Urban Transformation Glossary for Turkey: 39 Terms Explained (2026)

The terms you meet in an urban transformation (kentsel dönüşüm) meeting, a contractor's offer or a title deed are usually written in legal Turkish. This glossary collects the 39 terms we most often have to explain at ÇET Yapı owners' meetings, in plain English, with the Turkish term and the law behind it. The terms are grouped in the order of the process.

Legal framework and institutions

Law No. 6306: The Law on the Transformation of Areas under Disaster Risk of 16 May 2012, commonly called the "urban transformation law". It governs risky building assessments, owners' decisions, support and exemptions.

Implementing Regulation: The regulation that details how the Law is applied: meetings, notices, auctions and rent assistance. The latest major amendment was published in the Official Gazette on 4 February 2026.

Urban Transformation Presidency (Kentsel Dönüşüm Başkanlığı): Established in 2023 by Law No. 7471 under the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change. It runs support schemes and large-scale projects.

Urban Transformation Directorate (Müdürlük): The provincial unit. It reviews risky building reports, receives objections and runs the sale of non-agreeing owners' shares.

Administration (İdare): In the Law's sense, the municipality; in metropolitan cities the metropolitan municipality, or the district municipality if authorised by the Ministry.

Risk and assessment

Risky building (riskli yapı): A building inside or outside a risky area that has completed its economic life or is found, on scientific and technical data, to be at risk of collapse or heavy damage (Law Art. 2).

Risky area (riskli alan): A zone that carries a risk of loss of life and property because of its ground conditions or building stock, designated by the President. It is declared for an area, not a single building.

Reserve building area (rezerv yapı alanı): An area designated by the Ministry as a new settlement area for use in projects under the Law.

Implementation area (uygulama alanı): The collective name for a risky area, a reserve building area and the site of a risky building.

Risky building assessment (riskli yapı tespiti): Determining whether a building is risky, through on-site investigation and analysis by a Ministry-licensed institution. See our risky building assessment guide.

Licensed institution: An organisation licensed by the Ministry to carry out risky building assessments. Only these may do it.

Core sample (karot): A cylindrical concrete sample taken from the load-bearing elements and tested in a laboratory to measure the concrete's actual strength.

Risky building annotation (şerh / belirtme): The entry made in the declarations section of the land register once the assessment becomes final, informing third parties that the building is risky.

Retrofit (güçlendirme): Bringing the structure up to the earthquake code without demolishing it. We compare the options in retrofit or rebuild.

Ownership and decisions

Land share (arsa payı): The fraction of the land attached to each independent unit under condominium ownership, written on the title deed (for example 120/1000). It sets your voting weight and the area you receive in the new building.

Independent unit (bağımsız bölüm): A flat, shop or office with its own entry in the land register.

Simple majority by shares (hisseleri oranında salt çoğunluk): The majority required for transformation decisions: more than half of the land shares, not of the owners (Law Art. 6). See our majority decision guide.

Shareholder (paydaş): An owner with a share in the parcel on the title deed. For shared and inherited titles see our inheritance and shared title guide.

Market value (rayiç değer): The value used when a non-agreeing owner's land share is sold. A Valuation Commission sets it, also taking into account a valuation by a CMB (SPK)-licensed real estate appraisal firm obtained by the owners (Regulation Art. 15/A).

Auction (açık artırma): The procedure for selling the land share of an owner who does not join the majority decision, first to the agreeing shareholders and at no less than market value. Only the agreeing shareholders may bid in the first sale.

Partition (ortaklığın giderilmesi): Ending co-ownership of the land by court order after demolition. Under the Regulation, a pending partition suit does not prevent a simple majority decision.

Parcel and zoning

Parcel / block (parsel / ada): A parcel is a single registered plot; a block (imar adası) is a group of parcels surrounded by streets.

Parcel merger (tevhit): Combining several parcels into one. If all buildings on them are risky, it is decided by a simple majority of shares in each parcel separately (Regulation Art. 15/8).

Parcel division (ifraz): Dividing one parcel into several.

Block-based transformation (ada bazında dönüşüm): Treating the parcels in a block together as a single project. See our guide to multi-block sites and block-based renewal.

Zoning status certificate (imar durumu): The municipal document showing what may be built on a parcel and how much (floor area ratio, storeys, setbacks, use).

Floor area ratio (emsal / KAKS): Total permitted floor area divided by parcel area. On a 500 m² plot with an FAR of 2, about 1,000 m² of countable floor area may be built.

Ground coverage ratio (TAKS): The building footprint divided by parcel area.

Acquired rights (müktesep hak): Building rights gained through an earlier permit or occupancy certificate. Some plan notes protect these rights in transformation.

Contract and construction

Flat-for-land contract (kat karşılığı inşaat sözleşmesi): The owner transfers land shares to the contractor in return for flats in the new building; it should be made as a notarised deed. See our flat-for-land guide.

Sharing ratio (paylaşım oranı): How the new floor area is split between owners and contractor. The law sets no ratio; it is negotiated on location, building rights and cost.

Revenue sharing (hasılat paylaşımı): A model in which sales revenue from the new building is shared between the parties.

Specification list (mahal listesi): The detailed list of materials and fittings for the new flats; it should be an annex to the contract.

Construction servitude (kat irtifakı): A right set up in the land register for units that will exist once the building is finished. It is converted to condominium ownership (kat mülkiyeti) when the building is completed and the occupancy certificate is issued.

Building permit and occupancy certificate (yapı ruhsatı ve iskân): The permit allows construction to start; the occupancy certificate (yapı kullanma izin belgesi) confirms the building was completed according to the approved design.

Building completion insurance: Insurance against the risk of construction being left unfinished. See our building completion insurance guide.

Support

Rent assistance (kira yardımı): A monthly payment that may be made to owners of risky buildings vacated by agreement; for risky buildings outside risky areas it lasts 18 months. Tenants may receive a one-off payment of twice the monthly amount (Regulation Art. 16). Current amounts are in our rent assistance guide.

Yarısı Bizden ("Half from Us"): Istanbul's campaign providing grants, loans and moving support to owners of risky buildings. See our Yarısı Bizden guide.

Fee and tax exemptions: Transactions under Law No. 6306 are exempt from notary and land registry fees, municipal fees and certain taxes. See our tax and fee exemptions guide.

Why knowing the terms matters

Knowing what "simple majority by land share", "construction servitude" and "sharing ratio" mean tells you which questions to ask and what to get in writing. To see roughly what your new flat could be, use our urban transformation calculator, and read the whole process in our step-by-step urban transformation guide.

This glossary is general information. Before deciding on your own building, we recommend reviewing current legislation and the zoning status with an expert.