The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality is ready to execute an urban transformation project in Üsküdar’s historic Kuzguncuk neighborhood, the Sözcü daily reported on Monday.
The municipality declared the neighborhood along with 16 others in Üsküdar an urban transformation site.
A settlement near the Bosporus since the early Byzantine era, Kuzguncuk was a symbol of İstanbul’s multi-faith social fabric, hosting a mosque, a church and a synagogue.
There are a total of 167 buildings in the neighborhood: 87 one-floor, 43 two-floor, 22 three-floor, eight four-floor, five five-floor and two six-floor apartments. Some of the buildings are fine examples of 19th century Ottoman architecture.
Since previous urban transformation projects were criticized for reducing green areas and erecting high buildings, critics on social media raised same concerns for the Kuzguncuk project.