The Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation Project

The Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation Project (ISMEP), prepared by the Government of Turkey and the World Bank, went into effect in May 2004 and closed in December 2015.

The project helped strengthen critical public facilities to better withstand the shock of earthquakes and supported measures for enforcing building codes and land use regulations in the Metropolitan City of Istanbul. 

The $550 million project help improve the city’s capacity for disaster and emergency management and over the last decade, ISMEP has helped the country both mitigate some of the largest impacts of an earthquake and improve the response when emergencies arise

Below is a collection of stories, highlighting a number of different facets of this project and showcasing the results of these efforts as told directly from project beneficaries. These human stories, derived under each element of the Project, show the impact of 10 years of implementation and the the ways this project made a difference in the lives of ordinary people.

To be the Architect of Transformation

To watch the video in Turkish language, click here. 

The project consists of three components complementing one another: preparing for emergencies in the aftermath of earthquakes through risk mitigation measures on individual, family and institutional levels and enhancing emergency preparedness capacity, mitigating seismic risks on high priority public buildings (schools, hospitals and other public buildings) by retrofitting and/or reconstructing, finally increasing the institutional and technical capacity with regard to building codes enforcement at the municipalities.

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Turkey's First Risk Reduction Project

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Turkey’s first risk reducing project is changing the future of Istanbulites.

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Not Just Buildings, We also Add Value to Region

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Turkish organizations that have been transformed with support from İPKB began to offer their services against natural disasters in different regions around the world. 

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UMKE: The Insurance of Istanbul

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Within ISMEP, Turkey’s first risk mitigation project, communication and information technologies system that are necessary in case of a disaster were established and improved. Vehicles and equipment were supplied for the first responder institutions.

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The Rainbow in My Window

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Umraniye Maternity and Children’s Hospital was reconstructed earthquake resistant within the ISMEP project. The hospital was designed as two main blocks which are rectangular and elliptic formed. The colorful composite panels in the elliptic block were used both for energy saving and putting emphasis on the children’s hospital.

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A New Architecture, A New Future

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944 school buildings were reinforced and/or reconstructed within ISMEP which is Turkey’s first risk mitigation project. More than 1.5 million students started to study in safer buildings and received better education.

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Respect for Nature

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Turkey’s first risk mitigation project implemented by Istanbul Project Coordination Unit, respect for human and nature, energy efficiency and sustainability became the key factors in all the buildings constructed.

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The Heroes of the First 72 Hours

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938,618 persons were trained with the awareness raising activities. 235 thousand people living in Istanbul became Safe Life Volunteers. Almost 6,5 million materials were shared with the residents of Istanbul in training and communication settings. An e-training module was developed in order to extend the Safe Life Training Programs.

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Transparent Building Permit Processes

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Pilot municipalities became the first ones in Turkey receiving ISO 27001 information security management system certification. Building permit processes were improved and transferred to the electronic environment. With the traceable and transparent infrastructure, the building permit processes were considerably shortened.

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The Beginning of the Journey: Atatürk Student Dormitory

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1175 public buildings were reinforced or reconstructed to be earthquake resistant.

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One School Change, Thousand Students Change

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Planning and preparations as part of the disaster management principles were completed in 39 pilot schools from each district of Istanbul. Thus, Turkey has become one of the leader countries with the significant steps taken in “Safe Schools Program” implemented by the United Nations.