SUMMARY OF IFC-ISTANBUL INFRASTRUCTURE ANALYSIS REPORT

INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE

INTRODUCTION
Duties of the Infrastructure Committee are defined as living standards, security and
transport means shall be provided to meet the infrastructure needs of financial
organizations by the 16th priority of the Strategy and Action Plan for Istanbul International
Financial Center which is published in the official gazette (nr. 27364) on Feb 2, 2009. This
priority (priority 16) specifically indicates
(56) IFC-Istanbul Project will not concentrate on a specific site. In fact, all works across
Istanbul for upgrading living areas, security and transport means, and qualities and
standards of technology shall support the IFC-Istanbul Project as well.
(57) Building technologies that would minimize earthquake and safety risks shall be employed
in areas where financial organizations will concentrate and employees will reside for the
creation of necessary office spaces and housings; real estates investments incorporating new
technologies shall be made to improve quality of living in the city.
(58) Within a transport master plan of at least five years, domestic and international
connections to Istanbul shall be structured to provide effective and speedy transportation,
urban transport projects (air, sea, land, rail systems) shall be completed; and particularly the
airports and urban centers shall be integrated through various transport systems.
(59) Works shall be carried out in Istanbul to improve and develop health, education,
recreation, accommodation and hospitality facilities to serve foreigners.
According to these duties the Infrastructure Committee established 5 different research groups
Transportation, Energy and ICT; Clustering, Office, Housing, Tourism and Convention;
Natural Disasters and Security; and Education and Health. Research done by all these groups
are brought together by the Istanbul International Financial Center Project Office to form a
holistic analysis report and to share the outcomes with State Planning Organization (SPO) (the
IFC-Istanbul Coordinator), Infrastructure Committee and other committees that work for IFCIstanbul. Thus, the existing situation, development trends and planned investments as well as

the required actions to be taken by the Infrastructure Committee, Istanbul Metropolitan

Municipality and other related institutions are defined by this analysis report and by the 2011
action plan.
Infrastructure Committee held a series of search conferences within the scope of IFC-Istanbul:
Clustering, Office and Housing in February 07, 2011, Transportation, Energy and Natural
Disasters in February 14, 2011, Education and Health in February 17, 2011 and Tourism
and Security in February 21, 2011. Search conferences were held on 10 different topics for
four days. The aim of the search conferences was to evaluate strong and weak aspects of IFCIstanbul, determining the problem areas that are in the realm of responsibility of IFC-Istanbul
Infrastructure Committee, which can constitute alternative to the outstanding areas in the
structure of IFC-Istanbul. Additionally, the search conference series also aimed to make the
actors and professionals to discuss and bring the action proposals stated in the IFC
Infrastructure Committee Action plan to maturity. In this context, the Analysis Report and
2011 Action Plan have been evaluated and revised according to the outcome of the Search
Conference Series.

FINANCIAL CLUSTERS
Financial sector, although being spread all around the city, is highly concentrated on iliMecidiyeky-Bykdere-Maslak Axis on the European side; and in central Kadky as well
as in Kozyata, Altunizade and Kavack on the Asian side. However, the unbalanced
distribution of financial industries is creating problems at the macro scale. The biggest
challenge at macro scale planning process has been the spatial concentration of commercial
and service industries mostly in a single center (ili -Bykdere-Maslak axis) on the
European side. Therefore, without developing strong attraction centers on the Asian side and
without a shift from a monocentric to polycentric urban form, it is not possible to solve the
problems created by such concentrations and increase the living standards in the city. Hence,
the Istanbul Master Plan (evre Dzeni Plan DP) proposing a linear east-west polycentric
urban form development aims to create a balance in the distribution of population and
employment between the continents of the city. For this purpose, to support the central
business district (Eminn-Beyolu, ili-Mecidiyeky-Levent: Bykdere Axis); Kartal and
Kozyata-Ataehir on the Asian side; Yenibosna axis and Silivri on the European side are
proposed as the attraction centers where high-end commercial-service-financial industries will
locate.

