The Housing Development Administration, working under the auspices of the Prime Ministry through the authority granted by legislation, is a public institution operating in the "areas of greatest need" within the context of housing production and urban development policies. These areas can be categorized as follows:

1. Public housing : Public housing is constructed according to established building codes and is designed to be affordable and compatible with both the lifestyles of future owners and modern notions of urban living. TOKİ, which meets about 10% of the housing need in Turkey, consists of several subdivisions. Chief among these is providing public housing to the poor and lower income groups, particularly in areas the private sector ignores. About 80% of our projects are in this area. Public housing comes in many forms, depending on need. For example, we also provide "disaster housing" in areas struck by or in danger of being struck by natural disaster. Then there is the "agriculture village", which is established to develop our villages and prevent rural exodus. Finally, there is "immigrant housing," which meets the needs of ethnic Turks who are forced to migrate from their countries for whatever reason.

2. Urban renewal and the transformation of slums (gecekondu): One of the primary objectives of TOKİ is to discourage haphazard urbanization and the growth of slums. The former carries with it an economic and social burden on our cities. Hence, there is a need to eliminate it to the extent possible. However, this is not sufficient as there is still the problem of slums. TOKİ is working with local administrations to transform existing slums. This makes up approximately 10% of our total housing development. It should be pointed out that about five times the volume of housing already made available has been dessignated as "slum transformation" projects yet to be carried out.

3. "Resource development" projects and "production of property with infrastructure": The projects listed above are non-profit social projects. However, to be able to carry out these projects without being allocated a share of the budget , it is necessary to generate their own resources. To come up with these resources. To come up with these resources, TOKİ resorts to two methods. The first consists of "resource development" projects based on the "revenue sharing" model. The second is transforming treasury-own land that is void of infrastructure and transforming it into "property".

TOKİ has been operative in every province and in nearly half of all townships. A crucial aspect of its work is that it is not limited simply to producig housing. It also provides the social infrastructure needed to meet the needs of home owners by turning residential complexes into "micro-cities." A social community is created through the provision of libraries, healthcare services, commercial centers, outdoor and indoor sports facilities, safe playgrounds, places of worship, and, if necessary, schools and hospitals. Apart from those built to meet the needs of residential communities, TOKİ also builds schools and hospitals for the Ministry of Health within the framework of protocols signed by them.

Moreover, it should be emphasized that wherever we build housing, we take into consideration the great variation in climate and natural environment of our country, which enables us to make a contribution to the development of regional architecture. It is also important to mention that our various projects were conducted under the rubric of the protection of historical fabric and historical works.

The interest shown by our people in TOKİ has gone a long way to support these projects. It is not even worth pointing out that while TOKİ was founded as a public institution, it operates under private sector logic, hence ingraining it with an important economic dimension. TOKİ has been a major factor in the revitalization of the construction sector of our country over the last few years. In addition to working towards the solution of the problems of housing and urbanization in Turkey, it has countributed to the development and invigoration of the construction sector, which is a crucial economic locomotive.

In short, while TOKİ is a leader in providing safe residential areas that offer sound, high quality and modern facilities, it also works to create a new sense of planned urbanization and housing production.

Erdoğan BAYRAKTAR
President of TOKİ