Unknowns of Urban Transformation

Urban renewal processes continue as part of efforts to address negative consequences of rapid urbanization resulting from rural-to-urban migration in the country. Emerging as an alternative solution to unplanned urban development, urban renewal targets distorted construction, physical and social deterioration. Evrim Kırmızıtaş Başaran, an award-winning real estate sector consultant, commented on the urban renewal process being discussed on virtually every platform: "In Turkey, 140 million square meters of area across 50 cities have been declared as urban renewal zones.

While Istanbul has 13 million square meters of at-risk area, 20 million square meters of area in Şırnak is undergoing transformation," she said. The urban renewal process has long been closely monitored by the real estate sector.

  According to Law No. 6306 on the Transformation of Disaster Risk Areas issued by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization on 16 May 2012, work will be conducted encompassing improvement, liquidation and renovation rules for creating healthy and safe living environments in accordance with technical and engineering standards in areas at disaster risk and land and property containing risky structures outside these areas. Citizens can apply to institutions authorized by the Ministry to obtain risk reports for their buildings in order to benefit from urban renewal. The process of identifying risky structures can initially be carried out by building owners or their legal representatives through institutions licensed by the Ministry. The Ministry requests identification of risky structures from owners or legal representatives within a specified period. If identifications are not carried out within the specified period, they will be performed by the Ministry and administration. Licensed organizations for risky structure identification conduct an evaluation regarding whether buildings have reached the end of their economic life and whether they carry disaster risks such as collapse or damage. A report is drawn up based on this evaluation. Reaching agreement with owners is the principle in demolishing buildings. In subsequent processes, risky structure identification becomes administratively final if no objection is raised or if the objection is rejected, and the risky structure is demolished. At this point, structures not demolished by owners are demolished by administrative authorities. Before beginning demolition, owners of risky structures are given a period of no less than sixty days. If the structure is not demolished by the owner within this period, it is stated that it will be demolished by administrative authorities. Planning, density, sustainability and social impacts in urban renewal continue to be discussed on various platforms. The Minister of Environment and Urbanization designated only 1,100 hectares in Istanbul as an urban renewal area. This corresponds to approximately 150,000 residents, 50,000 households and 20,000 buildings.

According to earthquake experts, in a potential earthquake occurring at a rate of 2 per cent annually, approximately 30,000 buildings are expected to suffer damage. Urban renewal has been on Turkey's real estate sector agenda for some time, but insufficient progress has been made.

In Turkey, ensuring controlled density in major cities experiencing mass migration and earthquake risk such as Istanbul is very important. Sustainable urban planning, density and traffic, industry and air pollution and management quality are important issues that need to be addressed in the urban renewal process. For planned density, density should be consciously increased in points economically and culturally necessary for the city, while in certain areas density should be kept particularly low to accommodate green and social spaces. It is necessary to take into account social effects of urban renewal as much as its physical effects. As new projects emerge during building renewal, people's lifestyles and standards also change. As residents move from detached houses to multi-story dwellings, the effect of space on the individual is in a sense questioned, and adaptation processes to new behavioral changes in new spaces and new interpersonal relationships are recreated and reorganized in accordance with space.