The details of Turkey's urban renewal transformation are slowly surfacing. While the resolution on conducting urban renewal in residential areas at risk in the case of an earthquake was passed by the Assembly sub-committee, the road map for Turkey's mega transformation has begun to be defined. Stating, "Urban renewal has now entered my dreams", Minister of Environment and Urban Development Erdoğan Bayraktar explains that according to their plans, "Turkey's buildings will be undergoing modernization in waves, with transformations taking place in three to five to ten and 20 year periods."

"It is our obligation to modernize our country wave by wave", states Bayraktar who also expresses that this transformation is foreseen to cost Turkey 400 billion dollars overall, with Istanbul alone costing 100 billion dollars.

THE PRIME MINISTER BREAKS GROUND

Turkey's transformation will begin with Istanbul. The initial groundbreaking for the four districts in Istanbul in urgent need of renewal will be kicked off by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan. The names of the four districts that the renewal process will begin with simultaneously was being kept confidential, however it has since been learned that the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning will be starting the project off in the Zeytinburnu, Ümraniye, Pendik and Avcılar districts. While the plans for the urban renewal process in Zeytinburnu, Pendik and Avcılar have been defined, the project for Ümraniye will be completed in the medium term due to issues surrounding 2-B land regulations.

This mega national transformation project for which Prime Minister Erdoğan has embarked upon, stating; "Even if it is at the cost of our leadership", will be simultaneously spread throughout Anatolia as it transpires in Istanbul.

Istanbul's new transformation will also be realized simultaneously with the plans to establish Channel Istanbul as well as coinciding with two other major city projects within the metropolis. Intentions are to have a 'New Istanbul' by 2023. Once the resolution is passed by the general assembly, it will be made into legislation and when the law has been released, a 30-day evacuation period will begin in areas necessitating urgent renewal.

CITIZENS ARE ALSO APPLYING FOR THE RENEWAL PROCESS

In addition to applications made by municipalities to be considered in the renewal process, countless telephone calls, e-mails and written applications have also been made by citizens. Standing out are the numbers of requests made in connection to citizens concerns of their homes' earthquake safety and therefore for their homes to be included in the renewal process.

Upon Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar's announcement that they will be taking on urban renewal projects with municipalities that have prepared projects, 110 provinces and districts have prepared detailed studies to submit with their application to be considered for the transformation program. While some provinces prepared applications to include all of their districts, the application themselves have revealed the nation's irregular and unsustainable structuring in the case of an earthquake or natural disaster. In addition, the applications made have also brought the reality of the drastic need for infrastructure development in areas prone to overflows and flooding.

This is a translation of an article originally written by Mehmet Ali Berber.