Evaluation in the context of the sustainable development of the growth process in the northwest direction of the Istanbul metropolitan area

Developing technology with the Industrial Revolution; It enabled the transition from manpower to machine power in production activities, and this radical transformation in production spread to the whole world in a short time and greatly affected the economic and social structure of the countries. The development of machinery has facilitated production, and the development of transportation and railway activities has facilitated the supply of raw materials. Thus, the industrial activities that started to develop rapidly in the cities provided employment for the rural people who lost their jobs and brought migration from the countryside to the city. Although Istanbul is the city most affected by this process in our country, there has been a rapid increase in the population of Istanbul after the 1950s due to migration. The inability to meet the needs arising from the rapid population growth in a planned way has developed illegal settlements in meeting the need for housing. The illegal construction process continued to spread rapidly in the city periphery with the developments in industry and transportation activities. After the 1980s, the planning process was started in Istanbul and it was aimed to ensure controlled growth. While some of the plans developed after this period were implemented, some were repealed for different reasons. One of the most important issues stated in the plans is that Istanbul should develop on an east-west axis in the south direction. Forest areas, agricultural areas and water basins in the north have been declared areas to be avoided. However, projects made with private initiatives, government support and local government decisions paved the way for the city to grow in the north. This growth has caused some environmental, social and economic effects throughout the city. The aim of this study; The aim is to evaluate the growth process in the northwest of the city in the context of sustainable development and to reveal its possible environmental, economic and social effects. During the study, the growth axes of the city were dealt with respectively in the literature review, the factors causing the beginning of the spatial growth in the northwest direction and the ongoing process were determined by the literature review and evaluated in the findings section. As a result of the evaluation, it was concluded that the growth process in the northwest direction did not progress in a balanced way between economic, social and environmental development.