Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract

This chapter presents the model of Istanbul as one that appears, with Sao Paolo and Seoul, to move beyond the crisis of severe inequality and informality to pose serious efforts to combat climate hazards. Istanbul’s global leadership on the issue of water is shown, illustrating the efforts of the ruling party to develop some institutional approaches to flooding and drought management. The history of hydrologic infrastructure development offers a helpful perspective regarding the use of surface water to support the capital city’s sprawling population. Stock is taken of the influences of climate teleconnections on the cyclical dry and warm periods experienced by Istanbul, and the impacts of climate change are discussed in relation to variability and intensity of extremes. As droughts intensify, the extension of water infrastructure to further surface water resources remains the natural, technocratic response tied to the continuation of past development policies. Yet, this chapter shows that newer approaches are being operationalized involving more advanced, participatory engagement with urban resilience. With political repression and authoritarian efforts to keep the ruling party at the helm of the nation’s capital, however, such water policies face considerable obstacles amid the general pull of technocracy.