Optimization of expropriation costs on the highway projects in Türkiye

Expropriation is widely used to introduce highway projects into the society. Expropriation is the registration process of real estate and equities owned by natural and legal persons on behalf of the administration for public interest, provided that property and easement right amount shall be paid in cash or in advance or by equal installments. In what situations and by which institutions expropriation is carried out are restricted by the law. In accordance with the Article 3 of the Expropriation Law Number 2942 amended by the Law Number 4650, the expropriation process shall not be started without an adequate allowance provided by the administration. The exercise of the right of property shall not be against public interest.” Project areas are required to be converted into public property after the development plans for the public projects are prepared. Areas regarded as private property but intersected by highway, railway or waterway routes can only be occupied after expropriation. Without expropriation, projects based on transportation in improvement areas can be opened to public with the application of the provisions of the Development Law Number 3194, while those in areas having no development plan can be opened to public with the application of the relevant provisions of the Agricultural Reform Law Number 3083 on Land Consolidation in Irrigated Areas and Law Number 5403 on Soil Conservation and Land Use. In this article, opening highways, railways, and waterways to public in Türkiye using the implementation of development plans is discussed. For the real estate coinciding with the route of public investments, if land and land lots are arranged in accordance with the Article 18 of the Development Law Number 3194, state withholding up to 45% may be imposed. The objective function in the state withholding can be stated as f= costmin= f(a,b). Land acquisition increases as the ratio of state withholding increases, resulting in the minimization of the expropriation costs. Public projects such as highway can be opened to public free of charge with development plan implementation in improvement areas and with land consolidation in rural areas having no development plan.