The port city of Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city, is historically a crossroads of cultures on the Aegean Sea. It’s lively Kemeraltı District desired a new lighting masterplan to create an identity for this bustling neighbourhood; something that could extend the usability of public space well into the night time, while highlighting its cosmopolitan heritage and enghancing the visitor experience.

Arup’s lighting designers and electrical engineers were appointed to create a this lighting masterplan as well as schematic and detailed design of green areas, local streets and squares. 

We needed to come up with an integrated design solution that works for a diverse population of businesses and residents across a large area – around 500,000m2. Our lighting designers and electrical engineers held workshops and consultations with the local community to discuss proposals and better understand their needs. Our plan features sustainable lighting design solutions and state-of-the-art electrical engineering to illuminate the ancient, multi-layered character of the area while reducing energy usage by more than 50%.  

Our proposed lighting masterplan is part of the Izmir Tarih Project, which promotes a socially integrated development of the district. By creating well-lit, safer urban nightscapes, public spaces like streets and squares acquire an even more prominent role in the social and economic life of the local community, particularly in temperate climates, promoting commerce and encouraging more diverse social use of the spaces.  

Computer visualisation of the Kemeralti lighting masterplan

The aspiration was to create a lighting identity for this historic district; introducing a sustainable, integrated lighting system that would help highlight the area’s cosmopolitan heritage and improve visitor experience.

Arup’s lighting masterplan proposes ‘families of fixtures’ to reinforce different features of the sub-districts and create a coherent and consistent nightscape in Kemeraltı.

Existing lighting would be replaced with designs sympathetic to the characteristics of the area, while the masterplan calls for a new centralised yet individual lighting control system to allow for easy maintenance.

Creating a sense of belonging through lighting, our masterplan also bolsters the dialogue between the various cultural groups that make up the social structure of Kemeraltı.

As our partner for the Kemeraltı Lighting Masterplan, Arup delivered a detailed, quality project: its success was predicated on their unique approach to understanding the qualitative and quantitative issues that the area faces at night.

Gökhan Kutlu

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Historical Environment and Cultural Heritage Branch Manager