An Evaluation on Confronting Natural Disasters Published in Yapı Magazine

The article titled “Facing Natural Disasters,” authored by Prof. Dr. Murat Deniz Soygeniş, who works in the Department of Architecture, has been published in Yapı Magazine. We must reconsider and re-evaluate how resilient our living environments are to natural disasters. Following an earthquake that destroyed or severely damaged over a hundred thousand buildings and claimed tens of thousands of lives, the questions of what should be done and how it should be done have become the top priority in every professional field, just as after the 1999 Marmara Earthquake. The mistakes and helplessness are so numerous and so visible. Research reports and project proposals from scientists specializing in geosciences, earthquake engineering, civil engineering, urban and regional planning, and architecture are sitting on shelves; new proposals and projects are being added to these efforts and endeavors. It is very clear that these proposals, unless implemented, cannot be a solution to mitigating the effects of natural disasters. In a region prone to earthquakes, the unplanned population growth that has become an increasingly significant problem over the last 60-70 years, the fact that cities are filled with buildings constructed in violation of zoning regulations and without proper oversight, and the unstoppable development of industrial zones and residential areas on and near fault lines and riverbeds are practically inviting disaster. It is crucial to abandon an approach that prioritizes superficial infrastructure and instead adopt policies that focus on addressing and resolving the problem through infrastructure, and for these policies to be accepted by the public.