Controversial plan for Esenyurt, the busiest district of Istanbul

In the March sessions of the IMM Assembly, the amendment “TEM South 1st Stage 1/5000 Scale Master Zoning Plan” of Esenyurt, which is the most dense district of Istanbul in terms of population and structure, entered the agenda.

Esenyurt Mayor Kemal Deniz Bozkurt said that the main issue has not been resolved and the 92,000-square-meter plot, which was found out to belong to Makyol, has not been resolved, to the plan, which covers 80 percent of Esenyurt, where the security of the Istanbul building, which is waiting for the earthquake, is the most discussed. He also objected that it was added to the plan as a privilege and a new zoning rent was created.

Explaining the situation of the district when speaking at the parliamentary session, Bozkurt said: “Esenyurt is the most populous district in Turkey, with 1 million registered citizens. It is a city where 200-300 thousand unregistered citizens and mostly foreigners live.

There are also areas of vacant housing where approximately 100,000 people will live. In other words, it is a district where a total of 1.5 million people can reside. It has a lot of unique issues,” he said.

Currently there is a market type shopping center on the plot of 92 thousand square meters. With the plan, 15-story residential blocks can be erected on most of the land.

‘PROBLEM WAS NOT SOLVED, AN INFLUENCED PARK IS ADDED’

Explaining the history of the plan change on the agenda, Bozkurt said that since 2014, the plan has been constantly canceled as a result of lawsuits filed by a citizen due to the seizure of his land in a green area. He stated that he wanted to solve the problem of the plot, which has been the reason for cancellation for years, while the work of the new plan was carried out in 2020, and make a plan that will not be canceled again.

Emphasizing that the plan to make Esenyurt an earthquake-resistant city has been waiting for 2 years, Bozkurt said, “Although I warned everyone, the problem on the plot that would cause the cancellation of the zoning plan was not fixed. That parcel was excluded from the zoning plan.

An irrelevant parcel was included in the plan, posing as a court order for an unrelated reason. This plot was given a zoning increase and a change of function was brought in.”

‘BELONGS TO A COMPANY THAT IS FREQUENTLY MENTIONED BY THE NAME OF KILIÇDAROĞLU’

Bozkurt pointed out that the plot included in the plan belongs to a company whose name is frequently mentioned by CHP president Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

Explaining that a prestigious housing project is planned to be built that will bring a new population of 8 to 9 thousand people to the company’s land, Bozkurt said: “Esenyurt doesn’t even have the capacity to buy an additional person. I no longer have green space, nor school space. The children study in classes of 70. I am not a mayor who wants density, income by zoning. I ask the members of the commission, the members of the council to consider this issue again and again. We demolished all the buildings damaged in the 1999 earthquake in the district. “I need this plan so I can do more.”

‘DO NOT CREATE A PERCEPTION THROUGH A PART’

Public Works and Zoning Commission Chairman Adnan Zeki Bostancı, an AKP member of parliament, stated that the plot in question was added to the plan because there was a court decision and the company that owned the land was not related to the issue. . and he said: “That plot was given its function in the 2013 plan. We increased the cut, so there was no increase in square meters. This was the proposal of the Urban Planning Department of the IMM. We added a mosque to that offer. No one should try to create a perception about a package. If you object to the plan on hold, your applications will be reviewed there.

‘ESENYURT IS NOT IN A CONDITION TO CARRY A SINGLE PERSON’

Bozkurt also explained that the size of the company’s land is 92,000 square meters, of which 25 percent is reserved for commerce and the remaining 70,000 square meters for residences, adding: “The precedent has been increased to 2. In other words, the construction area increases to 140 thousand square meters. There are about 2,000 floors. Esenyurt is not in a position to take even a single person. There are many things that I would object to in the plan, but since the reality of the earthquake has penetrated our house, I am not calling for Esenyurt to carry out its urban transformation”.

He added that the court decision mentioned by the commission’s chairman was also approved by the Council of State as invalid in terms of procedure. The mutual discussion continued for a while.

HEIGHT 15 FLOOR

The CHP group made a contrary proposal, demanding that the company parcel, which brought new density to the district and was added later, be removed from the plan and put to a vote.

In the proposal, the declaration “337 block 1 parcel was required to be organized partly as a park, partly as a health, partly as a prayer area, partly as a commercial + residential area, and the precedent is 2, the height is 15 stories”. This offer was rejected.

Esenyurt’s plan was accepted with the votes of the AKP-MHP group between the discussions.