TACKLING TURKEY'S PROBLEMATIC SQUATTER HOUSING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 006580 SIPDIS TREASURY FOR JONATHAN ROSE SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID SOCI PHUM PGOV ECON TU SUBJECT: TACKLING TURKEY'S PROBLEMATIC SQUATTER HOUSING ANKARA 00006580 001.2 OF 004 This Cable has been coordinated with Consulates Istanbul and Adana. ¶1. (U) Summary: For decades squatter settlements have marred Turkey's urban landscapes in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Adana. Prior attempts to solve the issue lacked the creativity and political will to stem the tide of illegal constructions. As Turkey looks to integrate further into the global economy as it pursues EU membership, the GOT has begun to explore different approaches to tackle this longstanding problem. No longer immune from political attack, squatters--long viewed as a reliable source of votes--are now seen as an impediment to economic and political development. PM Erdogan and other local government officials express growing concern over and intolerance for illegal housing developments. Most recently, Turkey's Mass Housing Authority (TOKI) has turned to large-scale "urban transformation" projects in coordination with local municipalities to solve the squatter problem. Critics have voiced skepticism, however, as to the efficacy of such projects, highlighting the lack of transparency, the failure to coordinate or consult with a cross-section of urban planning experts, and the failure to consider social factors unique to squatter communities in the projects' designs. End summary. -------------- ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF SQUATTER HOUSING -------------- ¶2. (U) Major squatter settlements began to emerge in Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir in the late 1940s during the first significant rural-to-urban migration waves in Turkey. Lacking in low-income housing, city centers were ill-equipped to absorb the large influx of unskilled and highly mobile migrants. Through the illegal construction of shanty structures known as "gecekondu" on public or private land, migrants created sprawling squatter communities in city centers or oftentimes in undesirable marginal locations such as along steep slopes or in river beds. (Comment: "Gecekondu" refers to illegally constructed housing in general but literally means "built overnight") Typical early squatter settlements consisted of one or two-story houses with gardens or courtyards. Ankara's most visible squatter settlements surfaced on the hillsides along the Esenboga airport road where miles of shantytowns created a negative impression for first-time visitors to the city. In the last twenty years, the Southeastern city of Adana has also witnessed an upsurge in squatter dwellings. ¶3. (U) The private sector and local governments initially tolerated migrants' illegal squatting, in part, because they were a crucial source of cheap labor during the industrialization process and also served as a reliable source of votes for local politicians. While some established squatter settlements gradually received services and infrastructure, including roads and bus transportation, city water and electricity, the issue of legal title remained unresolved. The government enacted a series of amnesty laws legalizing existing squatter settlements during the 1960s and 1970s. The 1980s, however, ushered in a new approach to the cities' increasing housing dilemma. -------------- DAWN OF URBAN TRANSFORMATION -------------- ¶4. (U) Although no statistics exist regarding the percentage of squatters in major cities, local experts estimate seventy percent of all housing in the metropolitan areas of western Turkey is on plots that were originally squatted, many of which are still unrecorded and therefore untaxed. The UN's 2004 Human Settlements report for Turkey notes that of the estimated total urban population of 37.8 million (60.9% of the total population) in 1995, nearly a quarter still resided in squatter-type settlements. ¶5. (U) In the 1980s, not only did new laws legalize existing squatter areas, they provided development rights to owners or users of the land, and gave ownership of occupied state land to local governments to legalize and modernize existing squatter settlements through designated improvement plans. Former peripheral squatter settlements also grew more valuable as middle-class apartment blocks were erected alongside them, and single-story shanties eventually gave way to "apartment block gecekondus." Former squatters became owners of these new apartment blocks as a result of amnesty laws, and a new class of poorer squatter tenants from rural areas emerged. Although physical improvements to shanty structures were achieved ANKARA 00006580 002.2 OF 004 during this period, city planning bypassed most of these areas altogether. ¶6. (U) In 1986, the Ankara Greater City