Problematic processes hindering resilient and ideal urbanization in Türkiye

After the agricultural and industrial revolutions, cities around the world began to grow, and urbanization started to increase. Mechanization in agriculture led to higher unemployment in rural areas, while the development of industry created a demand for workers in cities. This situation resulted in mass migrations from rural to urban areas. Developed countries generally navigated this process by relocating their industries to developing nations or by planning and implementing urbanization strategies. However, developing countries like Turkiye have been negatively impacted by industrialization and the consequent migrations in the context of urbanization. While the squatting that began on the peripheries of industrial areas gradually led to the formation of disorganized/unplanned cities, central administrations carried out rehabilitation efforts through legal regulations to resolve property issues and stop the construction of squatter settlements in these areas. However, over time, these efforts turned into amnesties for squatter settlements. Each amnesty regulation became more comprehensive than the previous one. The process, which began with informal settlements and continued with zoning amnesties and violations of zoning laws, led to the emergence of irregular and unplanned cities. The subsequent introduction of zoning plans that aligned with property ownership transformed the process into the creation of planned but problematic cities. In cities where plans were made according to planning criteria, frequent plan changes deviated from their original purposes, resulting in problematic urban environments once again. In addition, the failure to implement post-zoning subdivision plans in accordance with the legislation has further increased urbanization problems. Due to informal settlements and construction violating zoning laws, many buildings in Turkish cities lack engineering services. The alignment of planning with property ownership, deviations from planning purposes due to changes in zoning plans, the inability to implement parceling plans, and issues in urban transportation routes have not only lowered living standards but also made cities vulnerable to disasters. Particularly after major earthquakes, the loss of life and property in these vulnerable cities underscored the necessity of urban transformation. While urban transformation should primarily be aimed at revitalizing obsolete and dilapidated urban areas, in Turkiye, it has become a necessity as a natural consequence of all these problematic processes. In other words, due to the legal regulations that started with the fight against squatting in 1948 and later turned into amnesties for squatter settlements, illegal constructions that violated zoning regulations in planned cities increased with the expectation of further amnesties. As both squatter settlements and illegal buildings that violated zoning regulations increased, cities grew in a manner that was unresilient to disasters and disorganized/unplanned. Following the major earthquakes in Turkiye, interventions to these chronic urban problems began in the 2000s with urban transformation projects. Due to the problematic urbanization processes in Turkiye, urban transformation emerged as an inevitable result for the country. This study demonstrates that urban transformation has become a necessity due to the existence of unresilient cities; it emphasizes that the main focus should be on preventing the formation of unresilient cities and achieving ideal urbanization, thereby eliminating the necessity for such transformation. One of the most fundamental problems in our country today is unplanned/irregularly developed, unresilient cities. In addition, the irregularity and lack of resilience of newly developed residential areas due to problematic processes is another major issue. The purpose of this thesis is to identify the problematic processes that hinder resilient and ideal urbanization in Turkiye. These problematic processes cause both existing and recently or future planned settlements to become irregular and unresilient. In the first part of this study, a literature review was conducted on all these problematic processes, and information was provided about the reviewed studies. The second part of the study discusses the processes of urbanization and city development. Information about the planning processes and regulations in Turkiye is provided. The third part of the study provides information about Turkiye's problematic urbanization processes. In the fourth part, legal regulations such as zoning amnesties or regulations equivalent to zoning amnesties since 1948 are discussed, and their negative effects on urbanization are presented. The fifth part evaluates the concept of urban transformation and examines the process leading to urban transformation in Turkiye. In the sixth section of the study, information about the methodology of the thesis is provided. In the seventh and eighth parts of the study, a literature review was conducted to identify the problematic processes that hinder resilient and ideal urbanization, and 22 critical variables that obstruct ideal urbanization were identified from the literature. Subsequently, a survey was prepared based on these 22 critical variables identified from the literature. The survey was conducted with experts in urbanization and city planning. A total of 160 experts participated in the survey, which was sent to 288 experts, and a dataset was created. The dataset was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha (α), descriptive statistical analyses, frequency analysis, Relative Importance Index (RII) analysis, and One-Way Anova statistical analyses. In the eighth part of the study, statistical analyses conducted after the survey revealed that the processes hindering ideal and resilient urbanization in Turkiye include the inability to conduct effective and timely inspections related to urbanization, the enactment of legal regulations such as zoning amnesties/reconciliations, the lack of planning/control of migration movements, extensive changes in spatial plans, planning according to existing structures and ownership, the scattered and complex nature of zoning regulations, and the absence of urban transformation projects. In the ninth part of the study, the problematic processes that hinder resilient and ideal urbanization in Turkiye, as revealed by the survey, are discussed in detail, and solutions are proposed to make an existing city resilient and ideal or to develop a new city resiliently and ideally. This study suggests that the following measures should be taken for a city to grow ideally or for a new city to develop ideally: - Inspections should be conducted effectively to prevent squatter settlements and construction that violates zoning regulations. - Legal regulations such as zoning amnesties should not be enacted. - Long-term plans that adhere to planning criteria should be made and followed. - Parceling plans should be created and implemented after zoning plans. - Changes to plans should not be made except in mandatory cases. - Industrial areas should be planned considering the new needs they will create in the city. - Migration movements should be controlled. - Urban transformation projects should be prioritized in unresilient cities