*3.1.5. Preservation policies*

The concept of brownfield regeneration was taken place at the Turkish national agenda with the acceptance of the ICOMOS Montreal Action Plan by the Turkish National Committee of ICOMOS in 2001, which allowed industrial buildings to be conserved as part of Turkey's twentieth century cultural and architectural heritage [15]. Since the midst of 1980s, the potential of old industrial areas as a cultural heritage have recognized, and some projects were devel‐ oped through the international preservation policies, especially in Istanbul. However, the sustainability issue neglected in most of those implementations. This is due in part to a general lack of awareness and an absence of nationwide debate about sustainable development. Furthermore, there was no participatory element in the decision‐making, planning, and implementation of these brownfield regeneration projects [15].

Another international organization, DOCOMOMO, played a crucial role in fostering interest in conservation of built heritage which reflects the spirit of the Maschine Age in the world. The fact that many of the industrial modern buildings not being considered as the elements of heritage caused the demolishing or changing their original structure. In Turkey, DOCOMO‐ MOs activities not only increase the attention to the industrial buildings as masterpieces, but also accelerate the institutional and academic interest on brownfield sites since 2002.

### **3.2. Barriers and assets in sustainable brownfields redevelopments in Turkey**

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

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,

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

This situation is defined as "market‐oriented transformation through governmental assis‐

The concept of brownfield regeneration was taken place at the Turkish national agenda with the acceptance of the ICOMOS Montreal Action Plan by the Turkish National Committee of ICOMOS in 2001, which allowed industrial buildings to be conserved as part of Turkey's twentieth century cultural and architectural heritage [15]. Since the midst of 1980s, the potential of old industrial areas as a cultural heritage have recognized, and some projects were devel‐ oped through the international preservation policies, especially in Istanbul. However, the sustainability issue neglected in most of those implementations. This is due in part to a general lack of awareness and an absence of nationwide debate about sustainable development. Furthermore, there was no participatory element in the decision‐making, planning, and

tance" in many academic writings and reports [15, 39, 41–43].

implementation of these brownfield regeneration projects [15].

environmental problems.

144 Sustainable Urbanization

network.

*3.1.5. Preservation policies*

generally far from a sustainable approach.

In Turkey, the central and local governments' policies do not include the brownfield redevel‐ opment related issues and on the other hand, the policies about sustainability devoid of the practice. Therefore, several obstacles occur in sustainable brownfield redevelopment, which are delaying the process.

The lack of liability and contamination issues in the environmental and land‐use policies creates the major handicaps in the brownfield redevelopment process in Turkey. Despite some positive attempts for the integration of legislation to EU standards, there is still uncertainty related with liability and interventions to the contaminated lands.

The lack of nation‐wide and city‐wide database system is another vital obstacle in brownfield redevelopment in the country. It is nearly impossible for a researcher to determine the amount of brownfields and the level of their importance in the urban development. However, as a country whose metropolitan cities struggle with rapid urbanization and whose environmental resources are under the risk of deterioration, it is essential for Turkey to know the capacity of brownfields and to estimate the possible settlements for increasing population.

Due to the fact that most of the state‐owned industrial sites are located at the centers of the cities on very strategic and valuable lands, their transformation and purchasing have been subject to many political and public debates because of the lack of transparency in the privatization process. These debates broadly interrupt the regeneration process and sometimes make the land remain idle for years.

Another essential issue in brownfields redevelopment is the effective involvement of different stakeholders in the process of redevelopment. Due to the lack of legal arrangements and policies for the participation of the citizens, environmental organizations, real estate develop‐ ers, non‐governmental organizations (NGOs), and local and central government agencies, the redevelopments of the brownfields, especially the ones located on valuable properties in the inner parts of cities, have been subject to speculations in the public agenda.

Despite the obstacles in brownfield redevelopment and preservation of historical industrial buildings, some good practices in metropolitan cities can provide some benefits in terms of sustainable development. Especially, in terms of preservation of the sites as the symbols of the cities' pervious identity, there is an increasing awareness at local and central levels. Although there is still need a comprehensive approach in handling the problem together with its social, economic, and environmental dimensions, these attempts can be considered as the signs of more sustainable solutions.

The SWOT analysis in **Table 1** summarizes the positive and negative aspects of sustainable brownfield redevelopment issue in Turkey with a strategic point of view.


**Table 1.** SWOT analysis for sustainable brownfield redevelopment in Turkey.
