The Turkish government provides 22 million citizens against earthquakes
Last Updated: 2020-07-06
Minister of Environment and Urban Planning Murat Kurum announced the "urban transformation" action plan in Turkey, and the ministry said in a statement: "Our goal of the operation is to ensure the safety of the lives of citizens and protect their property."
Kurum said his ministry's urban transformation plan "includes the construction of 300,000 homes, one third of which are just in Istanbul, while the implementation of 1.5 million housing units will be completed within the next five years during the planned urbanization process."
The Turkish minister described the adoption of the urban transformation process as the country's historic day.
He stressed that the Turkish government is continuing to implement a wide range of amendments that control the work of the real estate sector in accordance with the new regulations with the obligation to submit interim reports by the environments to the ministry.
Turkey's urbanization plan began in 2012 under the direct supervision of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his words come back to mind: "We will go to urbanization regardless of cost."
"Fighting the earthquake is as important as fighting terrorism," the minister of environment and urban planning said.
Urbanization is a need
According to figures from Turkey's Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning, 71% of the population lives in areas classified as hazardous to the risk of earthquakes, and in the last century Turkey experienced 56 earthquakes measuring 6 degrees above the Richter scale, and 80,000 citizens lost their lives thereafter.
"Yesterday, the 20th anniversary of the Marmara earthquake on August 17th passed, and the great disaster we suffered 20 years ago and the pain of the lives we lost are still alive in our hearts," he said.
Recent bitter events and collapses in some buildings in (Kartal, kağıthane, Sarıyer, Avcılar, Bağcılar) have also demonstrated the importance of urbanization.
"We want mothers not to cry again, our main goal in urban transformation is to ensure the safety of people and life," Minister Kurum continued.
Earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted mayors at the Presidential Complex in Ankara to consult on urbanization.
The Minister of Environment and Urban Planning summarized his ministry's work on the urban transformation plan since 2012 as follows:
- The ministry has begun its activities in 281 districts announced in 53different provinces.
- The ministry has allocated 1,166,000 independent units within the scope of urban transformation projects in dangerous areas and structures, at a cost of 11 billion Turkish liras.
- Through the new building inspection system, the ministry has reviewed 730,000 buildings so far, including five and a half million independent real estate units, while 393,000 buildings are still under construction.
The minister confirmed that about 22 million citizens will live safely in earthquake-resistant homes, with the completion of ongoing construction, while the figure will reach 45% of the population by about 35 million people.
The Minister preferred to share the details of this urbanization plan with his compatriots, explaining in his speech that it was based on three principles: "relocation of the site from each region, voluntary transformation with the consent of the population, rapid transformation once there is any threat to safety."
In Turkey, the numbers seem shocking. According to government figures, 90 percent of the loss of life is caused by earthquakes and 10 percent from landslides and floods between 1923-2016.
The ministry identifies four axes for urban transformation: the transformation of structures and areas at risk of earthquake, those at risk of floods and landslides, as well as the transformation of historic city centers and squares and finally the transfer and transformation of industrial areas.
Emphasizing that the city of The Constitution of Qualitative Transformation will have a view to the cultural and traditional fabric of the city.
Istanbul's transformation advances
The urbanization plan is progressing in many areas of Istanbul, and a number of buildings have already been converted as follows:
1845 buildings in Uskudar, 8,000 in Esenler, 4,748 in Gazi Osman Pasha, 850 in Kağıthane, 713 in Zeytinburnu, and 1,015 in Bağcılar.
In the rest of The Turkish states, the government said it would increase trade in these areas, improve tourism, and turn the values of each state into attractions in cooperation with municipalities.
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