Last updated: October 2021
The Porsuk Stream divides the city of Eskişehir into two with a green corridor running along the shores of the stream. The Porsuk Stream served provisioning services and acted as a recreational area in the first half of the 20th century, however with increased industrial activities discharging untreated wastewater into the river, rapid urbanisation in the city and other settlements, and increased fertilisers and pesticides in the groundwater originated from agricultural practices (upstream of the Porsuk River), it became highly polluted and its ecosystem degraded severely (1,2,4,5). The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) identified the stream as one of the highly dangerous rivers in terms of pollution and health, where no living beings except viruses live (1). Within the framework of the 'Eskişehir Urban Development Project' the 'Natural Disaster Loss Reduction Project (Porsuk Project)' has been initiated focusing on the ecological restoration of the stream, improving water quality, increasing the resilience of the city against natural disasters (as earthquakes and floods) while also reestablishing the stream's environmental and social role in the city (1). A network of natural infrastructure was created along the Porsuk by expanding public green spaces and link the entire corridor with a sustainable public transport network. (4,5)
Source: https://prizeforcities.org/project/eskisehir-urban-development-project?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=wricities&utm_campaign=socialmediahttps://prizeforcities.org/project/eskisehir-urban-development-project?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=wricities&utm_campaign=socialmedia
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Grey infrastructure featuring greens
- Blue infrastructure
- Riverbank/Lakeside greens
- Parks and urban forests
- Green corridors and green belts
- Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Climate change mitigation
- Water management (SDG 6)
- Flood protection
- Improvements to water quality
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Habitat and biodiversity restoration
- Green space creation and/or management
- Environmental quality
- Air quality improvement
- Soil quality improvement
- Noise reduction
- Regeneration, land-use and urban development
- Regulation of built environment
- Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
- Health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Creation of opportunities for recreation
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Creation of semi-natural blue areas, Management and improved protection of rivers and other blue areas, Ecological restoration of ecosystems
Project objectives
- Reducing the disaster risks the contaminated Porsku Stream posed on the area and the city's residents in case of flooding and earthquakes (1,4)
- Restoration of the badly damaged ecosystem of the river (1)
- Improvement of the green space accessibility and increase the green space per capita in the city (1)
- Increase in the socio-cultural value of the city by creating a public green space connected to the stream as a green corridor (1)
- Increase in recreational and sporting activities in the green corridor (1)
- Establishment of the conditions for water transportation on Porsuk Stream (1)
- Improvement of the microclimate of the city, thus supporting urban ventilation (1)
- Reducing the urban heat island effect through the stream's cooling effect (1)
- Improvement of the city's resilience and its adaptation capability to climate change (1)
- Improve the flood control capacity of the stream (1)
- Increase in air, water and soil quality (1)
- Erosion control (1)
- Noise reduction (1)
- Supporting pollination by providing habitat for living beings (1)
- Increase in carbon sequestration (1)
Implementation activities
- Drainage of toxic mud and debris from the river bed (5)
- Installation of flood locks to improve resilience in heavy rain (5)
- Separation of new sewage channels from the main river and the renewal of irrigation channels (2,5)
- Renovation and strengthening of existing bridges on the Porsuk River (4,5)
- Construction of 24 vehicle and pedestrian bridges over the Porsuk (2)
- Establishment of domestic water and wastewater treatment plants (2)
- Creation of pedestrian zones with new pedestrian roads fit for people with functional diversities (5)
- Addition flood beds were added for times of disaster, old canals were restored (2)
-Creation of Turkey's first artificial beach (2)
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Implement measures that prevent/manage desertification, soil erosion and landslides
- Increase or improve urban vegetation cover to help reduce outdoor temperature
- Restore wetlands and/or coastal ecosystems to dissipate the effects of flooding and/or storms
- Create or improve outdoor spaces to help people escape from urban heat
- Renaturalization of rivers and other water bodies
Climate change mitigation:
- Increase green urban nature for carbon storage (wetlands, tree cover)
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity restoration:
- Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
- Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
Main beneficiaries
- Local government/Municipality
- Citizens or community groups
- Marginalized groups: Elderly people, People with functional diversities
Governance
Management set-up
- Government-led
Type of initiating organisation
- Local government/municipality
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Dissemination of information and education
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The NBS was initiated by Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality. The mayor and his appointees formed a project delivery unit for the Eskisehir Urban Development Project with the Rehabilitation of the Porsuk River as its flagship project with technical, financial, engineering and accounting professionals who liaised between the municipality, the Eskişehir Water and Sewerage Administration (ESKİ), and the European Investment Bank, the former acting as a partner in the implementation of the rehabilitation measures while latter as a financial support organisation (1, 5)
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
No
... a national policy or strategy?
No
... a local policy or strategy?
Yes
(Article 14 of the Municipality Law No. 5393, Article 7 of the Metropolitan Municipality Law No. 5216 and Article 8 of the Zoning Law No. 3194 provided the Natural Disaster Mitigation Project the Zoning Law No. Project became (1).)
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
- Public local authority budget
- Multilateral funds/international funding
Type of funding
- Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
No
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters
- Water management and blue areas
- Improved water quality
- Increased protection against flooding
- Enhanced protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems
- Green space and habitat
- Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
- Increased green space area
- Increased number of species present
Economic impacts
- Attraction of business and investment
Socio-cultural impacts
- Safety
- Improved community safety to climate-related hazards
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved liveability
- Improved access to urban green space
- Health and wellbeing
- Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
References
1) Arslantas, F., Sanalan, K.C. Cil, A. (2020). Sehirlerde Yesil Altyapi ve Doga Tabanli Cözümler Iyi Uygulama Örnekleri, 120 syfa. Accessed on October 11, 2021, Source link
2) Şimsek, G. (2011). River Rehabilitation With Cities In Mind: The Eskişehir Case, METU Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture, 31(1): 21-37
Accessed on October 11, 2021
3) Porsuk 1-2 - Kentsel Dönüsüm ve Gelisim Projesi. (n.a.). Proje. Accessed on October 11, 2021, Source link
4) Maassen, A., Galvin, M. (2018). 5 Cities Show What Urban Transformation Really Looks Like. The City Fix. Accessed on October 11, 2021, Source link
5) World Resources Institute - Ross Center. (n.a.). Eskişehir Urban Development Project - Reinvigorating a river and a city. WRI, Accessed on October 11, 2021, Source link
2) Şimsek, G. (2011). River Rehabilitation With Cities In Mind: The Eskişehir Case, METU Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture, 31(1): 21-37
Accessed on October 11, 2021
3) Porsuk 1-2 - Kentsel Dönüsüm ve Gelisim Projesi. (n.a.). Proje. Accessed on October 11, 2021, Source link
4) Maassen, A., Galvin, M. (2018). 5 Cities Show What Urban Transformation Really Looks Like. The City Fix. Accessed on October 11, 2021, Source link
5) World Resources Institute - Ross Center. (n.a.). Eskişehir Urban Development Project - Reinvigorating a river and a city. WRI, Accessed on October 11, 2021, Source link
Source: https://www.facebook.com/pg/eskisehirbb/photos/?ref=page_internal
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the UNA global extension project funded by the British Academy.