42nd International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISoCaRP) Congress, İstanbul, Türkiye, 1 - 04 Eylül 2006
As one of the first squatter settlement districts
to develop in Turkey over the course of urbanization, the negative effects to
Zeytinburnu District is worth studying. This burden, together with the effects
of the 1999 Marmara earthquake, has led to a new initiative being started. After
this date the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality began a new initiative began
the development of the Istanbul Earthquake Master Plan. Within the framework of
the Istanbul Earthquake Master Plan the local Zetinburnu Municipality, the
Zeytinburnu Urban Regeneration Office, was created. From this point on, the
planning process began to develop, focusing on the earthquake threat and the
urban regeneration project. The Zeytinburnu Municipal Strategic Plan for 2006 –
2009 took transparency in decision making and implementation, and participatory
management and social cooperation in decision making as basic principles. Today
in Zeytinburnu has two urban regeneration projects The cultural valley project
would be undertaken with a view towards potential earthquake risks, and in
cooperation with other organisations and NGOs, and with the support of
universities and international experts. An international involvement has been
added to the project group by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs Social
Transformation Programme MATRA with coordination of PRC Bouwcentrum BV from
Netherlands and local coordination of Istanbul Technical University. Besides
the physical, economic and legal evaluation aspects of this project, the
creation of a win-win strategy, the founding of a cooperative local management
plan, the development of capacities, ensuring the participation of the diverse
groups affected, and making sure that all this is adequately organized, have
been taken as milestones to be handled.
Neighbourhood Unit , communication and
participation all need to be
evaluated in a training programme through this project. In the work taking
place in the urban regeneration process, and carried out by the ZEŞAT team,
milestones are expected to be set for the entire process of urban regeneration
and as such these will be a guide for future projects of this nature.