*3.1.1. Environmental policies*

When compared with United States and Europe cases, the environmental dimension of brownfield redevelopment is much neglected in Turkey. Turkey started to discuss the environmental issues by the early years of 1970s. Over the last 45 years, it can be said that Turkey has made great progress in creating mechanisms to address its environmental problems: The 1982 Constitution recognizes the right of citizens to live in a healthy and balanced environment; an Environment Act was passed in 1983; the Ministry of Environment was created in 1991; public awareness and demand for a clean environment are growing; and active non‐governmental environmental organizations are emerging [31]. Furthermore, in another Article of the constitution, environmental rights are not only defined as part of states purview, but also a duty for every citizen. Despite these positive developments, environmental issues have not been adequately incorporated into economic and social decisions [32].

The Environmental Law which came into force in 1983 endorses the "polluter‐pays principle" which is the main principle of brownfield related legislation in USA and the environmental regulation in EU and handles environmental issues on a very broad scope [33]. There is not a specific regulation about brownfields even though the existence of many related laws and regulations which govern the environment and land use in Turkey.

In Turkish environmental legislation, Regulation for the Control of Soil Contamination and for the Particularly Contaminated Lands (RCSCPCL), taken effect in 2010, is very important in terms of brownfields issues. The aim of the regulation was to prevent the contamination of land, to find out the potential and probable contaminated lands and sectors, and to determine the clean‐up and monitoring principles with respect to sustainable development purposes.

According to the RCSCPCL, the lands and plants which are contaminated as a result of disaster or accident, and which are determined as hazardous for the environment after the controls are recorded in the Hazardous Land List. The remediation of these sites requires the approval of "site analysis reports," "evaluation of the situation of land," and "risk reports and the clean‐ up activities reports" by the Province Directorate of Environment and Urbanization.

Moreover, in 1993, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was enacted according to the United States and European procedures, and it was improved in 1999 according to European EIA directive. Even though the recent laws and regulations have raised the public awareness in environmental issues, there is still a big gap in the Turkish legislation in terms of liability and financial issues. However, it is evident that the further developments and regulations should be established the environmental roots of the country especially in terms of sustainable development.

### *3.1.2. EU candidacy*

EU accession and candidacy can be considered as the most important driving force for the improvement of Turkish environment legislation and public awareness in sustainable brownfield redevelopments. Since the environment is one of the priority areas for Turkey's membership preparations, several new regulations put into force in the last two decades. Since EC‐Turkey Association Council implementing the final phase of the Customs Union, there have been continuous efforts on the part of Turkey to harmonize its legislation with the EU *acquis communautaire* [34]. The candidacy indicates the priority areas for Turkey, and environ‐ ment is one of them (in addition to other politic and administrative areas).

According to Budak [35], Turkey had at the turn of the century incorporated the environmental concerns and policies of the EU into its legal structure to a great extend as a non‐member state. And, according to the findings of a research conducted in 2001, Turkey had made a great deal of progress in regard to the approximation of environmental *acquis*in some areas such as textile and chemicals [36].

However, compliance to EU rules sometimes can be costly for the national economy, and therefore, some challenges can be appeared in the society. EU environmental rules require the recognition of shared responsibilities. Actually, beyond the EU standards and profit maximi‐ zation concerns, private actors must develop a new sense of responsibility for environment and sustainable urbanization [37].

EU memberships in Turkey still a question of socio‐economic development and a slogan for modernization. In a broader sense, EU affects both legal and political structures and the public opinion. It seems that in short term, the impact of environmental policy on sustainable development‐related issues such as environment, urbanization, growth, regeneration are likely to become more popular subjects in the public opinion and on the agenda of policy makers in Turkey. It can be said that, in spite of the improvements in environmental policy with the impulse of EU candidacy, further attempts are required in order to reach the devel‐ oped counties standards.

#### *3.1.3. Privatization policies*

One of the main differences for the brownfields‐related issues between Turkey and Western countries is coming from the liberal policies of 1980s which is very effective and cause huge changes in Turkish government system. Although the brownfields are appeared as the results of urban sprawl and deindustrialization in developed countries, in Turkey most of the brownfields areas have become sites which need urgent solutions after the implementation of privatization policies.

As previously mentioned, privatization and governmental decentralization have been the main reasons for the appearance of brownfields in most of Turkish cities. Due to the fact that central policies have shifted to more decentralized structure in Turkey, many industrial plants which were established and operated by central government were privatized since the midst of 1980s.

In Turkey, Public Enterprises (PEs) had a significant role in the economic development of the country from the beginning of Republican Period. PEs emerged during the 1930s not for ideological but pragmatic reasons, mainly owing the lack of private capital accumulation and initiative to give the first impetus to development [38]. Most of them are large‐scale invest‐ ments and operations and used by the governments in order to create the necessary industrial infrastructure, to prevent unemployment and to reduce regional inequalities between the regions [38]. However, after starting the implementation of privatization policies, central government did not put any effort to revitalize or to enhance the technological capacity of these industrial enterprises. As a result, most of them closed and the sites remained idle.

In fact, today, the privatization practices are seen in many countries whose economies are called liberal, socialist, or mixed [38]. According to UNESCAP's (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific) [41] point of view "*the private sector is a key environmental actor, as its enterprises generally perform better than parastatals (government‐owned companies), treating almost twice as much of their wastewater and spending less than half as much for final disposal."* Actually, in Turkish practice, it cannot be said that private enterprises are more environment‐friendly than the government‐owned ones.

