site.btaSofia, Istanbul Mayors Discuss Environmental Protection

The mayors of Sofia Yordanka Fandakova and Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu discussed the priorities that the two cities are working on, the press center of the Sofia Municipality said Wednesday. Imamoglu is on a visit to Sofia at the invitation of Fandakova. 

Sofia and Istanbul are both building up their underground railway systems and this is one of the priority projects for the development of transport and for solving the problems with traffic and air quality. Other very important projects related to environmental protection are care for the green systems in the city and the expansion of parks.

The two officials discussed planning the future development of their cities. Sofia has a vision for development with a horizon in 2050. Istanbul is also planning years ahead, Imamoglu's said and shared his ambition to initiate more long term planning.

The mayors participated in a forum dedicated to the B40 Balkan Cities Network and organized by the National Association of the Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB). The B40 network was set up on the initiative Imamoglu and Sofia and another 10 Bulgarian municipalities joined on Tuesday. 

Fandakova presented Sofia's bid to host the Annual Forum of the B40 in 2023. Athens is hosting the meeting in 2022.