A polycentric urban form is also in line with the objective of IFC-Istanbul Istanbul as an
international financial center not being concentrated on a specific site. Considering the status
quo, development trends and the Istanbul Master Plan,

Levent-Maslak Axis, Yenibosna

Axis, Topkap-Maltepe-Bayrampaa District (as the CBD integration district), mraniye

(Ataehir Financial District Project Site) and Kartal are standing out as potential cluster
locations for IFC-Istanbul. Within this context, proposals can be summarized as

Taking opinions from professionals to evaluate alternative cluster locations

Providing the means of efficient cooperation among actors and shareholders to

integrate and coordinate the potential cluster locations of IFC-Istanbul

Producing strategies and policies for Istanbuls infrastructure by researching leading

global and regional financial centers and learning from their experiences

Developing infrastructure for innovation and supporting University-Business

partnerships by providing an effective legal framework for technology parks

Additional proposals addressing the integration of IFC-Istanbul and the urban infrastructure
that came up during the search conference are

Providing efficient, fast, secure, and affordable transportation and communication,

Evaluating the urban macro form and urban centers with an integrated planning
approach

Protecting natural sites of urban structure such as forests, water basins and cultivated
areas

Solving the insufficiency problem of quality of life

Integrating the financial center vision to the cultural and touristic image of Istanbul

Removing insufficiencies of coordination among public institutions

OFFICE
Office spaces are evaluated according to their locations within the Central Business District
(CBD) and outside the CBD; and physical building characteristics Grades A, B, C. Office
spaces within the CBD are mostly categorized as Grade A and Grade B office buildings.

Total office stock in Istanbul is 2,877,025m2 of which 67% are located on the European side
and 32% on the Asian side as of 2009. Office stock is highly concentrated in Levent-Maslak
(30%) which is followed by Atatrk Airport (18%), mraniye (10%) and Kozyata (10%).
Office stocks in leading financial centers, on the other hand, are 19.7 million m2 in London;
6.9 million m2 in Singapore; and 3.8 million m2 in Manhattan New York as of 2009.
Vacancy rates for Grade A and Grade B office buildings within the CBD are 11.5% and
12.6% relatively as of 2010 third quarter. Demand growing at a faster pace than the supply
resulted in an increase in occupancy cost. Again in the third quarter of 2010, the average rent
for Grade A office buildings within the CBD was $27.2 per m2 per month whereas it was
$16.6 per m2 per month for Grade B office buildings within the CBD. Levent with the lowest
vacancy rate has been the leading district in occupancy cost with $36.3 per m2 per month.
Although office rents -compared to other major cities- are relatively low in Istanbul, supply
needs to catch up with demand to preserve the advantage of low occupancy cost.
According to European Cities Monitor 2010 by Cushman & Wakefield Global Real Estate
Solutions, Istanbul ranks 26th among European- and 33rd among world cities in terms of
business location. However, Istanbul, being the third biggest office market in Europe and in
the Middle East following Moscow and Warsaw, has yet to develop its Grade A office
building spaces.

Insufficient supply of Grade A office buildings together with traffic

problems at the CBD results in both local and international businesses to flee from the
traditional center to the newly developing business centers since 2005. For these reasons
insufficient supply and traffic problems and due to scarcity of space, high cost and
earthquake risks, Grade A office building investments occur in Yenibosna, ili-Kathane,
Taksim-Hali and Bayrampaa on the European side; and in mraniye, Kavack, Altunizade,
Kozyata, Kartal and Pendik on the Asian side. Thus, proposals regarding the office
development in Istanbul are;

Analyzing the problems of existing and potential clusters and designing regulations to
eliminate problems and to provide business friendly environment

Preparing a master plan that will address the infrastructure problems and the
development of high quality Grade A and A+ office spaces and applying that master
plan as soon as possible to meet the demand that will increase by becoming an
international financial center

Solving the infrastructure problems (transport, car parking, energy, natural disasters
risk management, information and communication technologies etc.) of potential
clusters that will support the financial center

Redevelopment of old office buildings within the CBD that are not categorized as
Grade A or Grade B office buildings

Developing research and technology districts or special centers at the periphery of

the city by considering the banking institutions demand of a single center with
developed infrastructure and where services are provided as a whole for that special
district. These districts will produce their own energy and means of stimulus.

