Cities are Where Sustainable Development Comes to Life
A lesson from Konya
When the Mayor of Konya reflected on the devastating earthquakes that struck Türkiye in 2023, he did not begin by talking about buildings. He spoke about a choice. The disaster exposed the vulnerabilities of cities, but it also created an opportunity to rethink how communities are planned and rebuilt. Housing, he argued, cannot be treated as a construction project whose sole purpose is to provide shelter.
