The youth group from Büyükçekmece was such a delight to meet. It was beyond expectations how much they were aware of their surroundings, both socially and spatially. Despite the reportedly low educational backgrounds and cultural capital they inherited, they succeeded to outgrow former generations and improved themselves to a great extent. Beyond the educational levels they acquired, they grew up to be responsible and conscious citizens.
Just like most of other people, the youth group expressed their wishes to live in low population density areas. However, when they addressed the growing population due to increasing immigration rates, theirs was a discourse of policy gaps, instead of hate speech. In a mindful manner, they were aware that the main problem is the incompatibility and insufficiency of poorly installed infrastructures to the growing population.
“The migrant population is expected to rise. Istanbul already reached a saturation point and cannot take in any more immigrants. So, the city will inevitably grow towards Büyükçekmece. Growing population is already considered to be a problem and it is expected to get worse, because the infrastructure and superstructure will be insufficient to meet demands.” – Alper
Because they were too young to have experienced the great ’99 earthquake in Yalova, their disaster and risk perceptions were more equally focused on other natural hazards and their potential consequences. The participants from the Türkoba Neighbourhood, for instance, see floods as one of the primary hazards in their area. They reported that their current building is constructed on a stream bed. It is not very close to the lake, but still connected to the basin. There used to be a river in this location in 1999.
“No need for drilling, you can reach the underground water if you just dig 10 metres.” – Semih
They underscored that there is a lack of awareness about emergency actions in the event of a potential disaster. Even they do not feel well-informed about what to do and where to go, how can one expect any less-capable person to be prepared to protect themselves or others? Hence, the group demanded for qualified trainings so that they would know what exactly to do in case of a disaster. They want to know about gathering places, first aid and other immediate actions to take. Taking a civil initiative, they had, more or less, already identified where people more vulnerable to disasters live. As one of the most resilient groups in the community, they claim responsibility for volunteering to alleviate sufferings and help others in case of a disaster.
“We are already used to suffering. Be it love or other kinds of pain, but we are more accustomed to challenges.” – Zeynep
In accordance with their rich minds and broad visions, they had brilliant dreams to share with us. They imagined a city where there were safe spaces to socialise, play, and ride a bike. They wanted to live among more highly educated people in a place where cultural activities, social and education facilities are accessible to all. They also dreamt of sustainable cities keeping up with technology. Producing energy locally by installing solar panels, building windmills, and a dam both for hydroelectric energy production and management of heavy rainfalls and overflows were some of the suggestions.
The dreams were there, however the group was not very hopeful that these dreams could ever come true. Unfortunately before any other capacity and resources, they all believe that the probability of building such cities are, first of all, a matter of politics, but there was a consensus that turning Büyükçekmece into a smart city and urban management with a technology focus are the least likely possibilities.
Even though smart cities were agreed to be a distant dream, the youth group emphasised the importance of thorough, long-term planning, horizontal urbanisation and management of population growth. They demand the authorities should pay close attention to where to locate residential areas and where to leave idle, maybe recreational spaces. In their words, at the very least, “the life should be moved to a safe place.”