What was once a stream corridor prone to dangerous flooding has been transformed into a thriving ecological park. Urban and Regional Planner Dr. Melek Karahasan explains how Istanbul’s Ayamama Life Valley became one of the city’s most beloved public spaces.
Grey to green
As one of the world’s most densely populated cities, access to nature in Istanbul is not always guaranteed. The city is home to 16 million residents with tourists bumping that number up to 20 million. Per person, Istanbul has around eight square meters of green space, roughly the size of a parking space – well below European averages.
As a flagship of Istanbul’s Green Strategy, the project is transforming a 800,000 m² degraded stream corridor into a resilient ecological park using nature-based solutions. The corridor had long been a symbol of urban neglect. It was an industrially polluted stream bed surrounded by uncontrolled development, dumping sites, and chronic flooding. The urban heat island effect, caused by intensive concrete surfaces, compounded the problem. It was a space to be avoided rather than enjoyed.
The project set out to change that through innovative ecological engineering. Techniques like hydroseeding, which rapidly establishes vegetation by spraying seeds and nutrients across the land, alongside native planting and permeable surfaces, helped restore ecological balance while reducing flood risk and heat.Over the past five years, 6,000 mature trees have been planted, sequestering 132 tonnes of CO₂ annually.
The stream corridor that people once avoided has now become an active urban living space.
As Melek puts it, “The stream corridor that people once avoided has now become an active urban living space.”
High stakes, high ambition
The combination of a rapidly growing population, unplanned urbanisation, industrial activity, and insufficient drainage infrastructure had turned the Ayamama stream into a disaster waiting to happen. The corridor had flooded before with fatal consequences. In 2009, flash floods claimed 31 lives and injured 50 people.
“The devastating floods showed us clearly the critical vulnerability of the region and what would continue to happen if we didn’t take action.”
In 2019, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality launched the Ayamama Life Valley project. Rather than looking for a purely technical fix, the city looked outward for inspiration from projects that have taken a holistic approach to stream restoration: Catharijnesingel restoration in Utrecht, Madrid Río, and the Cheonggyecheon restoration in Seoul. Each offered a proven model for transforming neglected urban waterways into thriving public spaces.
For Melek, the ambition went beyond flood control. “We didn’t want to just restore the stream. We wanted to create new green spaces surrounding the stream area.”
From corridor to community
From the outset, the project approached climate action as an opportunity for broader urban transformation that could address public health, social inclusion, and economic resilience all at once. The blue-green infrastructure at the heart of the project does multiple jobs simultaneously. It reduces the urban heat island effect, improves air quality, and creates continuous cycling and walking corridors that encourage more active lifestyles.
Melek explains, “The Ayamama Life Valley goes beyond restoration. It’s not just a technical process or intervention. As we restore the natural processes, we are addressing Istanbul’s urban challenges at the same time.”
As we restore the natural processes, we are addressing Istanbul’s urban challenges at the same time
That philosophy shaped every decision. Rather than importing the models from Seoul, Madrid, or Utrecht as ready-made solutions, Istanbul adapted what it had learned to fit its own reality. “We carefully adapted these projects to our unique challenges,” says Melek.
Across departments, across the city
One of the biggest challenges the team faced was the sheer number of institutions involved. The Ayamama corridor cuts through a dense urban fabric where responsibilities are divided across multiple municipal departments: water management, urban planning, and public green spaces. Each department comes with their own expertise and priorities.
Gathering all the actors to collaborate posed challenges. The area had long been marked by illegal dumping and encroachment, and clearing it required permissions and coordination across departments that did not usually work together. “You need to create a good consortium,” Melek says. “For example, when we began cleaning the illegal dumping sites around the stream, we had to involve many different institutions.”
That coordination eventually became one of the project’s greatest strengths. By bringing together water infrastructure, alongside urban planning, parks, and transportation departments, the project was able to tackle flood risk, green space, public health, and mobility in a single integrated effort rather than a series of disconnected interventions.
The corridor comes back to life
Where people once avoided the Ayamama corridor, it is now attracting people young and old. “Before this project they were scared of being in that region,” Melek says. “But now they can access green space, spend time, and enjoy themselves with their friends and family.”
The change goes beyond simply having a nicer place to walk. The valley connects neighbourhoods that were previously cut off from one another, bringing together residents from across Istanbul’s socioeconomic spectrum.
“It’s now a place where people of all ages, classes and abilities meet each other.”
The park is free, accessible, and designed around universal design principles, with barrier-free pathways and facilities for all ages. It has even been designed to function as an emergency assembly area in the event of a disaster.
Nature is returning too. Since the valley’s creation, colleagues have reported spotting new bird species in the area. “We’re seeing more and more native birds return to the stream,” Melek says. “People are noticing the difference. The park brings them closer to nature.”
We’re seeing more and more native birds return to the stream. People are noticing the difference. The park brings them closer to nature.
The numbers back this up: 6,000 mature trees planted over five years are sequestering 132 tonnes of CO₂ annually. The economic benefits are tangible too. The project has stimulated small-scale commerce, created jobs in park management and maintenance, and by reducing flood risk, lowered the long-term cost of disaster recovery for the city.
A sustainable blueprint
The Ayamama Life Valley was built for Istanbul, but its lessons are applicable to cities worldwide. “We know we are not alone in our struggles. Learning from other cities was a crucial first step for us in our process. Now, we are happy to share our story with cities who come to learn from our success.”
Other cities are taking note. Other district municipalities within Istanbul have already reached out, asking how they can apply the life valley concept to their own stream corridors. The approach is designed to travel: the techniques used like hydroseeding, native and drought-resistant planting, permeable surfaces, can all be adapted to different climate zones. The model of converting neglected, hazardous stream corridors into green infrastructure is one that many cities around the world will recognise as their own problem too.
What makes the Ayamama Life Valley truly transferable, though, is not just the technical toolkit but the governance model behind it. Getting departments around the same table, aligning water management, transportation, urban planning, and parks, is often the hardest part of projects like this. Istanbul has shown it can be done.
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Istanbul’s Ayamama LIfe Valley is one of the shortlisted ‘City Initiatives’ at the Eurocities Awards 2026. You can view the full awards shortlist here.
The winners will be announced at the Eurocities Annual Conference in Utrecht, 8-10 June 2026. Register for the Annual Conference to join the ceremony.
Photos copyright: City of Instanbul.
