REMOURBAN Site Tepebaşı

Tepebaşı is a municipality located in Eskişehir in the mid-western side of Anatolia with a population of 320 000. Yaşamköyü is a district of approximately 30 000 m2 with a built area of just under 10 000 m2. The area was built on 2007 by TOKI, the governmental organisation responsible for mass housing in Turkey. Although relatively newly built, similar to most buildings built before the Energy Efficiency Law that came into force recently, the district building stock consists of inefficiently constructed buildings in energy consumption terms. The typology of buildings in the district are characteristic of the relatively recently built but energy-inefficient and poorly insulated type of mass housing, typical of TOKI construction, and highly inconsiderate of the climate zone. In this respect the retrofit intervention in the district, within the REMOURBAN project, is thought to be highly relevant and exemplary for hundreds of thousands of residential buildings with similar characteristics, both in Eskişehir and also across Turkey.

The main selected residential development axis for the city is in the west, towards the present demo site. It was given careful consideration regarding the integration of the demo site’s mobility plans into the wider master plan. The highest population increase in Eskişehir, which is forecast to increase to around 950 000 by 2023 by the state statistical organisation, should happen in this axis. The selected demo site is in the middle of this development area and will present a smart and sustainable alternative to urban development in Eskişehir.

To achieve the expected impacts of 85 % of energy savings, 79 % reduction in CO2 emissions and direct involvement of 600 citizens , the project in Tepebaşı will follow an integrated approach, combining actions in the fields of low-energy districts, sustainable mobility, integrated infrastructure and society.

In the area of building renovation, ‘near-passive’ buildings will be targeted by the interventions at the demo site, as well as the realisation of a central district heating/cooling and hot water system, bringing significant energy saving. With regards to mobility, among the measures that will be implemented is an additional 6.2 km expansion to the cycling lanes and organising municipally owned e-bikes. All these measures are complemented by ICT technologies and strategies, including a building energy management system, bike rental operation and ‘City on Cloud’ city management system with all the energy, mobility and other data on a cloud system, which will be monitored by the municipality. The success of the actions is ensured through social and non-technical measures such as a citizen engagement strategy, a social media strategy, a stakeholder platform, a strategy for development of integrated urban plan, and common sustainable and smart evaluation procedures.