Following the 1999 earthquakes in northwestern Turkey, the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency and in partnership with the General Directorate for Disaster Affairs of the Ministry of Public Works and Settlements supported the development of technical manuals for the preparation of seismic microzonation maps at the municipal scale and guidance for the utilization of microzonation maps in urban master planning and land-use management. The technical development was carried out by an international team scientists and engineers and leading Turkish experts in seismology, geology, geotechnical and structural engineering. Guidance to planners included analysis of the legal basis for land-use management and mitigation enforcement. The manual represents both a synthesis of the international state-of-the-art and a methodology appropriate for the personnel and material resources of Turkish Municipalities. The manual has been adopted as a regulatory standard by the Ministry of Pubic Works in 2003.