Developing high standards of living in the socio-physical environment around such

districts to prevent any discomfort for employees who will work in those places

Suggestions regarding the office infrastructure in addition to office development proposals of

the Analysis Report that came up during the search conference are

Stimulating the construction of green buildings and determining national standards

since these are some of the pre-requisites of international financial institutions.

Providing legislative privileges (abiding by international construction standards) to

support the construction of symbolic buildings and landmarks.

HOUSING
The most important problems in housing sector in Istanbul are natural disaster risks emerging
due to the misuse of natural environment, being unprepared towards such disasters and
insufficient supply of housing as well as inefficient infrastructure in residential districts. Thus,
the basic factors that need to be evaluated are population control and rehabilitation of existing
housing stock most of which are not disaster safe. On the other hand, factors such as facilities
for socio-cultural and religious activities, urban administration, education and health that
determine the standards of quality of life are not meeting the standards.
Projections foresee that the population increase due to IFC-Istanbul and increasing financial
sector activities will not have a big effect on the general population increase. That is,
population change due to IFC-Istanbul will not have much effect on the macro scale.
Therefore, at a micro scale, providing quality housing integrated to working spaces with
efficient infrastructure oriented towards the population attracted by IFC-Istanbul will be an

adequate action. On the other hand, actions towards eliminating the core problems mentioned
before will not only create a more attractive urban environment for that population but also
increase the living standards for the local population. Thus, proposals to address these
problems and for IFC-Istanbul are

Developing Grade A and B housing integrated to working spaces around IFC potential
clusters

Focusing on redevelopment projects within and around the CBD and on the
construction of new quality housing outside the CBD to address the needs of IFC
attracted population

Planning quality housing with basic socio-cultural and urban facilities, especially
around the periphery where data-center alike back up services will locate

Designing regulations that ensure urban development and redevelopment integrates

with social, cultural and economic development.

Ensuring the conservation principles for landscape and the silhouette of the city as
well as balancing conservation and use during the (re)development process; and
providing the means for active conservation while eliminating the urban development
pressure on such conservation sites and buildings

Taking urban facilities into account during the housing redevelopment process

Following the standards stated at the zoning legislation during the planning of urban
facilities

Taking measures to integrate mass housing with its surrounding urban environment
while increasing the quality of urban environment and taking environmental aesthetics
into account

Creating pedestrian and cyclist friendly streets

Modifying and designing car parking spaces according to world standards

The most important problems that are mentioned during the search conference were lack of
quality housing, poor connection between housing and working districts, inadequate
population growth control, lack of natural disaster-proof building stock, high housing rental
and sales prices, and lack of urban social facilities.

Additionally, it is stated that due to the sufficient stock of grade A and A+ housing, there is a
need to invest in quality housing stock by building new quality housing and by rehabilitating
the existing stock rather than investing more on luxury housing. Moreover, it is mentioned
that special attention shall be paid to the construction of disaster-proof buildings during urban
redevelopment. Besides, rather than constructing new housing to eliminate the problem of
poor connection between housing and working districts, it was emphasized that it would be
better to enhance public transport.