The transfer of industrial areas by the impulse of privatization policies and globalization has caused vital changes especially in metropolitan cities in Turkey. Istanbul, the financial and the cultural capital of Turkey, has taken attention of the global investors with its dynamics and potentials. Consequently, state‐owned industrial areas located in and around the city have become subject to privatization one by one. In this process, central government and local government have stimulated the transfer of the industrial areas by promoting them and by constituting action plans.

As a result of these attempts, many of the Turkish cities, mostly the metropolitan cities, have had to struggle with not only a physical segregations, but also economic, social and cultural changes occurred in a very rapid way without considering the possible outcomes/impacts of transformations.

#### *3.1.4. Rapid urbanization*

Moreover, in 1993, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was enacted according to the United States and European procedures, and it was improved in 1999 according to European EIA directive. Even though the recent laws and regulations have raised the public awareness in environmental issues, there is still a big gap in the Turkish legislation in terms of liability and financial issues. However, it is evident that the further developments and regulations should be established the environmental roots of the country especially in terms of sustainable

EU accession and candidacy can be considered as the most important driving force for the improvement of Turkish environment legislation and public awareness in sustainable brownfield redevelopments. Since the environment is one of the priority areas for Turkey's membership preparations, several new regulations put into force in the last two decades. Since EC‐Turkey Association Council implementing the final phase of the Customs Union, there have been continuous efforts on the part of Turkey to harmonize its legislation with the EU *acquis communautaire* [34]. The candidacy indicates the priority areas for Turkey, and environ‐

According to Budak [35], Turkey had at the turn of the century incorporated the environmental concerns and policies of the EU into its legal structure to a great extend as a non‐member state. And, according to the findings of a research conducted in 2001, Turkey had made a great deal of progress in regard to the approximation of environmental *acquis*in some areas such as textile

However, compliance to EU rules sometimes can be costly for the national economy, and therefore, some challenges can be appeared in the society. EU environmental rules require the recognition of shared responsibilities. Actually, beyond the EU standards and profit maximi‐ zation concerns, private actors must develop a new sense of responsibility for environment

EU memberships in Turkey still a question of socio‐economic development and a slogan for modernization. In a broader sense, EU affects both legal and political structures and the public opinion. It seems that in short term, the impact of environmental policy on sustainable development‐related issues such as environment, urbanization, growth, regeneration are likely to become more popular subjects in the public opinion and on the agenda of policy makers in Turkey. It can be said that, in spite of the improvements in environmental policy with the impulse of EU candidacy, further attempts are required in order to reach the devel‐

One of the main differences for the brownfields‐related issues between Turkey and Western countries is coming from the liberal policies of 1980s which is very effective and cause huge changes in Turkish government system. Although the brownfields are appeared as the results of urban sprawl and deindustrialization in developed countries, in Turkey most of the

ment is one of them (in addition to other politic and administrative areas).

development.

142 Sustainable Urbanization

*3.1.2. EU candidacy*

and chemicals [36].

and sustainable urbanization [37].

oped counties standards.

*3.1.3. Privatization policies*

In Turkey, migration from rural to urban areas since 1950s has had a significant effect in the decentralization of industries and urban sprawl in metropolitan cities. At the early stages of this process, squatter houses (in Turkish literature "*gecekondus*") appeared in Turkish metro‐ politan cities as the form of unplanned and uncontrolled urban development on the public lands around the industrial sites. These areas formed the settlements of workers which the industries require. By 1980, with the impact of technological improvements, liberal policies/ privatization, and globalization most of the industries moved to the organized industrial areas with the support of local and central governments. Many of the industries had preferred to abandon their properties in the inner cities due to the high land values and insufficient lands to expand. The decentralization of industries also gave way to the decentralization of *gecekondus* through the periphery of cities. As a result of this urbanization process, the former industrial areas in the city centers remained vacant with many contamination and other environmental problems.

In Turkish case, the urban regeneration‐related issues have taken place by Habitat II meeting held in Istanbul in 1996 [15]. After this meeting, urban regeneration has become a new local policy in restructuring the cities through national plans and brownfields and *gecekondus* have seen as a tool for promoting cities in the global markets. However, these regeneration projects have put in force without comprehensive social, physical, and environmental sensitivities, generally far from a sustainable approach.

In recent years, most of the local authorities have renewed the upscale and detailed plans in order to galvanize the city's developments with new strategies and visions especially in metropolitan areas. Urban regeneration has been identified as the significant tool for achieving in the redevelopment of cities through global and local demands. In this process, brownfields have taken the attraction of developers and global investors with their locations and sizes. However, local authorities have tended to regard urban regeneration mostly as a project‐based developments rather than a holistic restructuring process at the urban scale [39], and as a result, former spaces of industrial production sites can turned into luxurious residences, gentrified neighborhoods, office towers, shopping complexes, and the like [40]. Although these trans‐ formations negatively criticized by academicians and experts on the local agenda, local governors strongly support them in order to gain revenues and to integrate global cities network.

This situation is defined as "market‐oriented transformation through governmental assis‐ tance" in many academic writings and reports [15, 39, 41–43].