Municipality (AGCM) established a planning bureau as a joint stock company whose aim was to create modern urban environments and improve existing urban areas. The shareholders of the company were AGCM and its eight district municipalities. The Dikmen Valley Project, centrally located in a predominantly middle-to-upper income district of Ankara, became the bureau's most significant undertaking and the first "urban transformation" project in Ankara. The project's success is an open subject of debate among experts in the field of urban planning. Supporters argue Dikmen transformed a once depressed squatter area of the city, while detractors criticize the failure to consider the lifestyle and economic needs of squatters in the community's high-rise design. -------------- LEGAL REFORM AND CHANGING ATTITUDES -------------- ¶7. (U) After decades of courtship, providing services and infrastructure to shanty areas in exchange for votes, politicians have begun to perceive squatters as obstacles to progress and public safety rather than merely as a reliable source of votes. Public statements critical of squatters would have been unthinkable from Turkish politicians five years ago, but times have changed as evidenced by an April 2006 speech in which PM Erdogan boldly criticized squatters and advocated for the elimination of "ghettos" that he likened to "tumors surrounding our cities." Acknowledging that the politicians who permitted lands to be occupied for squatter housing were no longer in parliament, he declared an end to political support for illegal land grabs and expressed a firm commitment to razing squatter housing throughout Turkey. ¶8. (SBU) As land prices increase and as more urban residents opt for peripheral suburban housing, tackling the problem of illegal housing settlements grows more urgent. Banks currently give out housing loans as consumer credits, and with steep interest rates, few low-to-middle income Turks can afford to purchase property. Legalization of squatter settlements has enriched migrants who illegally occupied government lands. Murat Dogru, head of Ankara municipality's projects department, estimated that over the past twenty years municipalities had essentially gifted millions of dollars in land to squatters in addition to millions spent on servicing illegal settlements. Dogru strongly opposes legalization which he believes penalizes law-abiding citizens and unfairly enriches migrants by redistributing a government resource belonging to everyone to just a few. ¶9. (U) Although charged in 1966 with eradicating squatter housing, the Ministry of Public Works' (MPW) authority was limited to upgrading existing housing stock and clearing uninhabitable settlement areas. In 2000, the MPW's squatter housing fund assets were transferred to Turkey's Mass Housing Authority (TOKI). Observers criticize this separation of implementation authority and funding as dramatic inefficiencies for housing transformation projects. A new draft amendment to the Squatter Housing Law transfers all development and implementing authority to TOKI, allowing it to undertake new development projects or to transfer them to local municipalities. The largest of the sixteen greater municipalities--Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir--are located in earthquake zones. A second pending draft law, if approved, would increase municipalities' authority to raze squatter housing in earthquake regions, particularly in Istanbul where illegal constructions are on the rise. The proposed law would also grant tax exemptions for five years to companies that partner with municipalities to undertake housing transformation projects in these areas. -------------- LATEST URBAN TRANSFORMATION/RENEWAL EFFORTS -------------- ¶10. (U) A strong supporter of Turkey's EU candidacy, and mindful that EU visitors' first glimpse of Ankara would be marred by unsightly squatter settlements dotting the landscape from the airport into the city centre, Ankara's mayor, Melih Gokcek, called the airport road the "gate to our republic" and selected the site for urban transformation. The Turkish parliament passed the North Ankara Entrance Urban Transformation Law in March 2004 authorizing ANKARA 00006580 003.2 OF 004 various agencies to undertake large-scale urban renewal projects and prohibiting local municipalities from providing services to squatter settlements. The North Ankara City Entrance Project (NACEP), involving 3,600,000 square meters of land and affecting 6,500 squatters, became the main impetus for passage of the new law. When completed, NACEP will boast 18,000 new housing units in Ankara. ¶11. (U) Ankara officials insist that all 6,500 squatters signed onto the project which required razing of their current homes and relocation to temporary housing for several years. The municipality is providing interim government housing to several hundred families and a monthly