TRANSPORT
Analyses show that the main transportation problems in Istanbul are increasing numbers of
vehicles and trips; negative effects of land transport the basic transportation mode in the
city on the natural and urban environment; and inefficient traffic/road safety measures.
Although a considerable amount of trips in Istanbul consist of public transport, traffic on the
roads is largely dominated by private vehicles. Located along the water, share of sea transport
in Istanbul is quite low (2,5% of all trips). On the other hand, investments on rail tracks aim to
increase the 150 km track length to 624 km by 2023. This will result in Istanbul to compete
with global cities like Hong Kong (262km) and Singapore (101km). However, even with that
kind of vast investment Istanbul will not be any closer to Paris (1,705km), London (1,633km)
or New York (971km). Considering the air transport, Istanbul is at a strategic location within
the region and has two airports sharing the high volume. However, compared to major global
financial centers the city is quite behind (17.8 million passengers annually) Hong Kong (37.2
million passengers annually), Singapore (29.9 million passengers annually) and New York
(27 million passengers annually). Considering IFM-Istanbul will increase the international
passenger volume, plans should address to meet the standards to serve a higher volume of
passengers. Proposals for an efficient and sustainable transportation network are as follow

Putting priority to the existing transportation investment plans to meet the increasing
demand

Updating the statistical data through in situ questionnaires

Working on traffic management to make the centers more easily accessible in the short
run

Designing transfer centers in the short run to decrease transfer times among public
transport modes and for efficient integration among the modes

Planning Park & Ride spaces to support public transport use and decrease private
vehicle use and to eliminate traffic jam

Developing car parking charge policies i.e. higher charges in the centers to prevent
parking for long hours.

Developing policies such as congestion charge (that of London) to decrease the

private vehicle use after having developed an efficient public transport network.

The proposals of the search conference are summarized below

Resolving immigration problem in Istanbul through regional development projects

coordinated by the central government

Determining performance criteria in transportation and integrating these criteria into

the legislation

Building ring railways in Istanbul to decrease travel time as in the example of similar
cities

Preparing airport master plans -that shall include all transport modes- to enable easy
access to the city from the airports.

Expanding Ataturk Airport by adding the military airport ground to it and

implementing the Silivri Airport project proposal of the Istanbul Master Plan.

Examining leading global cities in rail transport in terms of investment and

management models as well as public private partnership models.

Surveying finance models intended at using the unearned income of urban

development rights such as transferring of development rights in order to enable
development in public transport

Establishing a Transport Management Committee that works as the chief organization

and coordinates the relevant transport institutions in Istanbul.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

Turkey ranks 69th among 139 countries in terms of network readiness according to the IT
report by WEF. On the other hand, it ranked 57th among 159 countries at the ICT
Development Index, IDI by ITU in 2008. 2010 third quarter data shows that the size of the
telecommunication sector has been around $24 billion -$18 billion in services and $6 billion
in software and hardware. Moreover, 10% of increase -$26.6 billion- is expected in 2011.
Needs of financial sector in terms of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can
be summarized as

Fast, uninterrupted, safe and affordable broadband access

Widespread use of mobile and electronic signature services

Digital data archives

Secure disaster recovery systems

2010-2012 Strategic Plan by Information and Communication Technologies Authority

(ICTA) has three main goals that support the macro scale objective creation of an
information society

e-transform of public authorities/institutions

Widespread use of electronic communication over broadband

Efficient information security

In addition to ICTA strategies, issues that need to be evaluated are

Making the market work

Open access

Entry of private sector into the market

Public investment in passive infrastructure

Multiuse of infrastructure

Rural strategy

Demand stimulation

The additional suggestion to the ones stated in the IFC-Istanbul Analysis Report during the
Search Conference Building the Right Models for Energy Infrastructure which has not

been directed towards the IT infrastructure was to analyze the status quo and to predict the
future demand while researching the alternative (cable/wireless) capacity sufficiency.

