Türkiye has completed the transformation of 2.378 million independent units, meaning individual homes and workplaces, under its urban renewal programme since 2012, Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum said on Oct. 13. The announcement came as the government moved to rebuild the Istanbul neighbourhood where a residential building partially collapsed earlier this month.
Kurum shared the figures, compiled by the ministry’s Urban Transformation Directorate, on social media. In total, 2.761 million independent units have been brought into the programme nationwide. Urging owners of ageing buildings to act, the minister wrote that "an earthquake does not wait" and neither should renewal.
Istanbul carries nearly half the load
Istanbul alone accounts for 1.298 million of the units in the programme. Of those, 1.007 million have been completed and 291,000 are still under way, according to the minister’s figures.
Under the "Yarısı Bizden" ("Half Is on Us") campaign, which focuses on the megacity, 544,564 units have been taken into scope and 117,914 completed. Hürriyet’s business portal Bigpara set out the support on offer: for a home, a grant of 875,000 lira, a loan of the same amount and 125,000 lira in relocation support, for a total of 1.875 million lira. Workplaces qualify for a 437,500 lira grant, a 437,500 lira loan and 125,000 lira in relocation aid. Loan repayments start two years after the building permit is issued and run for 10 years.
TOKİ to rebuild in Maltepe within a year
The figures followed the partial collapse of a seven-storey building in Istanbul’s Maltepe district, in which five people died. Kurum said the ministry would launch a renewal project with the Housing Development Administration (TOKİ) covering the collapsed building and the surrounding area.
Inspections at the site are continuing, he said, and the Urban Transformation Directorate has opened a local office to collect residents’ requests. Construction will be carried out by TOKİ and safe homes handed over within one year, according to the minister.
Real estate news site Emlakkulisi reported that residents of the collapsed building had failed to reach agreement among themselves and therefore had not used the "Half Is on Us" support, continuing to live in a structure classed as risky. Kurum said no citizen was condemned to stay in a risky building, but stressed that rights holders need to agree with one another and apply for transformation.
Sources
- Murat Kurum’dan kentsel dönüşüm çağrısı: Deprem beklemez, dönüşüm de beklememeli! (Emlakkulisi)
- 2.4 milyon konut ve işyeri dönüştü (Bigpara)
- Maltepe’de çöken bina ve çevresi için TOKİ devreye girdi! (Emlakkulisi)
Photo: Sakaerka / CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
