16 - Urban Transformation as a Resilience Strategy: Earthquake Preparedness in Istanbul

Summary

As defined by the World Health Organization, a disaster is “an occurrence disrupting the normal conditions of existence and causing a level of suffering that exceeds the capacity of adjustment of the affected community.” Whether caused by natural sources or man-made reasons, a disaster defines a chaotic process in the social, economic, physical, and environmental systems that are integrated into the lives of people. In order to alleviate or prevent the effects of disasters, mitigation strategies are developed and implemented in the form of policies, guidelines, and planning initiatives. Within these initiatives, cities and their built environment get specific attention as they define concentrated locations and a high density of people, social, and economic activity. After the 1999 Marmara Earthquake, the government of Turkey has passed urban transformation laws and implemented disaster mitigation strategies to take a proactive stance in dealing with the adverse effects of possible high magnitude earthquakes on cities. Urban transformation, in the sense of disaster mitigation, has been about upgrading of the built environment and infrastructure as well as creating open spaces. In this respect, urban transformation efforts in Istanbul, as a city of 17 million residents and being located on a highly risky seismic zone, becomes an interesting case study. This chapter will examine urban transformation efforts in Istanbul during the last decade as a form of disaster mitigation strategy and will offer a critical review of earthquake preparedness through the planning initiatives and shaping of the built environment.