ENERGY
Efficient supply of energy, high quality and uninterrupted service and security are necessary
for financial sector to work smoothly. However, electricity cut programs -to meet the
increasing demand- are still in use in Turkey. Annual increase in electricity use in Turkey is
6-7% while it is 2-3% in developed nations. Turkeys Electrical Power System working on the
interconnection to the European Synchronous Area (CESA) of European Network of
Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) since 2010, on the other hand, is a
positive development towards supplying quality and safe electricity. After the one-year trial
period is over, the connection will be secured and Turkey too will become an ENTSO-E
member. This will not only improve the quality and safety of the services but also make it
possible to enter the European market and provide the means for electricity commerce among
those nations.
On the other hand, electricity infrastructure in Istanbul is mostly depreciated. Although the
infrastructure built with the technology 50-60 years ago needs to be replaced completely,
subsidizes for such infrastructure are few and enough only for micro scale rehabilitations.
Furthermore, the objectives in investment plans and programs cannot be achieved due to the
limited subsidizes and unsynchronized activities of transmission and distribution companies.
Thus, the lack of investment needed results in heavy load on the system which in turn creates
fluctuations in voltage and defects in the system. The uncoordinated distribution of
downloading and uploading transformer stations is another reason of voltage fluctuations.
Another important problem is power theft and losses in the system. Hence, consumers do not
get quality electricity.
The natural gas network in Istanbul -which plays an important role in improving the air
quality- is well developed with massive investments and is about to finish the development
process.
New standards (TS 825) are developed to improve the building quality and to construct
environmentally friendly buildings. Moreover, buildings -especially the ones requiring large
land- that prefer to go green are increasing in numbers in recent years. This is supported by

laws and regulations. On the other hand, Ministry of Public Works is working on adapting the
LEED certificate in Turkey. However, green buildings in Istanbul are very few.
Following these analyses, proposals for IFM-Istanbul are

Evaluating the problems of high, medium and low voltages separately and regionally
and designate the priorities accordingly

Developing coordination and coalition among public institutions regarding the

transformer stations

Preparing a master plan for electricity infrastructure

Working on urban beautification to eliminate wire pollution and for a better lightening
in the city

Working on eliminating climate change and its effects on the city for sustainable urban
life while working on energy efficiency issues

Fighting efficiently against power theft and energy loss

Revising the LEED certificate via the Ministry of Public Works and applying that
regulation as soon as possible while raising awareness among investors about this
issue

Raising awareness towards energy efficiency and environmental sustainability among

the public

Suggestions from the Search Conference are:

Building models for financing double source and geographical extension

Improving energy efficiency culture

Ensuring effective communication among infrastructure intuitions for infrastructure

excavation efficiency.

Assessing the current situation by collecting detailed data; determining energy

consumption by sectors and making realistic projections.

Public/government institutions serving as models shall employ energy efficiency

measures and lead the way for others.

Establishing independent energy agencies

Building the infrastructure for electric and hybrid cars

Adopting the smart grid infrastructure and developing policies for this transition.

Improving waste management and recycling operations

TOURISM AND ACCOMMODATION

Istanbul had 7,509,741 visitors in 2009. Paris, at the same year had a visitor population 4
times higher than Istanbul while London had 2.4 times higher than Istanbul. However,
average time spent in Istanbul decreased from 4 days (in 1990s) to 2.3 days (2008) which
implies that Istanbul functions more like a transfer location rather than as a final destination.
Major visitor destinations in Istanbul are concentrated on the European side in Fatih
(Eminn), Beyolu, ili and the Bosporus. Fatih (Eminn) stands out with sightseeing and
cultural facilities whereas Beyolu stands out for its restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs. The
international culture-art activities, concerts given by world wide known musicians as well as
professional theater, opera and ballet performances have been increasing the popularity of
Istanbul internationally in recent years.
Istanbul is one of the worlds most successful cities in providing accommodation. 2010
numbers indicate that there were 1,235 accommodation facilities, 69,762 rooms and 139,949
beds in Istanbul. Some of these are located in the historical peninsula while the others are
concentrated on the Beikta ili Beyolu axis. 69% of the bed capacity is concentrated
in 5 and 4 star hotels while 3 and 2 star hotels make up 19% of the bed capacity. Analyses
show that Istanbul can provide efficient accommodation especially for 5 star and 2 star hotels.
However, the city is weak in providing efficient accommodation at 3 and 4 star hotels which
are the most preferred types of hotels. Istanbul does not need investments in 5 star hotels as
the capacity including the ongoing projects can meet the current and future demands. On
the other hand, because there is still room for luxury hotels, there have been rising demands to
run such hotels by luxury boutique hotel brands. Such luxury hotel brands first prefer to locate
at the Bosporus then at the central locations in the city. Additionally, it is observed that 5 star
hotels choose to locate at the CBD following high business concentrations. Apart from the
CBD, new hotel investments are locating on the Yenibosna Axis on the European side and in
Pendik to be close to Sabiha Gken Airport on the Asian side.
Diversity and quality of tourism activities are positive contributions to a citys image.
Therefore, this advantage of Istanbul should be used to support IFM-Istanbul. Within this

