Istanbul housing security and urban transformation problems are increasing in relation to housing rental prices, stock, and the expected big earthquake. “Housing Problems in İstanbul Research: Current Situation and Suggestions” report of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) Planning Agency has been published. The report revealed the rental housing crisis in the city with figures. According to the research conducted with 647 İstanbul residents between 1-7 September 2021, 95 percent of the participants think that rents are high in Istanbul.
Almost half of the tenants interviewed within the scope of the research stated that they could not pay their rent or failed to pay their rent due to the pandemic conditions. Considering that approximately 30 percent of Istanbul residents live in rented houses, the extent of the rent crisis in the city becomes apparent. Although the need for shelter is one of the basic needs for everyone, the housing crisis in the city is one of the results of the wrong housing policies that have been implemented since the past. With the poverty that deepened after the pandemic period, renters can no longer pay their rent at all or delay it.
66% increase in rents
71 percent of tenants have problems with landlords about rental fees. Rents for new hires in 2021 are 66 percent more expensive than last year. The participant, who stays in rent for ₺3 thousand in Kadıköy, explains the increase in rent as follows: “The lowest rent in our neighborhood is currently ₺5 thousand 750. The place held for ₺3 thousand TL in November 2020 became ₺5 thousand 750 in September 2021.”
According to the participants, the biggest problem in the rise of housing rents is the general economic situation of the country. The report also stated that as of the end of 2020, there are approximately 6 million 400 thousand registered residences in Istanbul and approximately 4 million 400 thousand of them are inhabited. Accordingly, the number of residences without registered residence is 1 million 800 thousand.
153 thousand 240 buildings built after 2008 are uninhabited. It was stated that the urban texture created by these empty houses located at the forest areas in the north of the city, threaten thre rural areas.
“TOKI HIGH-RISE RESIDENCES DAMAGE THE NEIGHBORHOOD.”
Academician Murat Germen talked about the harms of “luxury housing projects” in the slums:
“One of the most important problems regarding housing in Istanbul is private venture housing construction. The ‘luxury’ housing projects made by contractors and construction companies to make big profits also affect the surrounding housing market and cause a rapid increase in housing prices in the areas where they are built. The luxury residences produced stand out as residential areas that appeal only to the citizens of Istanbul who are suitable for a certain income level; as a result, these residences stay uninhabited for a long time. In addition, high-rise residences built by institutions such as TOKİ, which are proposed as an alternative to shantytowns, damage the neighborhoods. This situation leads to the redesign of life in identical residences by moving the residential spaces where the streets are used. For this reason, it is recommended to restrict the construction of high-rise projects proposed for luxury housing projects and neighborhoods such as slums, and to initiate incentives for the production of lower-rise housing that is affordable and can be visually and audibly connected with the public space on the ground.”
Dense population in istanbul is on the European side
- Population density is increasing in center districts such as Üsküdar and Ümraniye.
- Both sides of the Bosphorus line have a low population density with the presence of wide open and green areas. Although there is a low population density in Sancaktepe and Sultanbeyli districts, the presence of open and green spaces is also low.
- The European side of the city has a significantly denser population distribution. The population is concentrated along the Beyoğlu, Şişli, Kağıthane, Bayrampaşa, Gaziosmanpaşa, Sultangazi and Eyüp districts.
- Çekmeköy-Sancaktepe-Sultanbeyli region, located in the north of the Anatolian Side, has low housing densities. High-rise construction is seen in the neighborhoods between Fatih-Beyoğlu-Levent-Halic and Küçükçekmece Lake on the European side and in Esenyurt.
- According to the earthquake risk analysis, in districts such as Fatih, Beyoğlu, Üsküdar, Kadıköy where the structures built before 1980 are dominant, while structures built between 1980 and 2000 are more seen in districts such as Esenyurt, Bağcılar, Arnavutköy, Kartal, Küçükçekmece, Maltepe, Pendik, Silivri, Sultanbeyli, Sultangazi, Ümraniye. In Büyükçekmece, Çatalca, Çekmeköy and Tuzla districts, buildings built after 2000 are at high rates.
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