Megacity Indicator System for Disaster Risk Management in Istanbul 

Background Information

Istanbul Earthquake Master Plan

Strategic plan of IMM on disaster risk reduction for 2014-2019

Municipality law

Disaster law 

Goals of the Initiative

The ultimate aim of this work is the development of a Megacity Indicators System (MIS) that is adapted and adopted by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) and other concerned government agencies as an integrated tool for managing disaster risk in the city [1]. Thus, developing the indicators system with an active core group at the municipality which will be pertinent and relevant to the disaster risk management agenda of stakeholders at IMM is one of the primary goals of this work.

[1] A number of recommendations from the Manila application can assist in institutionalizing the use of indicators within the relevant city processes and functions.

Parties and Partners to the Initiative

This project is being carried out in close collaboration with several institutions. These include Kandilli Observatory, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Center for Earthquake and Disaster Management) and the Earthquake and Megacities Initiative. In this process the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality is the leading partner benefiting from the results of the studies to enhance decision making in disaster risk management procedures. Academics are also improving their methodologies and finding areas in which they can implement their theoretical research.

Resources used for Implementation

All partners provided their own resources of various types: financial, human and technical.

Innovation for the Initiative

This initiative is considered as an evolutionary one. It uses all the experience gathered from disaster risk science and introduces it into Istanbul’s diverse and complicated urban environment. The project is a good example of integrated disaster risk assessment. 

Innovation has been applied in

It is used especially in strategy, planning, design and implementation. For instance environmental planning for Istanbul uses the outcomes of the project to understand the city’s disaster risk pattern. Meanwhile the outcomes enlighten the strategies and implementations for urban renovation in Istanbul. 

Obstacles and Solutions for Innovation

Lack of technical human resources was a big problem. This led to a slower implementation of the study than expected. 

Outcomes and Assessments

Based on the outcomes of this project, an increase in urban renovation processes in areas where disaster risk is higher is expected. Such renovation projects have to date been carried out rather slowly due to lack of social inclusion. This project's social vulnerability analyses will be a solution to this, collecting ideas of the communities on urban strategies and what they want to see in their neighborhood in the future. It will definitely enhance the progress of urban renovation in Istanbul and we will see more socially inclusive projects being carried out. 

Another important component of the project is the assessment of the response capacity of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in the aftermath of a possible earthquake. This assessment depends on several indicators including rescue and relief, debris removal and lifeline restoration. Assessment is done by creating an index of response capacity.

Methods Applied

There aren’t any specific tools developed yet due to lack of authority of project units in this field.

DRR is a multi-stakeholder process and a coordinating mechanism (established with the inclusion of all stakeholder representatives) over all institutions. Currently analyses based on “risk data” may be neglected due to a clash of authority or lack of interest or knowledge, a situation this new working method is expected to improve.