context, strategies towards raising Istanbuls rank among global cities will contribute to the
IFM-Istanbul process. The proposals for this purpose are summarized as follow

Highlighting the cultural properties and making them visible in the urban silhouette
while creating new cultural and art facilities

Increasing the number and quality of entertainment and catering facilities considering
the user profile

Including IFM-Istanbul in the image studies done by the Ministry of Culture and
Tourism

Increasing the bed capacities of 3 star hotels that are preferred the most especially by
culture and convention visitors

Allocating spaces for accommodation in the planning process of IFM-Istanbuls

potential clusters

CONVENTION
Istanbul is the major city of conventional tourism in Turkey. 85% of the conventions and
meetings organized in Turkey are held in Istanbul. The city also is an important node of
conventional tourism globally. In 1998, 17 international conferences and meetings were held
in the city. In 2009 this number increased to 80. That year, Istanbul ranked 17th among other
global cities in terms of conventions held in the city. Vienna (160), Barcelona (135) and Paris
(131) ranked as the first three cities in that list. On the other hand, Istanbul ranked as 4th
according to the participant numbers (75,768) that attend those conventions and meetings
where Vienna ranked as the first with 123,801 participants. This positive development in 2009
has been the result of World Water Summit and IMF-World Bank meetings organized in the
same year.
Conventions and meetings in the city are organized mostly at convention centers, fair centers,
4 and 5 star hotels and universities. Such convention facilities are concentrated at four main
locations which are the Convention Valley, Atatrk Airport and exhibition district, Hali and
the financial district (Bykdere-Maslak-Levent Axis). Although the Asian side is not very
strong in this subject, there have been considerable developments especially in PendikKartal. There are 11 meeting facilities, 117 meeting halls and 57,497 seats in Istanbul as of
2010. However, adding up the facilities that are not convention centers but can be used for

such meetings if needed, the number of facilities increases to 15 whereas the number of
meeting halls and seats increases to 151 and 155,357. Furthermore, adding up the seats
available for such meetings in 4 and 5 star hotels, the total seat capacity becomes 256,528. An
important advantage of Istanbul is the proximity of accommodation and convention facilities
which eliminates the traffic related problems considerably.
Istanbul has the capacity to meet the demands of any scale of conferences and meetings. The
city even has the capacity to meet the future demands considering the planned investments.
Thus, to preserve this advantage IFM-Istanbul will work along the strategies of conventional
tourism. Problems associated with conventional tourism in Istanbul are rather in the
advertisement than in the infrastructure related to it. Therefore, IFM-Istanbul will support
strategies for advertisement in this area.

EDUCATION
Qualified labor force is significant in the operation, competitiveness and productivity of the
financial and service industries. Therefore, improving the living standards and the education
infrastructure are essential to meet the qualified labor force demand and to keep the qualified
labor force in the city.
Besides an increase in the number of classrooms and sections, the number of schools which
were 1,266 in 2005 in Istanbul rose to 1,408 in 2010. However, the increase in the number of
students per classroom, -section and -teacher in official primary schools compared to the
previous years, show that there is still so much to do to reach the objectives despite the efforts
to improve the quality of education since 2005.
Although new schools have been built, the increase in the number of students per classroom
could not be prevented due to the increase in demand which is the result of migration, natural
population growth, difficulties in finding grounds for construction and insufficient subsidy.
Considering the number of students per teacher is 21.2 in London and 16.4 in Singapore and
the number of students per classroom is aimed to be 30 in primary schools, it could be
inferred that the districts Bakrky, Beikta and Saryer have high standards of education
while Baclar and Esenler have inadequate number of schools and teachers. Again the
standards are met in districts like Bakrky, Beikta and Saryer for secondary education considering the number of students per teacher is 15.1 in London and 18 in Zurich and the
number of students per classroom is aimed to be 30.

