Introduction
Over the decades, Turkey has become one of the most rapidly urbanizing countries in the Mediterranean region. Istanbul has become the epicenter of urbanization for Turkey that exponentially expands every year. Increased rates of population raise a higher demand for housing needs; therefore, there is a vital need to analyze the state of residential abilities of the city in the perception of the demographic raise. Moreover, technological progress changed concepts of modern housing and raised the expectations for the quality of the living environment. This report analyses one of the most significant phenomena of housing in the context of Istanbul. The report profoundly investigates the development process of urbanization in Istanbul, the state, and the availability of accommodation in a highly populated city. The ideas will be well-developed, analyzed, and then objectively discussed to make a fair conclusion of housing transformations in the urban areas of Istanbul. This report will use information and research from ten primary sources, which consist mostly of academic researches and articles from educational portals.
Development
Impact of Urbanization on Housing in Istanbul
Aside from being a highly visited tourist city, Istanbul has also been growing exponentially in terms of permanent residents. Since 1960 the population has increased from 6.9 million (Keles, 2004) to approximately 15 million in 2019 (Gür & Yüksel, 2019) and has not stopped in its dynamic development of housing settlement rates. The urbanization in Istanbul began in the 1980s and has experienced drastic changes since then. According to Cox, “over the 60 years, the urban area population grew more than 12 times, but the urban land area grew nearly 21 times” (2012). The implementation of governmental urbanization projects has made Istanbul a large global city (Uçar, 2017). Such initiatives transformed the pre-war perception of the city’s identity, which pushed it to further develop, especially within housing sectors, as more newcomers arrived in Istanbul. The chain of changes in the Istanbul real estate situation followed the neoliberal economic reform, which provided for the new laws that allowed to make major investments and implement big projects in the city of Istanbul (Uçar, 2017). A new economic perspective in the 1980s created a significant impact and became the catalyst to the urbanization of Istanbul. With such dynamic development of the city, and the rise of population, the demand for housing became in high demand; therefore, the government started the project of Global City.
Istanbul’s rapid urbanization caused the real estate sector to enter a new era of dynamic development. The government took a different direction and put more focus on the citizens’ essential needs and marketability, which eventually became driving factors for the projects’ success. The municipalities of Istanbul have also become more concerned with resolving housing issues in ways that many legal and operational measures were infused into the system called housing policy (Yiğit, 2020). Housing policy helps make urbanization more efficient and housing more available for the newcomers.
Turkey has a Housing Development Administration (TOKI), which is responsible for the construction sector. Its main goal is to provide everyone with efficient housing, within the high rates of migration and overcrowding (Story Map Journal). During the time of existence, TOKI built over 500 thousand places for people of lower income. However, the Istanbul housing administration reports an increase in unlawful housing occupation, which brings damage to the cultural and historical perception of the city.
Therefore, urbanization affected Istanbul in both positive and negative ways. It brought the city prosperity and popularity; thus, on the other hand, urbanization deprives a thousand-year-old land of its historical heritage. The issues of housing exponentially increase with the density raise and globalization; therefore, Istanbul authorities must support their citizens by listening to their needs and demands.
Key Issues and Information Concerning Istanbul Housing
Uncontrollable urbanization speed has led to various markets to construct housing for new residents on their terms in sometimes-unauthorized areas under the purpose of accommodating the growing population of the city. Another issue concerning accommodation in Istanbul is the possibility that it can lose its authenticity due to the high demand for new real estate. The historical city has always been famous for its culture; thus, urbanization poses a significant threat to it.
The 1960’s deviate with the rapid start of Istanbul’s urbanization and the new regime that damaged the housing system. At that time, investments in the housing sector were banned as they were claimed as unprofitable.
However, recent years have also excelled in beneficial laws for the citizens. As Istanbul is a city with thousand years of history, some areas are in a critical state of being ruined in a matter of short time; therefore, the government passed the Law on Transformation of Areas under Disaster Risk in 2012 (Koramaz, Koramaz, & Özer, 2018). Under this regulation, the state renews the housing stocks that are at the risk of destruction.
The fact that Istanbul combines features of both metropolitan municipality and a province frequently invokes some issues connected with housing. Naturally, people want to live in the urbanized area of Istanbul that is densely populated; however, in terms of size, it is much smaller than the provinces. Consequently, with such a pattern of dynamic movement from provinces to urban areas, the demand for housing dramatically increased, which frequently cannot be fulfilled for lower-income households (Raiser, 2016). The negative sides of the housing issues in Istanbul are significant and potentially pose a threat to the cultural heritage and, most importantly, the well-being of the city residents.
Discussion of the Issues
Firstly, construction in unauthorized areas without proper contracts harmed the newly appeared neighborhoods in terms of economic and social quality of life. Talking about the second issue, like authenticity loss, many citizens are worried that Istanbul can turn into another megapolis and abandon the historical heritage that is the best feature of the city. A few of the projects that were a threat to the city’s beauty like Gezi Park in 2013 triggered an outrage of local protests (Raiser, 2016).
A stopping of investments into the infrastructure and housing of Istanbul in the 1960s created serious issues around this topic. Such actions of practically freezing the urban infrastructure of Istanbul resulted in severe repercussions for the urban fabric, increased land prices, which became unaffordable for middle-class citizens. The blind approach to the residents by the government forced middle and high-class citizens to create solutions to the issue themselves. Some of them were executed by small-business owners, where the renters did not pay the landlords ahead, instead made payments per apartment unit, depending on the circumstances of the property. Such solutions contributed to bettering the complicated housing issues of Istanbul in the 1960s.
