Every earthquake in Turkey, where 80 percent of its residences are of old status and where millions live in rotten buildings, is heartbreaking. Despite all these, in our country where human life is endangered by risky buildings, problems between right holders, the state and contractors prevent the start of urban transformation in some regions. Speaking to our newspaper about the urban transformation process in Turkey, experts point out that the biggest obstacle in urban transformation is rent.
After the recent earthquakes in Van, Elazığ and İzmir, the issue of urban transformation is still not at all good in our country. According to the researches, 80 percent of the residences in Turkey have elderly status and a total of 10.5 million citizens in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya and Bursa live in risky buildings. Many of the urban transformation projects, which are vitally important against earthquake risk, have not even started in our country. In many regions where urban transformation cannot begin due to problems between rights holders, the state and contractors, rotten structures threaten human life. Speaking to Milli Gazete, experts made important statements about the problems related to urban transformation.
THERE IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM IN REGIONS THAT NEED TO BE DEMOLISHED AND REBUILTED
Lawyer Yasin Özkan, Member of the TBM Real Estate Commission, who carried out important studies on real estate and urban transformation, "Many regulations and innovations have been introduced regarding urban transformation. For example, with a new regulation, something called "3/2 majority" was introduced. In other words, in a situation where the right holders do not agree, it will be said by the winner of the 2 out of 3 majority. This harms people's right to property. However, the purpose of this is to protect human life against earthquake risk. It is actually a very correct arrangement, but it actually works very differently. There is no urban transformation problem in the luxurious and valuable sights of Istanbul, most of the buildings have overcome the urban transformation process. However, there are serious problems in regions such as Gaziosmanpaşa, Bağcılar, Esenler, which need to be demolished and rebuilt," he said.
"THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IS BASED ON RENT, NO ONE THOUGHS THE RISK OF DISASTER AND THE RISK OF SAFE BUILDING"
Civil Engineer Cevdet Şentürk, who spoke about the Law No. 6306 on the Transformation of Areas Under Disaster Risk, "Its purpose is to create healthy and safe living environments in disaster risk areas and lands and lands with risky structures located outside these areas. It is a very valuable law in terms of its purpose, so how has the implementation been in the past years. The construction sector in our country is based on income, nobody thinks about the risk of disaster and safe building. The important thing is how much profit he will make in this process, the property owner. Seeing this profitability, contractors rolled up their sleeves to transform precious places in the first place, and they were relatively successful in this. In the same region, the number of residences has increased, stalemates such as infrastructure and traffic arose," he said.
"We all deserve to stay in solid buildings"
Cevdet Şentürk, drawing attention to the common problems encountered in the urban transformation process, "In urban transformation, even if the owners cannot reach an agreement among themselves or with the contractor, the buildings have to be demolished. The state took a series of measures to prevent this and similar unjust treatment. Such as guarantees, contracting documents, termination of the agreement by the right holders when the commitments are not fulfilled. We started to see the positive fruits of these. As is known, an earthquake is expected in Istanbul. In this sense, many buildings in Istanbul are at risk. We all have the right to shelter in healthy, solid buildings. It is necessary to transform in accordance with the purpose of the law and to pass it as soon as possible," he added.