Urban Transformation as a tool for Disaster Mitigation Handan Türkoğlu Seda Kundak Abstract Urban transformation projects are prepared with the purpose to sanitize decayed areas, to make cities beautiful and to create economic vitality. Since natural hazards threaten large metropolitan areas, urban transformation is pronounced together to mitigate disasters. This approach of urban transformation includes land use decisions related to hazard, risk and vulnerability analysis and to enhance the implementation of building codes respecting the current standards with application of urban transformation methodologies. Ideally urban transformation methodologies include not only physical and economic improvement but also provide social improvement concerning people who live in the area. Urban transformation seems to be the government’s primary tool for disaster mitigation by guiding urban development and improving the quality of housing stock in Turkey. Municipal Law gives municipalities the power to initiate Urban Transformation projects to rehabilitate urban areas or to mitigate disaster risk. Istanbul (Turkey) which is the biggest metropolitan area and waiting a big earthquake in next 30 years will be subjected to several urban transformation projects in the near future. In the paper, the urban transformation related to disaster mitigation approach will be discussed in the case of Istanbul in terms of descriptive analysis and proposals for future development. Introduction and Background Urban transformation used to be accepted as economical vitalization of inner city. Recently social, aspect gained importance as well as economic and physical issues for the projects. The cases subject to urban transformation generally are old industrial sites and ports, historic deterioted areas in city centers, old residential areas in developed countries. In 1999 Marmara earthquake show us about %60 of building stock in Turkey is vulnarable for the eathquake. Therefore after 1999 earthquake urban transformation cases in Turkey focused on unplanned areas where is vulnarable for earthquake. In June 2010, Law No. 5998, an amendment to the Municipal Law No5393 of 2005, expanded item 73 on urban transformation projects to give municipalities the power to initiate Urban Transformation Projects to rehabilitate urban areas or to mitigate disaster risk (Yönder and Türkoğlu, 2011). Urban transformation seems to be the government’s primary tool for disaster mitigation in Turkey (Yönder, 2006). Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKI) is a key partner to municipalities in the implementation of urban transformation projects. From its establishment in 1984 to 2003, TOKI had developed 43,000 housing units on public lands. From 2003 to 2010, TOKI intensified its production, developing 430,000 units and aiming to reach 500,000 units by the end of 2013. Thus TOKI has become a key engine in development and transformation of urban areas. Despite its claims to provide affordable housing, however, TOKI’s focus has not been on low income housing, and it does not produce rental units. “Low income housing” makes up only 31 percent of the units it produced from 2003-2010; 14 percent is related to urban transformation, 1 percent is rural units, and only 3 percent was disaster housing, with the remaining 51 percent being market rate. Its strategy is to reduce housing prices by increasing the overall housing supply, and to finance affordable units through development of market rate housing (Yönder and Türkoğlu, 2011). The municipalities’ partnership with TOKI is initiated through a request by the municipality. Priority is given to the transformation of high-risk areas, and suitability of the development site (Yönder and Türkoğlu, 2011).