Why Urban Transformation?

On 17 August 1999, the Gölcük-based earthquake and the 12 November Düzce Earthquake caused significant loss of life and property, and the country's economy faced a burden of billions of dollars. These earthquakes, which deeply affected our social psychology, actually affected everyone living in this geography from the easternmost to the westernmost, from the northernmost to the southernmost part of our country to varying degrees.

Our country is located in a geography that is frequently affected by various natural events, especially earthquakes. Earthquakes, which we experience at frequent intervals, cause loss of life and property as an important fact of our country. Earthquakes, which should remain as a natural phenomenon, unfortunately appear as a "disaster" where great suffering is experienced.

With the 17 August 1999 Gölcük-centred earthquake, 25% of the total structures in the earthquake zone were destroyed, heavily damaged or moderately damaged and became uninhabitable. In our country, not only earthquakes but also other natural events can turn into disasters and cause loss of life and property.

Especially in big cities, some of our buildings have been built illegally without engineering services. Even if some of them have received engineering services, since they have been built without adequate supervision, illegal urban parts have been formed from unlicensed or unlicensed buildings on zoned or unzoned, detached or shared parcels. A certain group of people who plunder and sell public lands have gained large amounts of unfair and unregistered profits, and local governments have become unable to provide sufficient space for public services. All these reasons have led to the issue of "urban transformation" in our cities.

It is stated that the buildings to be built within the scope of urban transformation will be safe against earthquakes. However, with the Van earthquakes in October and November 2011, the reality of earthquakes was revived in our social memories and the fact that we live in cities with unhealthy and unsafe building stock and settlement areas came to the surface. Immediately after the Van earthquakes, it was thought that 1/3 of the 20 million building stock, approximately 7 million buildings, were not earthquake safe and that they should be renewed, and the "Law on the Transformation of Areas Under Disaster Risk" numbered 6306 was put on the agenda, and then the LAW NUMBER 6306 ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF AREAS UNDER DISASTER RISK, published in the official gazette dated 31 May 2012 and numbered 28309, was put into force.