Evaluation of the effects of the kanal İstanbul project

The Bosphorus is one of the most challenging waterways in the world, with sharp turns and a unique two-way countercurrent. The increasing volume of world trade, the increasing size and number of ships, and the risk posed by dangerous cargo transportation in the Bosphorus have led the AKP (Justice and Development Party) government to seek an alternative waterway to the Bosphorus, and concrete steps have been taken. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report prepared for Kanal İstanbul, which was announced to the public as a 'Crazy Project' in 2011, was published in December 2019. In this study, Kanal İstanbul Project was compared with artificial canal examples in the world and its urban and environmental results were evaluated in the light of Environmental Impact Assessment Report data and scientific studies conducted on the subject. Within the scope of the compiled information, SWOT analysis of Kanal İstanbul and Yenişehir Project was conducted and the opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses of the project were examined specifically in terms of environmental and urban sciences. In order to determine the changes that will occur in the urban morphology, the Zoning Development Plans of the reserve construction area were compared and interpreted with the current urban macroform using geographical information systems. The economic and legal dimensions of the project within the scope of the Montreux Straits Convention were examined. The planned mega project will ease the traffic load of the Bosphorus, but it will also cancel the Sazlıdere Dam, cause area losses in the Terkos Lake basin, and expose the groundwater to the risk of salinization. Due to the lack of resources and the dense population, new resource searches will emerge for the European side, which is fed by the Melen water system in Sakarya. With the construction of the reserve construction area, urban sprawl areas will be formed and a part of the life support systems consisting of water, forest and agricultural areas in the north of the city will be destroyed and the remaining part will remain under urbanization pressure. In addition, the settlements planned in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd stages of the reserve construction area divided into 7 stages are located in the Sazlıdere and Terkos basin drainage areas. The flood risk of the project will be addressed and the urban heat island effect will be examined. As a result, in this study, a multidisciplinary approach, primarily urban and environmental sciences, will be used to conduct a SWOT analysis of the project and evaluate its effects during construction and operation.