Construction & Real Estate

The construction sector is riding high on the back of a raft of major infrastructure projects, particularly in road and bridge development, and an ongoing urban regeneration plan that will see one-third of the country’s houses torn down and rebuilt. After shrinking in 2009 as the result of a financial crisis, the sector helped lead the economic recovery by growing by 18.3% and 11.5% in 2010 and 2011. Although the market is still susceptible to a temporary slowdown in light of the recent global economic crisis, which moderated growth for 2012, long-term trends favour continued growth. The coming challenge will be to align public and private incentives and ensure that haphazard planning does not derail a promising decade. This chapter contains interviews with Başar Arıoğlu, Managing Director, Yapı Merkezi, and Ahmet Haluk Karabel, President, Housing Development Administration of Turkey, as well as a viewpoint from Mehmet Ali Neyzi, CEO, STFA.