Abstract. Cities are facing numerous challenges because of the unprecedented growth of population all over the world. In this context, smart city stands out as a viable option to improve quality of life. Smart city, with its ability to transform the information into economic, social and environmental benefits, offers acquisitions in the fields of sustainable development, competitiveness and environmental sustainability. However, the cost of implementing and maintaining smart city applications on a large scale reveals the necessity to choose the right smart city application at the beginning of smart city transformation. In order to determine which smart city application should be used in smart city domain, the current situation and needs of the city should be analysed effectively. Maturity assessment can be used as a tool to understand the existing conditions of a city. In this study, Turkey's smart city approach will be addressed and Smart City Maturity Assessment Model of Turkey will be introduced with the preparation and implementation process. Consequently, the impact of the Smart City Maturity Assessment Model on selection of smart city applications will be discussed with the result of maturity assessment which is implemented on 4 cities of Turkey.

Abstract. Nowadays, cities need sustainable approaches that take care of the future in order to meet the needs that arise with population activity. Accordingly, for making cities more livable, the necessity of ensuring efficient use of urban sources and planning urban infrastructures brings the smart city concept into the forefront. The smart city solutions are frequently applied by many local governments and stakeholders. For this reason, there is a need to support the collaboration of all relevant actors and to provide a common national strategic perspective among smart city stakeholders. In the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, the objectives of smart cities and national geographic information services are determined as “to make infrastructure works in order to establish smart cities, to improve the spatial management in cities with the help of technology, to share data to improve public services and to be the focus of national geographical information” and studies on these objectives have been completed. Accordingly, the “2020–2023 National Smart Cities Strategy and Action Plan” has been prepared in order to establish a national strategic view on smart cities and draw a road map under the policy ownership of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. By the implementation of this strategy and action plan with the vision of "Livable and Sustainable Cities that Add Value to Life", a new process of transformation and change will be provided to cities that take care of the real needs of citizens, adopting participatory governance by using resources effectively.

Abstract. The population of cities is increasing rapidly day by day, and it is predicted that this increase will continue in the following years. Accordingly, population growth creates a significant pressure in many different domains of cities such as infrastructure, traffic, energy, and environment. Smart cities come forward as a useful option to struggle with the pressure on cities caused by overwhelming population growth and to make cities liveable and sustainable. Smart city approach creates gains in the fields of sustainable development, competitiveness and environmental sustainability with its ability to transform information into economic, social and environmental benefits. However, smart city services and applications are mostly designed as independent and unrelated units so this approach causes isolated and heterogeneous data and technology islands. As the result, data flow problem occurs between vertical applications and service suppliers, and this interoperability problem causes emergence of independent silos in smart cities. Such silos hinders data integration, prevent citizens and public administrations benefit fully from smart cities, and cause vendor lock-in. In order to use the full potential of smart city approach, it’s vital to secure interoperability systems and applications of smart cities. In this study, interoperability terms and their necessity for smart city ecosystem will be addressed. Afterwards, Smart City Interoperability Model’s (SCIM) contributions to semantic, technical and operational interoperability will be discussed.

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