Improving Building Permit Procedures in Municipalities

Unplanned spatial development with illegal and unauthorized buildings emerged in big metropolitan cities in Turkey, especially after the 1980s, and has led to our living areas becoming more vulnerable to disasters. Thus, the development of land use and construction processes compliant with building codes and regulations is very important and constitutes a basic step in improving preparedness for any disasters. It is well known that there is a lack of technical and professional capacity in municipalities to monitor building permit and construction processes, and limited transparency in municipality services. In Bagcilar Municipality, the project under Component C of ISMEP (Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness Project) implemented by the Istanbul Governorship Istanbul Project Coordination Unit ensured more effective processes for development and building permit activities, including construction and building inspection. The outcome was improved monitoring capacity for planning and construction processes, and greater transparency in controlling land use development and managing related municipality services provided at the municipality level. This clearly contributes to the need for necessary actions in the decision-making and implementation phases of disaster risk reduction activities.