Protecting Caferağa

The Caferağa neighborhood, where I also live, is one of the 21 neighborhoods in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul. It is a neighborhood that we can call the center of the Kadıköy district, possessing all kinds of transportation facilities, and where social, cultural, and commercial life is vibrant. At the same time, it is a residential area where approximately 21,000 people live. For those who do not know its location, the easiest way I can describe it is the area that starts from the Kadıköy Pier, includes the Moda neighborhood, and has the Fenerbahçe Stadium on its border.

The Caferağa neighborhood has undergone a major transformation since the beginning of the 2010s. It has become one of the most preferred districts on the Anatolian side for culture, arts, dining, and entertainment. Due to the businesses that have opened, it has become the neighborhood with the highest daily population in the district.

Approximately eighty percent of the buildings in the neighborhood were constructed before the year 2000. Due to the current earthquake risk, as in many parts of our country, the old structures here need to be demolished and new, sturdy buildings constructed as soon as possible. The fact that urban transformation is being carried out at the parcel level rather than the block level, along with adjacent buildings, narrow streets, and other economic problems, causes the urban transformation to progress slowly. 

Because the district is an old settlement, narrow streets are in the majority, and green spaces, if we do not count a few parks and the coastline, are extremely scarce. 

The environment and public interest must be protected

The Caferağa neighborhood is facing a current and imminent danger today. One of the few green and open spaces left in the district is under the threat of being opened up for construction.  

There is a desire to build a residential complex containing luxury housing on this large property, which is used by the public and includes the neighborhood headman's office (muhtarlık), an ambulance station, a family health center serving 15,000 citizens, artificial turf fields and a parking lot, as well as a children's park that serves as a disaster assembly area, and an area called the Moda Orchard where fruits and vegetables are planted.

The property in question (Caferağa neighborhood, block 119, parcel 61) is 11,775 m2 in size and is owned by a foundation. The Istanbul Foundations 2nd Regional Directorate has initiated a tender process with an announcement it published.

The area where the property is located is both an urban and a 3rd-degree Archaeological Site. I do not want to complicate the issue by going into the legal nature of the event. However, I would like to share this brief information: before the tender, no opinion was sought from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), the Kadıköy Municipality, or the Istanbul No. 5 Regional Board for the Protection of Cultural Heritage.

The problem and the danger are extremely clear; there is a desire to build private residences on a large property in a historic district in the center of Kadıköy that houses public institutions serving citizens and is used as a green space and disaster assembly center. 

If construction takes place, the area used for public benefit will be lost. The current traffic density will increase even further. A large space that would be used in the event of any disaster will be given up. Citizens who benefit from various services, especially health, will have to go to more distant places. Considering the average age of the neighborhood residents and the traffic density, the problem that will arise is extremely significant.

Against this intended tender, the neighborhood residents, led by the Caferağa Neighborhood Headman's Office, are preparing to voice their objections to the public and subsequently engage in a legal struggle. 

Neighborhood headman Hanife Dağıstanlı, who is an architect herself, is following the issue closely and monitoring the process before public institutions. At the same time, she is making efforts to ensure the incident is heard by the public.

According to the TAMP (Turkey Disaster Response Plan), after a possible disaster, especially in the first 72 hours, the headman's office is the center of all coordination, and the headman is the authorized official. 

For two years, the headman's office, with the participation of educated volunteers in our neighborhood, has been working to make this area a truly comprehensive Disaster Coordination Center, not just on paper.

Simple interventions can be performed with the health facilities here, the area can be settled, and all aspects of disaster response can be coordinated from this area. In addition, a radio station is planned to be established for direct communication with the Kadıköy District Disaster Coordination Center.

Losing this important property, which is considered for opening to construction, means abandoning Caferağa, where there is no structural renewal, to death after a disaster.

The power of public opinion

In addition to the involvement of the other public institutions I mentioned above, it is very important to inform the citizens about the issue and to use the pressure power of the citizen, which is indispensable for a democratic society. 

Every neighborhood resident and every citizen of Istanbul needs to take ownership of the historic Caferağa district.