Report from İstanbul Municipality's Planning Agency on TOKİ housing projects

The latest report in İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality's (İBB) İstanbul Planning Agency's (IPA) "Urban Agenda Series" examines Turkey's Housing Development Administration's (TOKİ) housing policies, project proposals, and rhetoric.

Within the scope of the research, supports by TOKİ regarding urban transformation and housing production, and the campaigns announced by the institution are being investigated.

Discussions focusing on urban transformation, especially earthquake preparedness, are of great importance throughout Turkey and continue to hold their place on the agenda as the country heads towards local elections.

The promises and overall performance of TOKİ and Emlak Konut GYO, established to produce social housing, deserve to be examined to shed light on the issues the country is facing today.

The "200-250 Thousand Houses Every Year: Analysis of Urban Transformation Promises" report prepared within the scope of İstanbul Planning Agency's "Urban Agenda Series" provides a detailed snapshot of TOKİ projects.

The report examines the promises and implementations of the announced campaigns.

The key findings highlighted in the report are as follows:

• According to TOKİ's official data, the total number of housing projects in İstanbul since 2002 is 98,846. Out of these projects, 60,632 have been completed, while 38,214 are still ongoing. 14,980 projects stand out as upper segment housing produced for purposes other than urban transformation. Housing prepared for the upper and middle class constitutes 80% of the completed projects.
• TOKI, despite having extensive resources, was only able to complete an average of 3,000 housing units per year in İstanbul between 2018 and 2023.
• In the last 20 years, Emlak Konut GYO has constructed over 90,000 housing units nationwide, with 69% of these units classified as luxury housing.
• Only 15.2% of the housing units produced by TOKI comprise of housing units in urban transformation and development projects.
• Through the newly announced "Social Housing Initiative," TOKI pledges to produce as many housing units in İstanbul within two years as have been produced in the last 20 years.
• Between 2019 and 2023, a total of 25,490 projects have started construction or are ongoing. However, only 10% of these projects have been completed, with 2,539 housing units handed over to their owners. TOKI has produced nine times more "TOKI victims" than the housing it has delivered.
• TOKI, through partnerships established with its subsidiaries, has operated like a private sector actor producing housing for the middle and upper classes in high-rent areas, benefiting from the advantage of public power. Between 2000 and 2019, the opening of public lands for construction has resulted in the creation of 130 high-rent projects, generating a total rent of $85 billion that only privileged companies could benefit from. This rent is four times the size needed to prepare Istanbul for an earthquake. (EMK/PE)