Why is Istanbul so important?
Canal Istanbul Project: Istanbul is a magnificent city that lies in the middle of the world. Its importance comes from its rich history and culture because it was the land of many nations throughout history. It was the second capital of the Roman Empire, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and the largest city in the Republic of Turkey. It connects Asia to Europe and that is what makes Istanbul’s location so strategic.
With its dynamic habitat and cosmopolitan structure, Istanbul offers new economic opportunities as well as cultural appeal.
Istanbul, which has been located on the world’s important trade routes such as the Silk Road and the Spice Road from past to present, continues to maintain this role with the One Belt, One Road Project, which aims to revitalize the Silk Road and create an uninterrupted global trade route from Beijing to London.
With a capacity of 200 million passengers, Istanbul Airport welcomes millions of guests from 125 different destinations every day with the title of “the 2nd most developed airport” among the “airports hosting the highest number of passengers in the world”.
As one of the world’s favorite tourist attraction centers, Istanbul is the world’s 6th and Europe’s 4th most preferred tourist destination with 51.9 million visitors.
What is the Canal Istanbul Project?
The Istanbul Canal project was first brought to the agenda in 2011. On April 27, 2011, then Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan announced the project:
“Today we are rolling up our sleeves for one of the biggest projects of the century, which will not even be compared to the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal, and the Corinth Canal in Greece.”
The Istanbul Canal is a project that will serve as an artificial waterway, with plans to build an alternative passage between the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea. the canal will start from the region to the east of Terkos Lake on the Black Sea coast, and to the west of Istanbul airport, the canal passes through Durusu District and arrives at Sazlıdere Dam, then, it passes through the borders of Başakşehir District and merges with Küçükçekmece Lake (the small lake) to reach the Marmara Sea. The length of the canal is 45 kilometers, the width of the base is 275 meters, and the surface width is 360 meters.
Why should this project be completed?
The Bosphorus, through which approximately 43,000 ships pass annually, is a natural waterway with its narrowest point of 698 meters. The increase in the tonnage of ship traffic, the increase in the size of ships as a result of technological developments, and especially the increase in the passage of ships (tankers) carrying fuel oil and other toxic substances pose a great pressure and threat on Istanbul.
The Bosphorus has sharp turns and strong currents that put waterway transportation and hundreds of thousands of residents living on both sides of the Bosphorus at risk.
The Bosphorus is becoming more dangerous every year because of the ship traffic. 100 years ago, the annual number of ship transits was 3-4 thousand and today it has reached 45-50 thousand.
Due to the one-way traffic organization implemented to increase the safety of navigation, the average waiting time for large ships on the Bosphorus is approximately 14.5 hours. The waiting time can sometimes reach 3-4 days or even weeks depending on the ship traffic and weather conditions and sometimes depending on an accident or malfunction.
In this framework, it has become crucial to plan an alternative transit corridor to the Bosphorus.
The purpose of the Canal Istanbul Project:
With the Istanbul Canal, the risks of potentially fatal accidents caused by the 90-degree crossroads of city lines and transit ships traveling 500 thousand passengers a day will be prevented and safe travel will be provided for people. At the same time, it will be possible to increase the number of trips for maritime transportation.
- Protecting the historical and cultural fabric of the Bosphorus and increasing safety.
- Reducing the load on the Bosphorus primarily due to maritime traffic.
- Ensuring traffic safety of the Bosphorus.
- Ensuring navigation safety.
- Creating a new waterway open to international navigation traffic.
- Creating earthquake-resistant modern residential areas, considering the possible Istanbul earthquake.
When will Istanbul Canal Project be completed?
Following the tender process, preparations before the canal construction will take approximately 1.5 years. The Canal construction is expected to take 5.5 years. The project is planned to be completed in 7 years under normal conditions.
The Total Cost of Canal Istanbul Project:
The canal construction cost is estimated at 75 billion Turkish Lira (at the exchange rate at the time of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report). The total cost of the project is 15 billion USD. The project aims to protect Istanbul’s historical texture, provide the safety and security of the people that live in Istanbul, and benefit the country. The volume of international trade and the increase in the strategic importance of Turkey that this project will achieve cannot be evaluated in monetary terms.
The Modern Residential Areas That Will be Created on The Sides of the Istanbul Canal (Real Estate):
With the Istanbul Canal Project, two smart cities based on horizontal architecture will be built that will give life to Istanbul with traffic, social facilities, and green areas. The maximum expected population in the region is 500,000 people.
In these new residential areas, there will be low-density residential areas in the normal neighborhood concept dominated by low-rise (maximum 4-5 floors, there will be also trade, public institutions, coastal facilities, urban regional green, and sports areas, university area, technology development zone, tourism area, eco-tourism area, health tourism area, congress, exhibition area and logistics zone areas serving these residential areas.
The population of Istanbul is not expected to increase due to these settlements. It is considered that the population in the canal settlement areas will be included within the scope of the population already residing in Istanbul.
