Turkey’s push for post-earthquake reconstruction puts speed over housing quality

• The Feb. 6, 2023 earthquakes destroyed hundreds of thousands of buildings, killed almost 60,000 people and left more than 1.5 million homeless.
• One year later, the region is still recovering from its most devastating disaster in recent history.
• In Turkey, the disaster exposed persistent social inequality, widespread poverty, housing shortages and other systemic problems.

Politics of post-disaster action

• For decades, the Turkish government has maintained a housing and reconstruction strategy that concentrates decision-making power in the central government and prioritizes speed and quantity over quality.
• This year, the government expanded the capacity of the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change (MEUPCC) to expropriate land.
• Prioritizing speedy construction over housing quality perpetuates social problems and increases environmental and economic costs in the long term.

Unequal access

• There are legal mechanisms in the country to conduct in-situ reconstruction and more careful urban transformation.
• However, the government keeps developing suburban areas because it is the easiest and fastest way to show that action is being taken.
• Under the law only owners of moderately or severely damaged homes can access zero-interest loans for purchasing new units.

Co-operative housing in Turkey

• At the height of their popularity in 1988, co-operatives accounted for 35 per cent of total housing production.
• After the 1999 Marmara earthquake, a group of tenants, frustrated by their exclusion from government programs, formed a housing co-operative in Düzce.

• About 30 families decided to create a similar version of the Düzce housing co-operative.
• With collaboration from the municipality, they established a co-operative construction project, Halk Konut.
• This co-op allowed earthquake-affected residents to lead both design and construction, while receiving technical and legal expertise from local authorities.
• The municipality established a new office where co-operative members could work closely with municipal employees and helped Halk Konut members in negotiations with contractors.

The way forward

• Yet, the co-op model, with its democratic, inclusive, and restorative nature, holds the potential to improve reconstruction strategies in Turkey.
• It offers an empowering tool for disaster victims based on active participation on decisions about their own future.
• It is time to place better strategies at the forefront, steering towards a future where communities actively participate in shaping cities.

• He is affiliated with i-Rec, an international network of disaster related specialists.
• He is the holder of the Fayolle-Magil Construction Research Chair of Université de Montréal.