Play Accessible Communities (PAC) İzmir aims to transform micro-mobility hubs into inclusive, healthy public spaces. Developed under the EIT Urban Mobility Co-Create New European Bauhaus (NEB) programme, the project brings together Play the City, İzmir Planning Agency, and Transform Transport. PAC promotes accessible neighborhoods by linking mobility with social engagement. In 2025, the project will co-design a Micro Mobility Hub with local youth in Balçova’s Üçkuyular İskelesi through a participatory process. The hub will be developed and built in 2026. This model is designed to scale across other peri-urban areas in Europe. Combining the City Gaming Method of Play the City with Transform Transport's 15 Minute City Score, PAC integrates mobility, social, and ethnographic data into a Micro Mobility Game that engages children and youth from underserved neighborhoods. The Micro Mobility Hub’s co-creation supports İzmir’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP), ensuring long-term impact. The project will also deliver a Micro Mobility Playbook—a practical guide for municipalities to advance accessibility and inclusive, sustainable mobility policies.

15 Minute City Score for İzmir

15-Minute City Score Toolkit Izmir illustrates the functionalities of the 15min City Score Toolkit, an open-source Python tool developed by Transform Transport in 2024 to assess the level of accessibility of proximity services by walk, and its application in the Play Accessible Communities İzmir project. A WebGIS map   allows citizens to visualize and explore results interactively, aiming to support urban planning and decision-making processes through enhanced accessibility assessments. The conceptual framework for designing and implementing the toolkit started with the definition of proximity services; thus, the first step of the project was to identify the essential services and categorize them into eight main categories, modelled on previous work of the authors (Abdelfattah et al., 2021). Hereby, the following classification* is proposed and used in the tool: neighborhood services, healthcare, neighborhood shops, education, sports, cultural entertainment, open leisure and mobility.

The İzmir 15-Minute City Score map visualizes the accessibility of essential services by walking across İzmir’s bay area using the 15-Minute City Score, an urban planning metric used to assess how well an area meets the essential needs of its community. The map offers three interactive base view modes:

1. 15-Minute City Score (Default) displays the spatial distribution of 15-Minute City Scores across the bay area

2. Points of Interest: Highlights the locations of key amenities throughout the city; and

3. Population: Shows the population distribution across İzmir’s bay area.

Users can explore the map at multiple spatial levels, including:

1. H3 hexagonal grid (average area: 0.105 km²)

2. İzmir Mahalle (neighborhoods)

3. İzmir İlçe (districts).

The map was developed by Transform Transport using the 15-Minute City Score Toolkit. Points of Interest are sourced from OpenStreetMap (OSM), while population data and administrative boundaries are provided by the Municipality of İzmir.

Micromobility Game Hub Design Game: Co-creating an inclusive public spaces for İzmir

The 'Micro Mobility Hub Design Game' is a participatory urban design tool that invites residents, experts, and decision-makers to co-create inclusive, accessible, and sustainable mobility hubs in İzmir. The focus area includes Üçkuyular Pier, the nearby tram stop, and İnciraltı City Forest—important transportation and leisure zones that serve a wide range of users across the city. These areas are actively being studied by the İzmir Planning Agency due to their strategic importance.

This site is also one of seven pilot locations identified in the ongoing Micro Mobility Islands study conducted by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality in collaboration with the World Bank. The other locations include Çiğli Katip Çelebi, Bornova Büyük Park, Karşıyaka Çarşı, Basmane, Gıda Çarşısı, and Pamucak Beach. The study aims to explore ways to integrate small-scale, low-carbon transport systems into the urban fabric of İzmir.

In addition, the micro mobility hub designed through the game is projected to support the Botanic EXPO 2027 İzmir, a major international event that will highlight the city's ecological and cultural assets. The hub will enhance sustainable access to the EXPO area and surrounding public spaces, contributing to a more resilient and people-oriented mobility network.

The design game starts with a presentation explaining the project’s purpose and context: What is micro mobility? Why is it important for İzmir? What challenges exist in the area? After this shared introduction, participants map their own travel experiences, highlight mobility barriers, and form thematic teams to develop design solutions.

Using scaled maps and playful tools like 3D game blocks, data cards involving investment budgets, and props representing infrastructure (e.g., scooter parking, rest areas, signage, safe crossings), players co-design a micro mobility hub. A feasibility sheet helps assess real-time costs and encourages practical decision-making.

By the end of the game, participants will have co-created a series of spatial proposals. These are voted on, critiqued by experts, and further developed into a design guide. This guide will help İzmir and other cities develop micro mobility spaces that reflect real user needs, support accessibility, and foster social inclusion.

Game Sessions & Participants

Session 1 – Community Voices
Participants: Local residents, NGOs, students, and municipal observers
Focus: Identifying local challenges and mobility needs

Session 2 – Experts and Stakeholders
Participants: Municipality representatives, mobility experts, and potential investors
Focus: Exploring practical and technical solutions

Session 3 – Collaborative Co-Design
Participants: Mixed groups from Sessions 1 and 2
Focus: Joint design of micro mobility hubs combining local knowledge and expertise

Session 4 – Youth Jury
Participants: Children and university students
Focus: Selecting the 5 most promising proposals through a public vote

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*The corresponding amenities belonging to each of the main categories were defined considering the commonly used amenities in literature and practice:

• Neighbourhood services: post offices, banks, civic and community centers, police services, filling water points, local administration offices, bars, cafes, tobacconists and newsagents;

• Healthcare: hospitals, pharmacies, first aid, clinics, and local health services;

• Neighbourhood shops: grocery, retail, bookshops, local markets, restaurants, supermarkets, and the local non-food shops;

• Education: kindergartens, schools, colleges and universities, professional schools, and libraries;

• Sports: gym and sports facilities;

• Cultural entertainment: cinemas, theatres, art centers, and museums;

• Open leisure: parks, playgrounds, and gardens;

• Mobility: surface public transportation stops, bike parking facilities, bike sharing and car sharing facilities, underground metro stations, and railway stations).