Melikgazi Mayor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Palancıoğlu attended the "Urban Rights and Climate Change
Workshop & Launch Event" organized by the
Climate and Sustainability Sciences Research Foundation (İSBAV) and the
Sustainable Development and Urban Research Association (SÜRKAD), with the contributions of the Istanbul Bosphorus Municipalities Union, the Union of Turkish City Councils and the Sarıyer City Council.
Hosted by Istanbul Commerce University, the program addressed the social impacts of climate change, urban rights and local government. The program brought together representatives from the academic community, local governments, civil society and international organizations.
President Palancıoğlu delivered his speech at the panel titled “Democratic Cooperation and Policy Harmony Between Central and Local Governments” as part of the event, which included four separate panels, expert presentations, a film screening and a special publication launch.
“WE DO NOT NEGLECT GENERATIONS WHILE DEVELOPING CITIES!”
The program included 4 panels titled Climate Justice from the Perspective of Urban Rights,
Sustainable Policies for Social Justice and Livability in Cities,
Democratic Cooperation and Policy Harmonization between Central and Local Governments, and
Technical Cooperation between Central and Local Governments.
Speaking at the event where climate justice, livable cities, and governance issues were discussed in a multidimensional manner, Mayor Palancıoğlu said, “
I have been serving as mayor for 11 years. Before that, I had important works related to municipality. Being a Surveying Engineer and an urban planner has been very beneficial in terms of carrying out municipal activities. I have been representing our country at the Council of Europe Local and Regional Administrations Congress for 10 years; I have been defending the interests of our country.
Our Melikgazi is a large city with a population of 600 thousand and 58 neighborhoods. district and we carry out many works in this context. We allocate a large budget and time to environmental cleaning in Melikgazi. We sweep 700 km of roads daily and collect garbage with nearly 50 vehicles. We are one of the most successful municipalities in Turkey in recycling. We are the municipality that issues the most construction permits in Turkey. Most of these permits belong to 2-storey houses, our citizens no longer want high-rise buildings. While high-rise buildings were popular before, the needs of the citizens have changed after the earthquake and the Covid outbreak. There is a saying that if you neglect generations while reviving cities, the generations you neglect will destroy the cities you revive. Employment is essential for the increase in the quality of life of our youth. We are opening the Mehmet Altun Aviation and Space Sciences High School, which will provide employment for our youth. In addition, we have started work for the construction of a secondary school. If we determine where our youth can be employed in the next 50 years in Turkey, this is important. We are establishing a Children's University. Children's University What I mean is actually a center for measuring
the abilities. In this center, we will provide data according to the abilities of the children we will
enroll. We are establishing Akıl Küpü Libraries. We are guiding the children in a nice and
correct way. We are building a Fairy Tale House and Toy Library.
There is a theater hall and drama workshop inside. The reason we are doing these is that we are thinking of our
young people and families in Melikgazi scale and providing them with a
good opportunity. We are building transparent parks. We design parks in the parks we build with grass areas, trees,
walking paths and bicycle paths so that everyone can see each other. We are the municipality that has built the most parks in Turkey. Their number has exceeded 300.
We are the municipality that has built the most schools in Turkey, their number is approaching 25. We are the municipality that has built the most family
health centers. We are doing such work so that families can send their children to schools within walking distance in their
own neighborhoods, receive health services under the same conditions, and can see their children as families and take ownership of the parks. As Melikgazi Municipality, we are doing these kinds of
work so that citizens We attach great importance to the participation of civil society organizations and chambers. As Melikgazi Municipality, we are working within the framework of the strategic plan we have made. There are 1400 municipalities in Turkey. We are one of the municipalities that do not have debt, do not take out loans and make the most investments in Turkey. We are the municipality that carries out the most projects with philanthropists in Turkey. The Urban Rights and Climate Change Workshop was a very productive program in terms of discussing the social impacts of climate change, livable cities and governance issues. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this important event where the academic community, public administrators, civil society representatives and international experts came together.”
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and ensure efficient operation.