Developments of Ankara Urban Structure and Transportation Systems in the 20th Century

This article analyses the development of Ankara’s urban transport system from the early years of the Republic to the beginning of the twentyfirst century with the purpose of clarifying the roles of various factors and relationships that define Ankara’s urban structure and transport system. The city’s urban structure and modes of urban transport that citizens use to fulfill their transport needs are evaluated in three periods under different economic conditions during the 80-year period at hand. Pedestrians and animal-powered urban transport modes were dominant in the early years, while the size and functions of the settlement led to the use of motorized modes including automobiles, taxi doluush (shared taxi), private and municipality buses, trolleybuses, minibuses, taxis and rail systems. The official documents of the Ankara Municipality and other sources were examined and interviews were held with municipality officials within the scope of the study. \udThe study led to the conclusion that the share and importance of transport modes in the composition of the transport system was differentiated depending on economic conditions, the available resources of the period and the policies of decision makers at the national and local levels. Several transport modes, such as trolleybuses and “taxi dolmush (shared taxi)” have completely disappeared from the transport scene, while minibuses, taxis and privately operated public transport buses have seen ever-growing shares of the market since they do not require any state funding and are self-supporting through fares on the profitable routes. The introduction of high-capacity rail systems in the 90s did not change these roles as competing private operators continued to serve their original routes and decision-makers continued to favor highwayoriented investments encouraging private car vehicle use