Impelled by the threat of a major earthquake and aging housing infrastructure, Istanbul has effectively become a sprawling, open-air construction zone where nearly 10,000 unsafe buildings are demolished and rebuilt every year.
According to government figures and urban planning estimates, the Turkish metropolis accounts for roughly half of all urban renewal demolitions that are taking place across Türkiye. Nationwide, an estimated 20,000 high-risk buildings are torn down annually under an urban overhaul initiative launched in 2012.
The stakes are particularly critical in Istanbul, a sprawling city of more than 15 million people that sits near major fault lines. Local authorities estimate that out of roughly 1.5 million at-risk housing units in the city, around 600,000 are in such severe condition that they face immediate risk of collapse in the event of a powerful seismic event.
To accelerate the transition away from unsafe structures, property owners are rushing to take advantage of government subsidy programs before upcoming deadlines. The flagship “Yarısı Bizden” (’Half from Us’) campaign provides property owners with direct grants of up to 875,000 Turkish liras, alongside 125,000 liras in relocation assistance and access to long-term, low-interest loans to cover remaining construction costs.
The financial assistance has triggered a surge in resident applications, leading to simultaneous construction and demolition projects across virtually every district in the city. Streets across Istanbul are routinely lined with heavy machinery, concrete mixers and scaffolding as older five- to eight-story apartment blocks are dismantled to make way for modern, earthquake-resistant structures.
Since Türkiye enacted its urban transformation law in 2012 following a series of devastating regional quakes, more than 2.7 million independent housing and commercial units have entered the renewal pipeline nationwide. Of those, nearly 1.3 million are located in Istanbul alone, with roughly 1 million completed and hundreds of thousands more currently under construction.
However, the rapid pace of demolition has caused daily disruptions, noise and dust for urban dwellers, as officials emphasize the need to take precautions to minimize the disturbance.
Hakan Şişik, president of the Anatolian Side Construction Contractors Association (AYİDER), points out that demolition is an extremely risky phase in a densely populated city like Istanbul.
“Demolishing a building in a few minutes may be a technological achievement; however, the real success is being able to demolish it without harming people, the environment, or nature,” he said.
“For this reason, our priority in demolition processes should not be speed or cost but human health, environmental safety and sustainability.”
