"Informal Settlements, Environmental Degradation, and Disaster Vulnerability" "Informal Settlements, Environmental Degradation, and Disaster Vulnerability" Informal Settlements, Environmental Degradation, and Disaster Vulnerability The Turkey Case Study Edited by Ronald Parker Alcira Kreimer and Mohan Munasinghe The International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) and The World Bank Washington, D.C. Copyright © 1995 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433 U.S.A. This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or nonprofit uses, without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgment of the source is made. The Secretariat of IDNDR would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. Copies may be sent to the Environment Department, The World Bank, 1818 H Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. and to the IDNDR, Palais des Nations, CH−1211, Geneva 10, Switzerland. No use of this publication may be made for resale or other commercial purpose without the prior written permission of the copyright holders. The designations of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of materials, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Bank or its member institutions concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The interpretations and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the World Bank or its member institutions. UN General Assembly Resolution 236 of 1989 launched the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR, 19902000) to "reduce through concerted international action, especially in developing countries, the loss of life, property damage, and social and economic disruption caused by natural disasters." IDNDR focuses on natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, avalanches, cyclones, floods, drought, and locust infestations. Library of Congress Cataloging−in−Publication Data Informal Settlements, Environmental Degradation, and Disaster Vulnerability 1 "Informal Settlements, Environmental Degradation, and Disaster Vulnerability" Informal settlements, environmental degradation, and disaster vulnerability : Turkey case study / edited by Ronald Parker, Alcira Kreimer, Mohan Munasinghe. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0−8213−3397−6 1. Emergency management—Turkey—Case studies. 2. Environmental policy—Turkey—Case studies. I. Parker, Ronald (Ronald Steven) II. Kreimer, Alcira. III. Munasinghe, Mohan, 1945 HV551.5T9I54 1995 363.3'84'09561—dc20 95−32774 CIP CONTENTS A. Introduction link 1 link Turkish Cities: In Search of Sustainability Ronald Parker, Alcira Kreimer, and Mohan Munasinghe B. Urban Vulnerability: A Framework link 2 link Disaster Vulnerability: Lessons from Four Turkish Urban Areas Ronald Steven Parker 3 link Legal and Institutional Framework: Environmental Policy in Turkey Necmi Sonmez C. Special Issues in Urban Vulnerability link 4 link Disaster Prevention and Mitigation in Metropolitan Areas: Reducing Urban Vulnerability in Turkey Andrew Coburn 5 link Hazardous and Solid Wastes in Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara Kriton Curi D. Formal and Informal Cities link 6 link Istanbul: Emergency Action Plan CONTENTS 2 "Informal Settlements, Environmental Degradation, and Disaster Vulnerability" Mustafa Erdik 7 link Urban Development and the Coastal Zone: Problems in Istanbul and Izmir Günay Kocasoy 8 link Disaster Vulnerability and Environmental Degradation: Gecekondus Rusen Keles and Cevat Geray E. Earthquakes in Turkey link 9 link The 1992 Erzincan Earthquake: A Case Study Polat Gülkan and Oktay Ergünay 10 link Reducing Disaster Impacts Through Earthquake Injury Epidemiology: Implications for Investments in the Turkish Urban Environment Michael E. Durkin Bibliography link A— INTRODUCTION 1— Turkish Cities: In Search of Sustainability Ronald Parker, Alcira Kreimer, Mohan Munasinghe The Bank has been working on a study entitled Disaster Prevention and Mitigation in Metropolitan Areas in collaboration with the UNDP and Habitat as part of the United Nations designated International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction and in response to the concerns expressed at the Conference on Environmental Management and Urban Vulnerability, held in Washington, D.C., on February 25, 1992. Begun in January 1992, this work is designed to reduce the vulnerability of urban areas to extreme events through a better understanding of underlying causes, especially environmental linkages, and to improve disaster prevention and mitigation mechanisms in disasterprone developing countries. The first result of this study was presented in an earlier volume (Kreimer & Munasinghe, 1992). The next phase was the commissioning of field studies on urban vulnerability in Brazil, the Philippines, and Turkey. Counterpart agencies in those countries identified consultants who wrote research papers on various topics. The second A— INTRODUCTION 3 "Informal Settlements, Environmental Degradation, and Disaster Vulnerability" volume in the series, was published in March of 1993 (Kramer, Lobo, Menezes, Munasinghe & Parker, 1993). The present volume is the third publication. Why Turkey? Turkey was selected as a Country Case for the Urban Vulnerability Study because it provides clear−cut examples of urban environmental degradation and ample data on the relationship between disaster preparedness, mitigation and urban vulnerability. Although Turkish cities boast tremendous natural beauty and agreeable patterns of life, they are gradually becoming more crowded and hazardous. Out−of−sight areas such as aquifers, garbage dumps, sea bottoms and seismic zones all present growing perils caused largely because unsustainable land use practices have had unanticipated consequences. As the study was starting, a major earthquake occurred in Erzincan. This and subsequent activities required a change in priorities and refocused the study's attention on seismic events. As a result, the event in Erzincan and other seismic events in Turkey receive considerable attention in this volume. This emphasis, however, does not mean that earthquakes are the only consideration in urban vulnerability in the country. Cities and Sustainability Sustainable living styles minimize damage from natural hazards. Earthquakes take few lives when houses and public buildings do not collapse. The researchers who contributed to this volume report that buildings knocked down by earthquakes had been improperly sited, poorly built and inadequately reinforced. They cite multiple acts of poor stewardship, arising from failures to protect the land, the aquifers, the rivers and the seas from human activities. The researchers describe erosion and flooding caused by deforestation and removal of ground cover and a myriad of inappropriate agricultural practices that poison the rivers and seas and kill aquatic life. They tell of shipping accidents caused by poor communication and lack of proper training. In our examination of urban disaster risks and vulnerability in Turkey, we have searched for root causes and found human actions to be the agents of causation more often than not. As a result of short−sighted over−use of natural resources and widespread environmental degradation, the annual loss of life and property through disaster in the world's major metropolitan areas is increasing. Urban concentrations of the poor and less−informed in environmentally fragile locations suffer the impacts of disaster disproportionately. For example, the continued occupation of vulnerable locations in Turkey's metropolitan areas by low−income squatter developments will compound the inherent risks associated with high−density environments, inappropriate technologies, and, inadequate infrastructure. Current scenarios indicate a potential increase in extreme events that will buffet cities in the next several decades. Uncontrolled population growth, chronic poverty and environmental degradation have increased urban vulnerability to both "natural" and "technological" disasters. Societal vulnerability to natural disasters increase for several reasons: Inappropriate technologies are used; Lack of knowledge and access to mitigation mechanisms prevail; Public and private agencies are unwilling to adopt the lessons learned from the world community which has become more expert in responding to disasters. Why Turkey? 4 "Informal Settlements, Environmental Degradation, and Disaster Vulnerability" Technology and Disasters In this volume we have adopted an integrated view including toxic and hazardous wastes and the risks of industrial accidents in our survey of Turkish metropolitan vulnerability. The recent past has shown that large urban areas are often subject to industrial processes that fail dramatically during cataclysmic accidents. The evidence gathered in this volume persuades us that although technology can reduce environmental degradation, the use of advanced technology cannot be automatically termed progress. Technologies invented to improve the quality of human life increasingly place people and their habitat in serious danger. For example, PCB's (extremely hazardous chemicals which were originally developed to cool electrical transformers) and heavy metals of all sorts flow through Istanbul's