ISTANBUL
The World Bank has finalized a 554.4 million euro ($643.1 million) financing package to strengthen Istanbul’s emergency preparedness and support the construction of disaster-resilient, energy-efficient public buildings in Türkiye’s largest and most vulnerable city.
Signed on Nov. 17, the financing agreement follows the World Bank Board’s approval of the Istanbul Urban Resilience Project in August.
The project aims to reduce disaster and climate risks in Istanbul — a metropolis of around 16 million people situated near major fault lines and long identified as highly exposed to the threat of a large earthquake. Much of the city’s building stock is considered old or structurally weak, making large-scale resilience investments a priority for the government and international lenders.
The project will be implemented by the Istanbul Governor’s Office’s project coordination unit and will focus on enhancing emergency response capacity across the city while replacing or upgrading vulnerable public buildings to meet modern safety and energy-efficiency standards.
Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said the World Bank has been a long-standing partner in Türkiye’s disaster-risk reduction and climate adaptation agenda.
“Through our cooperation with the World Bank, we have made significant progress in reducing disaster risks, advancing climate adaptation and promoting sustainable urban development,” he said.
With the latest agreement, Türkiye’s total concessional financing secured from international institutions this year has reached roughly $14.7 billion. External funding allocated specifically for strengthening Istanbul’s urban resilience, including the new World Bank loan, now stands at $1.9 billion.
Separately, Türkiye has also obtained about $7.5 billion in external financing for the reconstruction of provinces devastated by the Feb. 2023 earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş.
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