Is 3rd bridge over Bosphorus a threat to Istanbul’s future?
The AK Parti government headed by PM Erdoğan decided to build another bridge over the Bosphorus, the strait connecting Asia to Europe and the groundbreaking ceremony was realized on 29th May 2013.
The government maintains this new bridge has been a must for a long time to contribute to the solution of Istanbul’s extremely overloaded traffic.
The investment is observed to be a huge one and brings many “firsts” such as the widest bridge and the tallest etc… In fact, it is going to have a rail system crossing the Bosphorus.
Regarding the unbearable traffic problem in Istanbul, it goes without saying something have to be done. Moreover, no doubt this bridge is going to contribute to the referred problem.
However there is strong criticism that the project also brings along big disadvantages in terms of environmental protection and population
In this framework, environmental organizations, urban planners and many İstanbul residents have expressed major concerns about the construction of a third bridge over the Bosporus. These groups and people warn that this project will damage the city’s remaining green areas and cause the city’s traffic to become even worse and end up with a much denser population in the town.
Many experts comment that authorities should decide if they want İstanbul to expand with a huge population growth.
Thus the question is not how many trees and how much green the new bridge project will take away from Istanbul, but it is more construction means more population and giant traffic problems for İstanbul.
Therefore instead of trying to solve the problem through construction of new roads, flyovers and bridges – which is supposed to attract more and more people in the end, authorities should try to see to it that immigration to this giant city is under total control and stopped actually.
And this is only possible by by eliminating the reasons for the migration of these people from the province to cities like Istanbul. There is only one way to accomplish this; By giving these people jobs in their hometowns so they do not try to find ways to immigrate to cities.
We suppose time will show who is right and who is wrong.
30.05.2013
Editor, BTT
