1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Eskişehir
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Porsuk Çayı Kıyısı Yeşil Koridor
Short description of the intervention
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)
Address

/
Türkiye

Location
The NBS is a city-wide initiative, the GIS point marks the centre of the city
Total area
597094.00m²
NBS area
257000.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Natural Heritage Area/Untouched nature
Public Greenspace Area
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2001
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2003
End date of the intervention
2009
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
- 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)
Quantitative targets
Unknown
Monitoring indicators defined
green space per capita
water quality
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
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
Climate change adaptation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Reduce the impacts of climate risks events on urban places and communities
Build resilience
Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
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: What were the goals of the NBS?
Sequester and store carbon
Climate change mitigation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Increase green urban nature for carbon storage (wetlands, tree cover)
What types of restoration goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Ecosystem-focused
What activities are implemented to realize the restoration goals and targets?
Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
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)
Type of NBS project
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
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Grey infrastructure featuring greens
Riverbank/Lakeside greens
Parks and urban forests
Green corridors and green belts
Blue infrastructure
Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
Vegetation Type
Grass
Shrubs
Trees
Flower beds
Please specify how many trees were planted
Unknown
Amenities offered by the NBS
Benches and drinking water stations
Playgrounds
Sports areas and equipment
Swimming areas
Complementing infrastructure (bathrooms, café)
Viewing and outlook points
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)
Water (surface and ground water for drinking and non-drinking purposes)
Regulating services
Local climate regulation (temperature reduction)
Air quality regulation
Carbon storage/sequestration
Flood regulation
Water purification / filtration
Pollination
Mediation of smell / noise / visual impacts
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Cultural services
Tourism
Aesthetic appreciation
Recreation
Scale
Spatial scale
Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Local government/Municipality
Citizens or community groups
Marginalized groups
Marginalized groups
Elderly people
People with functional diversities
Please specify other local relevant strategy
Natural Disaster Mitigation Project the Zoning Law (1).
Governance
Governance arrangements
Government-led
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
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)
Key actors - initiating organization
Local government/municipality
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Public sector institution
Financial institution
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Dissemination of information and education
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
No
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
No
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
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).
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The Rehabilitation of the Porsuk River, as a Natural Disaster Mitigation Project is part of the Eskişehir Urban Development Project is a three-part investment package spearheaded by the Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality. (4)
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify the general plan with GI/NBS section
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).
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
Urban redevelopment plan
Other
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The Eskisheir Urban Development were financed by the European Investment Bank, the Nordic Investment Bank, the Dutch bank ABN AMRO and the Eskisheir Metropolitan Municipality (5).
Co-finance for NBS
Yes
Co-financing governance arrangements
No
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Set up for multiple NBS interventions, including this one
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
There is no information about the total cost of the River rehabilitation project nor about the Urban Development Project in total. However, funds for the projects were provided by the European Investment Bank, the Nordic Investment Bank and the Dutch bank ABN AMRO. (5)
Source(s) of funding
Public local authority budget
Multilateral funds/international funding
Type of fund(s) used
Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
No
Business models
Risk reduction model
Green densification model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Type of innovation
System innovation
Please specify system innovation
The Porsuk River rehabilitation project took an integrated approach where the river is interrelated and integrated with the city in such a way that the renewed image of this once industrial centre now resurrected as a young and contemporary centre of recreation, tourism and entertainment. (2)
Novelty level of the innovation
Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
There are other examples of river rehabilitation projects that used the same approach, however, it is unknown how much these were used as an example. (2)
Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Impacts, benefits
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
Description of environmental benefits
- With new flood channels separated from the river bed, the river's resilience increased against flooding events (1,5)
- With the new wastewater treatment, industrial and domestic wastewater is purified before being released into the Porsuk River, thus avoiding the pollution of the waterway (1)
- As a result of the river rehabilitation, the natural life of the Porsuk Stream, which has been badly damaged ecologically, was restored, fish species reappeared in it again as well as the badgers (1,5)
- The 10 km long continuous green corridor increased the publicly available urban green space in Eskişehir. The River now has a total of 597,094 m² of parks and green areas on both sides (1)
Economic impacts
Attraction of business and investment
Description of economic benefits
- The green corridor along the Porsuk River become a popular area for recreation among citizens and tourists as well that made it appealing for businesses to settle. Cafe, restaurant, buffet, artificial pond, indoor Olympic swimming pool and outdoor pool was established in the corridor. (1)
Social and 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
Description of social and cultural benefits
- With the rehabilitation of the Porsuk River including the improvement in water quality and pollution control along with the new flood channels, the risk of floods and the damages of toxic wastewater flooding could cause to local communities have been reduced with the project implementation (1,5)
- The countless parks, seating and viewing areas, sports fields, children's playgrounds, walking and cycling paths provide an ideal recreational place for residents from any age group or with functional diversities (1, 5)
- Green space per city capita has increased by 215 per cent with 0.50 m² in 1999 to 13.96 m² in 2020 (1)
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Increase in green space per capita (215% increase) (5)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown as of October of 2021.
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Unknown
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
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
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
List of 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, https://www.dogavesehirler.org/uploads/yayinlar/iyi_uygulamalar_turkce_20-11-2020_(1).pdf
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, http://porsukkd.eskisehir.bel.tr/proje.php
4) Maassen, A., Galvin, M. (2018). 5 Cities Show What Urban Transformation Really Looks Like. The City Fix. Accessed on October 11, 2021, https://thecityfix.com/blog/5-cities-show-urban-transformation-really-looks-like-anne-maassen-madeleine-galvin/
5) World Resources Institute - Ross Center. (n.a.). Eskişehir Urban Development Project - Reinvigorating a river and a city. WRI, Accessed on October 11, 2021, 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
Comments and notes
Public Images
Eskisehir Porsuk River rehabilitation
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
Eskisehir Porsuk River rehabilitation
Source: https://www.facebook.com/pg/eskisehirbb/photos/?ref=page_internal