The 8th stop of the neighborhood meetings in Maltepe was ‘Feyzullah’.

The eighth neighborhood meeting initiated by Maltepe Mayor Esin Köymen with the slogan “City rights for the people of Maltepe” was held with the participation of residents of Feyzullah Neighborhood. In the meeting hosted by the municipality, Mayor Köymen stated that they are working on projects that will positively affect the neighborhood residents regarding the urban transformation process, saying, “We need to create a financing model and work on methods for obtaining loans. I must emphasize that we need to produce joint solutions based on the fact that urban transformation is a scientific endeavor.”

Neighborhood meetings in Maltepe continue with broad participation. The 8th of the “Neighborhood Meetings” was held with the participation of residents of Feyzullah Neighborhood at the main service building of the municipality. The meeting, hosted by Mayor and architect Esin Köymen, was also attended by deputy mayors, unit directors, and Feyzullah Neighborhood Muhtar Ayça Bal. During the meeting, problems regarding urban transformation, lighting, parking, infrastructure, traffic, transportation, security, and stray animals were shared, and Feyzullah Neighborhood Muhtar Ayça Bal gave a speech of thanks.

“We know the problems, and we are working on them”
Mayor Esin Köymen, who gave the opening speech at the meeting, said, “Thank you for your participation. We are holding the eighth of our neighborhood meetings. After completing these meetings, we will produce solution proposals based on the data we received from you and will hold a second round. We had done similar works during the election process. We know the problems in our neighborhood, and we know that some problems are common issues. There are issues that we need to solve in the short term, some can be solved in the long term, and there are also projects planned towards the real solution of these problems. We need to work on urban transformation, parking, and parking issues. We are conducting sensitive work regarding parking in newly constructed buildings as required by regulations. Again, we have a tram project between Üsküdar and Cevizli that will affect our neighborhood. Approval has been obtained from the Metropolitan Municipality, and the work is ongoing,” she said.

“We will work on Artists’ Street”
Köymen also expressed that they are working to utilize the areas in Feyzullah Neighborhood according to the needs of the neighborhood, continuing her words: “Neighborhood houses and neighborhood councils are an important issue for us. The meeting we are currently holding is actually a foundation for the neighborhood councils. We must work together to produce solutions and take ownership of what we do. To raise urban living standards, those living locally must act together. In addition, we are redesigning Erol Dernek Park. We will work with Maltepe University on Artists’ Street. We have started providing scholarships to students through the Süreyya Paşa Foundation. You can also apply. We are a big family, and we want to be happy in the place we live. We are here to listen to your problems and demands. Thank you again for your participation.”

“We must produce solutions for urban transformation together”
At the end of the meeting, Köymen, who answered questions about urban transformation, stated, “In our own planning notes, there are many increases that come with consolidation, such as the increase in zoning due to the legalization of basement floors, and the 1.30 increase coming from the zoning regulations related to the protection of construction areas of buildings built in accordance with permits and licenses. The concept of a 2-story zoning increase cannot exist. What we are talking about is a re-examination of a zoning plan process. The zoning plan is also a scientific work. The return of the planning note from the Metropolitan Municipality tells us this: It says, do your work in your own area, allocate the amenities needed for the population brought by the 2-story increase, and then we will give you this 2-story increase. We will reduce 40% of your parcels but add 2 more floors on top. Don’t think that an additional 2 stories will be added without doing anything. The amenity area allocated with the increase will almost match the population increase. There is no point in doing this. It is necessary to work on a financing model because the right to housing is a constitutional right. First, we need to accept that this is a scientific study. Let’s work on financial models and methods of obtaining loans. Let’s mediate in places where our people cannot come together, produce solutions, but if you say that the municipality should do all of these, the municipality cannot handle them.”