Social impacts and public participation in transportation projects: a review of the Third Bridge Project in Istanbul

Abstract

Transportation systems affect our lives directly by providing accessibility to food, healthcare, employment and recreation facilities; and indirectly by creating changes in urban areas and the transportation conditions. It is crucial to define how transportation projects shape people’s daily lives and to identify the extension of these effects, in individual and societal context. Analyzing the impacts in a comprehensive way provides precautions to mitigate the negative effects and promote a higher life quality for society. The aim of this study is to observe the social impact assessment and participation techniques in transportation projects through the exemplary case of the Third Bridge Project in Istanbul. Phenomenological meetings, ethnographic observation and Stakeholder Analysis (N=65), were conducted in the vicinity of Garipce and Poyrazkoy, where the piers of the Third Bridge stand. This study revealed that the public has not been informed about the social risks and access to alternative resources (especially for disadvantaged groups) and that participation was not integrated in the project planning and implementation phase. These deficient studies create uncertainties about the benefits of the project and complicate the solutions of the problems; adequate measures can create positive outcomes for future projects.