ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 125

International Conference | Bari - Lecce, Italy Session III TURKEY’S ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND CHALLENGES TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY Saja B. Nazzal1 & Hasim Altan1 1 Sustainable Design of the Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering & IT, British University in Dubai, UAE, [email protected] / [email protected] Abstract Turkey is one of the countries that exposed recently to fast increase in economy and population. This caused a noticeable inequality of welfare between the socioeconomic groups and the region. Thus, the country increased its energy consumption. These changes stimulated the demolition of the ecosystem and the developments which affected the wellbeing of the social sustainability. This study aimed to investigate the environmental, social and economic issues that the country faced in the past and at present. Thus, the paper evaluates the impact of these issues on the country’s development and the human health. Moreover, defining the challenges that already implemented by the country toward sustainability have been discussed in the paper. In the study, a holistic approach have been adopted to cover the main issues of sustainability and to provide the appropriate solutions within a sustainability package in order to enhance the country’s income and society. This was supported by an extensive literature review. The study revealed five main issues in Turkey which are; air pollution, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and cl