Municipality officials announced on Tuesday that they are planning to build Istanbul's new airport between Yeniköy and Akpınar villages in the northern part of the city. Experts from professional chambers protested the planned site, saying that the area houses the last remaining ecological sites nourishing the gigantic city.
"It will be one of world's largest airports," Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım said. "We will build the airport on the former coal mines which encompasses 90 million kilometer square of land."
While the ministry is preparing a competitive bidding for the construction, environmental impact rapports are yet to be written, experts said.
"The first master plan was different"
Experts from professional chambers contested the plan:
Çare Olgun Çalışkan (Chamber of Urban Planning): The former plan announced by Major Topbas was in a different location. It was proposed in Silivri which is in far west part of the city. This new site is in the northern part of city facing the Black Sea.
The former master plan was cancelled due to the development of Istanbul, predicting a west-east expansion of the city. It was cancelled because expansion toward northern part of Istanbul would bring risks for urban planning, environmental protection and transport investments.
With the new airport, all these risks will resurface on the new site. Because it is planning an expansion of the city towards north, with the third bosporus bridge. This will inevitably bring urbanization in the area. The former master plan argued that Istanbul's population must be stabilized to 16 million, in order to preserve its natural resources. However, the new plan is predicted to rise Istanbul's population to 20 million. Under these circumstances, a health and sustainable living may not be provided."
"The last green part of Istanbul"
Chamber of Environmental Engineers: The proposed site is on former mine fields and forests. It is still unexploited in terms of natural resources and ecological diversity which the city desperately needs for clean air. The site must be under government protection and no urbanization should be allowed.
The project will negatively affect the ecosystems in the area, causing damages in the biological diversity. It may only affect the water resources we know and we may discover in the future. It will harm the natural habitant of endemic birds in Istanbul. It will definitely affect the air quality of the city.
"The commute will even be harsher"
Murat Ergün (Professor of Urban Engineering at İstanbul Technical University): Yes, we need a third airport in Istanbul because the other two can no longer provide the rising demand. However, no other country ever build an airport in the middle of forests and water resources. Airports should be built in the peripheries of the city where it will not affect environment. Why didn't they find another location for the airport? This airport will damage forests and water resources. And you can't thwart the urbanization in the site. The air traffic will alleviate but the land commute will even be harsher." (NV)