Within the framework of providing an international accreditation and a common curriculum,

the International Baccalaureate Program is being practiced in 139 countries by 3.083 schools
with over 880.000 students. However, in Turkey this program is being practiced only by 25
schools, 24 of them being private schools and one a state school.
School building investments of the Ministry of National Educations 2010 Investments Unit
Program, although being beneficial in terms of meeting the demand of the region, are thought
to be insufficient within the IFC-Istanbul framework since the objective of IFC-Istanbul is to
have at least one school with international accreditation in each potential financial cluster
district defined by the project (Maslak, Topkap, Kartal, Ataehir, Yenibosna). Additional
objectives are improving the quality of education and rehabilitation of school buildings,
investing in human resources to improve certain skills of teachers such as foreign language
ability, and providing the means for foreign born population to learn the Turkish language.
The Search Conference proposals other than the ones stated in the Analysis Report are
analyzing the residential location of financial center employees and investing in schools
accordingly; assisting foreign born students in terms of orientation and integration to the
system by national education policies; taking the necessary measures to ensure children from
abroad continue studying in Turkey without corruption; improving the competence of teachers
by training programs; and improving the quality of preschool institutions for foreign born
children of age 0-5.

HEALTH
The basic health indicators of 2001 - 2010 show that there has been considerable
improvement in public health measures in Istanbul. Maternal Mortality Rate which was 14.1
per 100,000 in 2002 fell to 12.9 in 2010. Infant Mortality Rate fell from 19.9 per 1,000 to 6.9.
The number of emergency service stations which was 44 in 2002 reached 145 and the number
of ambulances increased from 62 to 206.
There are 1,152 healthcare organizations, 26 of them being Training and Research Hospital,
25 of them being State Hospital, 899 of them being Family Health Center, 39 of them being
Public Health Center, 9 of them being Medical Faculty Hospital and 154 of them being
Private Hospital in Istanbul -where Family Practice Service started to be applied as of
November 2010. 5,476 specialists, 3,960 practitioners, 3,680 resident physicians, 747 dentists,
14,017 nurses and midwives are employed by these institutions.

The number of healthcare personnel increased with a rate of 123% since 2002. However,
there is still a need to improve the status quo and invest in human resources since the number
of people per doctor in Istanbul in 2008 was 1,120 while it was 300 in France (2007), 440 in
Britain (2007) and 500 in Japan (2007).
The total number of beds in the hospitals all over the city is 30,045 where 15,326 (%51) are in
public hospitals, 10,029 (%33) in private hospitals and 4,690 (%16) in medical faculty
hospitals. Accordingly, the number of beds per hospital is 333 in public- and medical faculty
hospitals whereas it is 65 in private hospitals. The number of beds per hospital is 140 in
medical faculty-, public and private hospitals all together.
Despite the investments in health sector -in the form of new constructions, restorations and
renovations of existing buildings- the IFC-Istanbul aims to improve the quality even more by
increasing the share of healthcare investments, the number of qualified beds in public and
private hospitals, the number of accredited hospitals, the number of qualified personnel with
foreign language skills; and by recruiting more personnel to the public healthcare institutions.

SAFETY - SECURITY
Although Istanbul houses relatively better conditions in terms of crime rate compared to other
global metropolitan areas, the lack of information sharing results in a misleading image.
Additionally, researches so far have shown that the actual crime rate is not directly related to
the fear of becoming a victim of crime and to the perception of security. Therefore, a
particular emphasis is required for the safe city image in Istanbul.
Istanbul ranks 16th among 26 cities with a rate of 18% crime victimhood. London has the
highest rate of crime victimhood with 32%. Following London are Amsterdam with 27%
ranking 3rd; New York with 23.2% ranking 7th and Hong Kong with 7% ranking 26th.
According to the findings of researches, the rate of people who feel safe on the streets of
Istanbul turned out to be among the lowest compared to EU cities (approximately 48%).
Istanbul also had the highest levels of fear of thieves breaking in. 2007 Urban Audit studies
show that Istanbul ranked the last among 75 European cities in terms of citizens feeling safe
in the city.