rental allowance to the remaining ones until their new apartment units are completed. Former squatters will pay the difference between the value of their old land and/or housing structures and the newly constructed apartments. In addition to a ten percent down pament to the municipality, they will make 110 mnthly installment payments for the remaining prce difference. Ankara officials estimate former squatters will owe approximately forty-five thousand Turkish lira (approximately 32,000 USD) to the municipality for a 100 square meter apartment. Murat Dogru, Ankara Municipality's head project planner, estimates 500 million in additional income from NACEP through the sale of additional apartment units. In addition to residences, the project will include convention and health centers, educational, cultural and recreational facilities, mosques, ponds, and commercial and shopping centers. ¶12. (U) In an effort to combat its growing squatter housing problem, Adana hatched a project called "Model Adana," which envisions the construction of 100,000 annual units for squatter residents to be purchased at $7,000 each. Estimated building costs of $700,000,000 are expected to be financed through the GOT's annual Southeast development expenditures for Adana. To date, no units have been constructed under this plan. TOKI and the Adana municipality, however, have recently partnered to undertake privately financed urban transformation projects. Although TOKI currently has seventeen projects underway in Adana-- an estimated 7,900 units--only two of the projects, totaling 800 units, are near completion. -------------- CRITICS WEIGH IN -------------- ¶13. (U) Critics of urban transformation projects like NACEP argue that construction of luxurious apartment buildings in former squatter areas perpetuate rather than solve existing housing problems. They argue such projects fail to consider the socio-economic level of the squatters who oftentimes cannot afford to shop at the supermarkets and commercial centers surrounding their new apartment buildings. Squatters frequently cannot adjust, for example, to upscale apartment living and simply sell their units and illegally squat in other areas of the city. Instead of treating squatters as homogeneous populations, they emphasize local governments should develop projects consistent with squatters' cultural and socio-economic backgrounds and follow a more case-by-case basis approach. Squatters' communal lifestyle provides for socialization and networking opportunities, and many critics warn the elimination of "gecekondu communities" will destroy this collective character ultimately leading to increased crime and social exclusion, especially among the youth. Critics predict that without steady or formal employment, former squatters will be unable to meet the terms of the municipalities' monthly repayment plans and many will be forced to sign over rights to their apartment units. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶14. (SBU) TOKI President Erdogan Bayraktar calls squatter housing Turkey's "third biggest problem after foreign debt and terrorism." With twenty different urban transformation projects potentially affecting 75,000 squatters currently in the works, the magnitude of the housing problem cannot be overstated. Although the issue is squarely on the radar screen of many local government officials and academics, the efficacy of large-scale projects such as Dikmen Valley and NACEP to address the burgeoning squatter problem remains to be seen. Turkish academics who have researched squatter issues for decades express concern over increasing crime and drug abuse among the youth of squatter settlements, and they are skeptical that massive urban renewal projects will ameliorate these problems. ANKARA 00006580 004.2 OF 004 ¶15. (SBU) Local urban planning experts in Ankara voiced dismay and disgust over the Ankara Greater City Municipality's unwillingness to include a spectrum of collaborators in their efforts to address the squatter housing problem. Turkish officials charged with planning and executing large-scale urban renewal projects could certainly benefit from collaboration with and input from Turkish and US urban planning experts. The perception on the ground is that the lack of transparency in all phases of urban transformation projects--at least in Ankara--has the potential to lead to cronyism among AK party-dominated municipalities doling out construction to party-affiliated firms. With millions of dollars at stake in the form of construction contracts and revenues from apartment sales, dividing the economic spoils of such projects appears to take precedence over tackling the root causes of the squatter phenomenon in Turkey. Although the GOT's renewed focus on the decades-old housing problem is encouraging, the price for failing to adequately address the underlying causes for it will be steep. WILSON#