recommendations that will guide other cities in their smart city transformations. It is aimed to ensure the more efficient management of resources and services within the city. Keywords: Smart cities, digital transformation, sustainable urban transportation planning, participatory urbanism, urban policy and strategy