3S RECIPE – Smart Shrinkage Solutions: Zonguldak (TR) Policy Brief #3. Liveability

This policy brief investigates an inventory of state interventions that are judged to be most effective in creating a sustainable urban environment and maintaining a vibrant local community in Zonguldak – a small shrinking city in north-western Turkey. Amongst many initiatives, two stand out, in particular. The first is Zonguldak’s urban renewal programme concerned with housing provision, city centre redevelopment, and upgrading municipal facilities and public infrastructure. The urban renewal efforts that are underway in the city are aimed at 1) regularising squatter settlements that were being built illegally, without the obligatory permits, on public land for many decades; 2) initiating the redevelopment of these residential areas; and 3) growing the stock of new, good quality housing in the city. The second – award-winning – smart shrinkage solution that Zonguldak offers to many mining and seaport cities across the globe concerns repurposing industrial and maritime heritage and converting the city’s historical legacy into a liveability asset. The key lesson learnt in Zonguldak is that a shrinking city must prioritise urban livability if it is to become resilient.