Another ‘Crazy Project’ for Istanbul

By Ayla Albayrak

A graphic of a canal project, planned to be built through Istanbul.

First, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced what he called a “crazy” project to build a shipping canal parallel to the Bosporus strait. On Wednesday he outlined another one: to build two new earthquake resistant urban centers on the outskirts of Europe’s biggest metropolis, Istanbul.

Mr. Erdogan’s idea is to build one of the cities along the Black Sea coast, on the European side of the Bosporus. The other would go on the Asian side.

There’s a big element of electioneering here. Mr. Erdogan made both announcements as his governing Justice and Development, or AK Party prepares for elections to a third term in office on June 12, a vote that opinion polls suggest the AK Party will win.

But few would write off Mr. Erdogan’s grand plans entirely, in an economy that grew 8.9% last year and an earthquake prone city whose population, by official estimates, is at least 13.5 million and growing fast.

The promise is to build new, “more humane” housing and move residents to a safer area, away from “ugly buildings in neighborhoods with unsafe, narrow streets” in parts of Istanbul, Mr. Erdogan said at an election event in Istanbul. “If you think that (in an earthquake), damage of 100 billion could occur, we do not think this project would be too heavy a load for our country,” Mr. Erdogan said.

In 1999, over 17 000 people were killed in an earthquake here. The epicenter was more than 100 kilometers from Istanbul, yet many of the casualties occurred in the city. Seismologists are forecasting another big one in the relatively near future.

Completing the vast project would be a long-debated third bridge across the Bosporus, close to the Black Sea coast. The highways that feed that bridge would also connect the two new urban centers, Mr. Erdogan said. Istanbul would get a new airport with a capacity of 60 million passengers a year — roughly the size of London’s Heathrow.

Feasibility studies will start right after the elections, and construction a year after, according to the prime minister. But he is looking for votes from architects or city planners, Mr. Erdogan is likely to be disappointed.

“Istanbul has the capacity to grow up to 17 million, but this project could inflate it into a city of 25-30 million people. It paves way to serious and irreversible problems” such as suburban ghettos, said Eyup Muhcu, Istanbul head of the Chamber of Architects of Turkey.

Mr. Muhcu also said that Mr. Erdogan is ignoring the city’s current plan, which bans construction in the forests and farmland along the Black Sea Coast. Much of the city’s drinking water comes from the area.

via Another ‘Crazy Project’ for Istanbul – Emerging Europe Real Time – WSJ.