Urban transformation work by the government in the past two decades to make buildings resistant to disasters faced a significant obstacle: municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), and chambers of architects and urban planners.
The issue is under the spotlight following the Feb. 6 earthquakes in southern Türkiye, where almost all buildings built before 1999 were destroyed, according to the Ministry of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change. Türkiye has made a series of reforms after the 1999 earthquake, which killed thousands in its northwestern region, to prevent massive destruction in future disasters. Urban transformation, which involves the demolition of decrepit buildings not resistant to earthquakes and other disasters and their replacement with sturdy buildings, is one of the steps taken by the government.
Yet, the opposition parties, including the CHP, joined by other organizations, shunned support for urban transformation and instead led the efforts for a barrage of lawsuits against transformation projects. The CHP, its current ally Good Party (IP), and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) are among those openly opposing the transformation projects and the government’s moves to declare “risky” areas, the first step of urban transformation, in 32 provinces. Courts sided with the plaintiffs and ordered a halt to projects. So far, the plaintiffs have managed to stop the implementation of decisions for the declaration of 81 risky areas out of 279. They also succeeded in blocking the performance of 34 urban transformation and development projects out of 181 in 32 provinces.
Among the projects and steps the lawsuits disrupted are the declaration of risky areas in Adana, Diyarbakır, Hatay and Malatya, which were among the provinces hit by earthquakes on Feb. 6, as well as urban transformation projects in 48 neighborhoods in nine districts of Istanbul, where experts have predicted the possibility of a significant earthquake in the near future.
IP leader Meral Akşener is among the major opponents of the urban transformation project in Istanbul’s Beykoz. At the same time, Ekrem Imamoğlu, CHP mayor of Istanbul, voiced his opposition to another project in the district of Esenler in the city. CHP’s Deputy Chair Engin Özkoç spearheaded opposition to a similar project in the Hendek district of Sakarya. Züleyha Gülüm, a lawmaker from the HDP, has rallied locals against urban transformation in the historic Istanbul neighborhood of Tozkoparan.
Serkan Topal, a CHP lawmaker, was a fierce critic of urban transformation projects in Hatay, while the city’s mayor, Lütfü Savaş, another CHP member, was among the leading figures in rallies against urban transformation in the province, particularly those in the Iskenderun district where five neighborhoods were heavily affected by the latest earthquakes. The Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) filed a lawsuit against a similar project in Diyarbakır. Most of the leading plaintiffs were local branches of TMMOB and other chambers and CHP-run municipalities. The Ankara branch of the Chamber of Architects filed 15 lawsuits to stop urban transformation projects and the implementation of risky area decisions.
In Ankara, lawsuits filed by the CHP, members of other parties and chambers stopped the implementation of urban transformation projects in 11 neighborhoods. In the central province of Kayseri, two projects were suspended due to similar lawsuits. In Konya, two communities were deprived of urban renewal due to court cases. Similarly, in the provinces of Samsun, Uşak, and Van each saw two of their neighborhoods' planned urban transformation projects disrupted due to lawsuits.
