Ümraniye Overpass Square by ABT Design Office & Doku Landscape

Redefining Public Space in Ümraniye

Roads are among the leading causes of habitat fragmentation in rural areas. Today, one of the most significant problems facing cities is much the same: the physical and social severance created by high-capacity transport corridors. Motorways and wide avenues may currently seem indispensable to road transport, yet they largely turn into powerful barriers that split the urban fabric in two and restrict pedestrian movement. The square project designed by ABT Tasarım and Doku Peyzaj treats that severance not as a purely technical transport problem but as a design question about reintegrating urban life.

From Crossing Route to Living Space

The approach adopted on this site by Ümraniye Municipality and the design team reflects a visionary understanding of city-making: rather than simply building a footbridge over the motorway, it sets out to give the city a new square. The area has been planned not only as a route from one point to another, but as a strong space of public life where people spend time, meet, rest and reconnect with the city.

Green Infrastructure and Ecological Continuity

The continuity of the landscape design also strengthens the city’s green infrastructure by forming an ecological corridor.

• Extensive tree cover, permeable surfaces, green areas that contribute to stormwater management and shaded walking routes support environmental sustainability while improving user comfort.

• Backed by cycle paths and barrier-free access solutions, this system turns a vehicle-oriented understanding of mobility into a people-oriented urban experience.

The vision set out by this project reflects a contemporary approach to urbanism, one that sees transport infrastructure not as a matter resolved solely at the engineering scale but as an opportunity to enhance public life.

This project, occupying 14,623 m², is not merely a crossing system linking two sides; it is a comprehensive landscape square that repairs the city’s fragmented fabric, strengthens public life, increases social interaction and gives Ümraniye a new city center.

As a conclusion, this approach stands out as a meaningful practice in urban space, showing that grey infrastructure and public life need not conflict in modern cities, and that with the right landscape and design decisions transport and city life can work together in the same place.

At the ceremony on September 2, 2026, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that vehicular traffic on the TEM connection axis would be routed into a 230-meter underpass, handing the ground level over to pedestrians.

Urban squares are not merely physical voids; they are sociological catalysts where diverse classes and cultures interact unconditionally, reinforcing a sense of urban belonging. Offering individuals the opportunity to encounter the "other" and attain social visibility, these spaces serve as fundamental public focal points where collective memory is forged, and where civic will and democratic participation are enacted alongside serendipitous encounters. Consequently, the more accessible and vibrant a city's square is, the stronger that society's shared culture of civic life and social resilience becomes.