Conférence tenue à l'Institut français d'études anatoliennes (Istanbul), associé à Environnement Ville Société et au programme ANR Sud TERMOSThe paper introduces the seminar. It first mention why the energy issue is becoming more and more an urban issue. Then, it identifies several theoritical framework in use to deal with energy issues in the Social Sciences: the multilevel model of socio-technical transitions and the critical urban studies which emphasize politics, urban materiality and urban practices as opposed to imposed policies. The purpose of the conference is to identify the specificities of the Turkish cities with respect to energy policies and to put them in comparative perspective