Istanbulites robbed of farm lands, impoverished in past 25 years, municipality report reveals

Duvar English

A recent report by the Istanbul Municipality has revealed that almost one fourth of the city's farmlands have vanished in the past 25 years, while Istanbulites lost thousands of hectares of forests and also became poorer since 1995, daily Cumhuriyet reported on Sept. 3.

While the city's remaining farmlands are endangered by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's "crazy project" Kanal Istanbul, the construction of the third bridge, the third airport and miscellaneous highways have destroyed 98.6 kilometer-squares of forests, a report by the municipal Istanbul Planning Agency revealed.

While the city had 285,000 hectares of forest lands in 1990, this number has dropped by 17.5 percent to 238,000 hectares in 2020.

While Istanbul Airport devoured 6,190 hectares of forests, the third bridge and Northern Marmara Highway took up 3,240 hectares of forest lands and 6,700 hectares of farmlands.

As Kanal Istanbul projects risks destroying another 13,450 hectares of farmlands, the amount of farmland per Istanbul resident has dropped by 35 percent between 2004 and 2019.

The city's growth toward the northwest has reportedly claimed 40 percent of Istanbul's 690 kilometers of seashore, deeming it inaccessible to residents.

The amount of green space per Istanbulite was measured at 2.7 square-meters as of 2019, about one fifth of an average car parking space.

The report revealed that income per Istanbulite has also seen a steady decline since 2013. The current monthly income of a household in Istanbul is below the level of 2006 in terms of dollars.

The report also noted that some 70 percent of Istanbulites live in high-risk areas for earthquakes.