Business Relations in Local Governments

The third week of the Local Governments Academy 2 certificate program organized by the Bahçeşehir University School of Government and Leadership took place on Saturday, 1 October 2011, at Bahçeşehir University's Beşiktaş campus.

This week's program hosted Mayor of Uşak Ali Erdoğan, General Manager of İspark Kadir Gurbetci, Mayor of Eyüp İsmail Kavuncu and urbanist architect Prof. Dr. Ahmet Vefik Alp, and included important assessments on many projects in Istanbul, particularly relations between local governments and the business world.

Ali Erdoğanstated in the first session that as the level of development rises, the amount of solid waste increases, while compliance with waste collection rules decreases. Attributing this to the fact that 30% of waste is packaging waste, the Mayor stressed that the waste problem must be addressed seriously in order to prevent social problems.

Kadir Gurbetciprovided important information in the second session on car dependency in metropolitan cities, sustainable transportation, the parking problem and its solutions. Saying, "People now gain status through their cars," Gurbetci noted that, given this strong demand for car use, city or car criteria will come to the fore in people's choice of living space in the coming years. He concluded, "Our aim as an organization is to prevent long-term occupation of streets and illegality in the parking system, and to build a parking culture."

İsmail Kavuncushared his experiences in the business world in the third session and then provided important information on local governments and the business world. Asked about the greatest challenge faced by municipalities, he said, "Bureaucratic obstacles are like shackles on the feet of this nation. However, our government is making efforts to provide the necessary conveniences to our citizens, both in title deed matters and in many other areas."

Prof. Dr. Ahmet Vefik Alpdrew considerable attention in the final session with his words: "I want buildings to be seen not as spaces that protect us from climatic conditions, but as cultural structures. In this respect, I believe that buildings speak." Concluding by describing three vitally important projects he envisions for Istanbul, Alp added that ecological conditions must also be taken into account during the project construction phase.