The passing of the Law on Transformation of Areas under Disaster Risk gave citizens that live under constant danger of housing destruction an ability to receive a better, renovated home. Since the implementation of the law, the historical city areas faced significant transformation to preserve them. This law majorly contributed to the urbanization of Istanbul and provided residents with safe, renovated housing.
The issue with the high density of the urban area of Istanbul raises many problems connected with housing. Younger people tend to move from province areas of Istanbul to urbanized districts. In comparison, rural areas cover 5,300 square kilometers to 1,500 square kilometers of the urban region, where most of the population is currently concentrated (Cox, 2012). Consequently, one can conclude that with the rising demand for housing in the urban areas, it becomes harder to fulfill the needs of the citizens who continuously move with ambitions for a better life in the urban areas. This issue bothers households with lower income explicitly as they outstrip other income groups; however, their high demand for housing mitigates concern for overinvestment and balances the market in some ways.
Therefore, urbanization has affected Istanbul’s housing in both positive and negative ways. Many improvements to the housing legislative system have been made through learning from past mistakes to improve the state of living in the urban areas for the residents. However, the government tries to imply the best possible strategies to ease the housing issue for the incoming Istanbul citizens as a part of a goal to become a globalized city.
Discussion
Previously many issues related to housing in Istanbul caused by urbanization were discussed. The main reason for insufficient housing in the city is the prices in distinct areas of Istanbul. Such diverse land pricing is mainly explained by different densities of population and employment rates, accessibility, and social facilities. High land values apply to newer planned areas that are located closer to the center part of Istanbul, as they are continually modernizing and transforming into business-oriented districts (Çiraci & Kundak, 2000). However, the newly developing areas in Istanbul Metropolitan provide many benefits to its residents like reduced transportation charges within these residential areas, prevention from pollution, high sustainability.
The recent laws that provide for Istanbul’s housing renewal affect not only the local communities but the city itself globally as it influences the density of the surrounding areas (Koramaz, Koramaz, & Özer, 2018). The increase in population density creates issues surrounding the topic of insufficiency of the urban infrastructure, transportation inconvenience, cultural disparity, which consequently decrease the environmental quality and the urban life itself.
Passing the Law on Transformation of Areas under Disaster Risk closely links with the increase in housing prices in urban areas. Projects aimed at renovating disastrous buildings turned into reconstructing them to luxury housing properties, which made the land value of specific Istanbul areas distinctively higher (Koramaz, Koramaz, & Özer, 2018). An excellent example would be the Bakirkoy district in Istanbul once one of the oldest, historical neighborhoods in Istanbul that possessed a high value to the cultural heritage of the city was put under renovation and turned into a luxury residential area. Urbanization completely transformed Bakirkoy, the hundred-year-old houses and mansions that had historical value were demolished for apartment buildings. Through such restructuring processes, the city has undergone a significant change, and while new territories have been developing, other frequently historical areas have been demolished (Serin, 2016). Now Bakirkoy district is a mix of cultural heritage and urbanization, densely populated commercial center of Istanbul, which lost its authenticity due to urbanization.
Large renovation projects require significant investments; therefore, the involvement of property owners determines the success of the initiative realization. Investors provide a substantial part of the financial support apart from the government; however, the challenge to make stakeholders and investors interested in such projects has been an issue (Alp & Alp, 2016). However, with convincing persuasion, it is possible to engage such prominent figures in the actual implementation of the project. Combined with the population increase and higher demand for housing, the implementation of renovation projects became a tool for urbanization, which affects many social, economic, and environmental spheres.
All information for the report was gathered collectively from numerous scholarly articles without any of the dominant researches. The referenced papers possessed a challenge in a way that many had outdated data concerning urbanization due to the ever-changing nature of the urban areas in Istanbul. However, there were many examples of renewed housing areas that gave a clear vision of Istanbul’s housing state in the present.
Conclusion
Urbanization significantly impacted the city of Istanbul and its citizens in many ways. Even though Istanbul is referred to as one of the most progressive cities not only in Turkey but also in the Mediterranean region, as it exponentially expands its urban areas every year, housing problems are still a serious issue. Over 50 years, the policies and investment rules in the housing sphere have severely changed and improved the living conditions of the citizens. However, it was discovered in the process of making the report that renovation projects that have been actively implemented in recent years have two sides of the coin. Aside from rescuing damaged buildings, such projects transform the ancient districts. Such regions become deprived of the crucial historical value and leave many citizens without affordable housing. Therefore, there is a vital need to balance and separate modern urban areas from the historical regions. Moreover, the government must primarily think about the residents of Istanbul and their comfort in the city, rather than money investment in luxury housing.
References
Alp, J., & Alp, İ. (2016,). Participation and Sustainability in Urban Projects: Istanbul Case [Scholarly project]. In Research Gate.
Çiraci, H., & Kundak, S. (2000). Changing Urban Pattern Of Istanbul; From Monocentric…
Cox, W. (2012). The Evolving Urban Form: Istanbul.
Gür, E. A., & Yüksel, Y. D. (2019). Analytical investigation of urban housing typologies in twentieth century Istanbul. Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, 13(1), 93-111.
Keles, R. (2004). Implications of Urbanisation for Turkey. The Case of Istanbul. Environmental Challenges in the Mediterranean 2000–2050, 37, 345-359.
Raiser, M. (2016). Building sustainable cities with Turkey’s urbanization agenda.
Serin, B. (2016). The Promised Territories: The Production of Branded Housing Projects in Contemporary Turkey. European Journal of Turkish Studies, (23).
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Uçar, M. Y. (2017). Twenty-First Century Gated Communities in Istanbul (Tech.). Budapest: Eötvös Loránd University.
Yiğit, P. (2020). Istanbul Housing and Land Appraisal System Reform Development Process and Property Values Analysis. Journal of Life Economics, 1(7), 59-78. Web.