Türkiye planned to build new buildings to replace some 1.5 million risky ones in Istanbul for possible strong earthquakes in the future, the Turkish urbanization minister Murat Kurum said.
These residential buildings would be built in two designated areas on the Anatolian and European sides of the city, Kurum told reporters in southern Hatay province.
The move falls into the urban transformation project launched by the Turkish government in the quake-prone Marmara region, the country's industrial powerhouse in the northwest.
The government would also reduce the density of the constructions and strengthen industrial areas against earthquakes, Kurum noted.
