Urban Information Systems in Turkish Local Governments

Abstract

Since the end of 1980s, different sectors have implemented geographical information systems (GIS) in Turkey. A study on GIS market in Turkey indicates that municipalities are the primary customers (Gülersoy & Yigiter, 1999). One of the earliest GIS projects in Turkey began with the production of digital maps covering the boundaries of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in 1987. Since 1994, a rapid development process has occurred with the widespread diffusion of GIS especially in universities and large public sector organizations respectively. However, the early city-wide municipal GIS projects were initiated only after 1996 (Ucuzal, 1999).