Türkiye's 2030 National Smart Cities Strategy and Action Plan is in the Official Gazette: digital security, data management and AI-supported decision-making come first

Circular 2026/11: the 2020-2023 plan has ended and the 2030 plan is prepared

Presidential Circular 2026/11 is dated September 18, 2026, signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and was printed in issue 33375 of the Official Gazette on Saturday, September 19, 2026.

The circular states that the implementation period of the 2020-2023 National Smart Cities Strategy and Action Plan has ended and credits that plan with a holistic view of cities' digital transformation, less duplicate investment and interoperable systems. The new plan was prepared, it says, because information and communication technologies keep rapidly changing urban life, under a vision of an advanced society, advanced technology and a sustainable, resilient world. The text does not say the plan has entered into force: it announces that the plan was prepared and will be published at akillisehirler.csb.gov.tr, and asks the institutions in its scope to carry out their duties with care.

Priorities in two layers; the 449-page plan sets 4 aims, 8 targets and 32 actions

The circular first calls for digital security measures to be kept at the highest level everywhere, from cities to rural regions; it then gives priority, above all, to smart city transformation, data management and AI-supported decision-making, followed by the integration of smart city services and digital city management. The plan was prepared under the coordination of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change with input from public institutions, local governments, universities, the private sector and civil society. The ministry's Smart Cities Portal gives the plan period as 2026-2030 and lists the same five priority areas.

The full 449-page plan is online on the portal. It rests on 4 strategic aims and 8 targets: sustainability, local alignment, development and prosperity; resilience, transformation and livability; digitalization, environment and human focus; geopolitical leadership and international relations. The action list runs to 32 actions, from city-specific local strategies (Action 1) to monitoring and evaluation of the plan (Action 32). The plan notes that the 2020-2023 plan had defined 16 smart city components and 26 actions, and that the 2030 plan keeps the same smart city structure as its basis.

Actions that concern technology companies: AI pilots, data platforms, domestic technology, start-up support

According to the plan document, Action 9 aims to expand AI use in smart city services such as traffic, energy, waste, water and security: pilot projects in selected cities, wider use of machine learning and big data analytics, and evaluating applications based on large language models. The ministry's General Directorate of Geographic Information Systems is responsible, with the Ministry of Industry and Technology, TÜBİTAK, local governments and the private sector as related bodies, in coordination with the Türkiye Artificial Intelligence Action Plan (2026-2030). On the data side, Action 10 provides for a National Internet of Things Platform and a Smart City Big Data Platform, Action 16 for a National Smart City Open Data Platform, and Action 20 for open source systems.

Action 18 targets domestic and national smart city technologies, with support for local companies, entrepreneurs and start-ups through financial incentives, training programs and infrastructure; responsible bodies include the Presidency of Strategy and Budget, the Ministry of Industry and Technology (including KOSGEB) and the ministry's GIS directorate. Action 19 supports entrepreneurship through smart city technology clusters: financial aid, training, mentoring or infrastructure, a planned financial aid package for smart city start-ups, and coordination with the 2030 Industry and Technology Strategy.

Nationwide scope; no budget, timeline, pilot cities or application route in the sources

This is a Türkiye story. The circular covers all relevant public institutions and local governments, targets the whole country from cities to rural areas, and asks for innovative, environmentally friendly and inclusive projects. The plan names İstanbul, Sakarya, Bursa, Malatya, Konya, Nevşehir and Kırıkkale as cities that already have their own smart city strategies. The presidential foreword calls the approach human-centered, with human dignity, privacy, justice and public benefit as basic principles, and frames the plan as a new phase of a maturing process rather than a new beginning.

The gaps matter too. Neither the circular nor the parts of the plan we opened give a budget or a funding source. There is no per-action timeline beyond the blanket 2026-2030 period, and the cities that will host the Action 9 pilots are not named. No procurement, tender or application mechanism for private companies or start-ups is described; the aid package in Action 19 is a planned step with no amount, date or eligibility criteria. There are no sanctions for non-compliance; a circular is not a law. This article draws on the plan's structure and a few action sheets; no numeric targets are reported.

Sources

Official Gazette, Presidential Circular 2026/11 (PDF) · Smart Cities Portal, 2030 Strategy page · 2030 National Smart Cities Strategy and Action Plan (PDF)