2009 Urban Age Project studies, on the other hand, showed that 18% of the citizens of
Istanbul felt safe. That ratio turned out to be 50% in London while it was 30% in Sao Paulo
though it has a higher rate of crime involving violence compared to Istanbul.
Istanbul has better conditions compared to many other metropolitan areas regarding individual
crimes rates. Yet researches show that individuals may develop concerns -growing inversely
in proportion to the official crime rates- that there is a potential for crime directed to
themselves and to their families. That is, the perception of safety among the citizens of
Istanbul (compared to the citizens of other metropolitan areas) is relatively lower. Therefore,
special emphasis should be put on endeavors to enhance the perception of safety.
Hence, it is crucial for Urban Safety to take certain measures in various fields and
implement them efficiently to reduce the fear of crime and to enhance the perception of
safety. Measures for increasing urban safety are categorized in ten groups,

Minimizing the negative psychological effects created by media

Improving urban environment and planning practices

Judiciary proposals

Social inclusion of the homeless and drug addicts

Emphasizing the safe city image in tourism and publicity

Maximizing traffic and social safety

Traffic trainings and public awareness rising

Increasing pedestrian safety and quality of life by establishing the required

infrastructure for the disabled

Efficient coordination among units

Proposals for the security staff

NATURAL DISASTERS
Istanbul, being settled on the North Anatolian Fault Line, carries high risk of earthquake.
Seismic parameters tell that the probability of an earthquake of magnitude M=7.5 to hit
Istanbul in 20 years is 42% whereas it is 75% in 50 years. In addition to that, there are risks of

flooding in Istanbul. There are 247 valleys some of which are within the urbanized area in the
city. The surroundings of these valleys face risks of 25 year flooding.
Risk maps for potential clusters are included in the analysis report though mapping of some
districts are not finished yet. The proposals regarding natural disaster risks are as follow

Integrating institutions to the earthquake early warning system

Integrating natural disaster education to the school system and educating the public so
that they can contribute to the recovery process in the aftermath of a disaster

Completion of Micro Zoning Projects,

Applying KDV tax exemptions for SMEP projects on improving public buildings and
private property; and evaluating the Proposal Model Based on Building Depreciation
Value,

Developing initiatives for the construction of earthquake-resistant buildings,

Improving the energy infrastructure,

Providing sufficient equipment for medical aid tents to be used in any case of
emergency,

Improving the compulsory earthquake insurance,

Moving risky industries out of the city,

Establishing the Flood Early Warning System (SEUS),

Planning with consideration to the effects of construction and modifications on creeks

and on the drainage system.

Establishing separate rain water systems.

Below are the infrastructure proposals for natural disasters that came up during the Search
Conference:

Making risk analysis and preparing hazard maps also for other risks than earthquakes
and floods,

Integrating studies done by different institutions and establishing the integrated

disaster information system,

Designing emergency action plans and updating those plans regularly,

Considering job sustainability in works to be done,

Solving the power conflicts and filling the legal gaps among IMM, district
municipalities and the branches of central government,

Accelerating the process of urban redevelopment based on disaster mitigation which

will improve the safe city image of Istanbul as well

Planning for post-disaster period to ensure the safety of financial districts

Taking measures for sea vessel accidents in Bosporus,

Complying with the European Union Flood Directive

Reviewing the drainage systems according to the new rainfall trends,

Social vulnerability projects,

Considering the structures technical aspects and risk elements when determining the
insurance premiums and coverage,

Applying a tax exemption-like method while re-building or strengthening buildings

that have been determined to have heavy or mild damage instead of a fund like the
special consumption tax.