On October 29, 1923, the proclamation of the Republic of Türkiye marked a turning point not only in the country's political history but also in its urban planning, architecture and real estate development. Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the new republic accelerated plans to transform Ankara into a modern administrative capital. The city had already been designated the national capital on October 13, 1923.

At the time, Ankara was a relatively small settlement with a population of approximately 20,000, largely concentrated around its historic citadel. Its new administrative role created growing demand for government offices, diplomatic buildings, housing, commercial premises and modern infrastructure. The government began planning the city's expansion to accommodate these requirements.

German architect Carl Christoph Lörcher prepared an early modern development plan for Ankara in 1924–1925, identifying locations for public buildings, administrative districts and road networks. This was followed by a more comprehensive urban planning approach associated with German planner Hermann Jansen, whose master plan shaped much of the city's development during the 1930s.

The resulting transformation introduced new residential neighbourhoods, government complexes, educational institutions, public parks and wider road networks. Ankara's expansion also stimulated construction activity and changed land-use patterns. Over time, the city became an important example of twentieth-century capital-city planning, demonstrating how public investment and coordinated urban development could reshape an urban landscape.

The historical importance of Ankara's planned development continues to receive international recognition. In 2025, the planning and construction of Ankara as a modern republican capital were added to UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List. The city's transformation remains a significant case study in the relationship between government policy, urban infrastructure, architecture and long-term real estate development.

On October 29, 1929, the Wall Street stock market suffered the collapse remembered worldwide as Black Tuesday. Although the immediate losses occurred in shares, the wider economic crisis that followed would leave a lasting mark on housing, property ownership and construction.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 12 per cent that Tuesday, following a decline of almost 13 per cent the previous day. The crash shook confidence and deepened an economic contraction already underway. However, it was not the sole cause of the Great Depression: subsequent banking and financial crises helped turn the downturn into a prolonged catastrophe.

For real estate, the chronology matters. American homebuilding had weakened before Black Tuesday. Historical estimates published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics show that new nonfarm dwelling units declined from approximately 937,000 in 1925 to 753,000 in 1928 and 509,000 in 1929. The stock market collapse therefore struck an industry already losing momentum.

During the Depression, that slowdown became a collapse. By 1933, the estimated number of new nonfarm dwelling units had fallen to just 93,000—about 82 per cent below the 1929 figure. These historical estimates illustrate the extraordinary contraction in residential building over four years.

The damage extended beyond building sites. Unemployment and falling house prices undermined borrowers’ ability to repay mortgages, while a severely weakened banking system restricted new credit. In a historical review, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke noted that construction employment had fallen by roughly half from its late-1920s peak by the time Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933.

For households, the crisis could mean losing their homes. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago research estimates that between 10 and 20 per cent of American homeowners lost their properties through foreclosure or similar processes during the 1930s. Housing distress became a major national policy challenge.

The response helped transform housing finance. Established in 1933, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation purchased and refinanced approximately one million delinquent mortgages between 1933 and 1936. The programme sought to give struggling borrowers a more manageable path to repayment.

Another major reform followed with the creation of the Federal Housing Administration in 1934. Its mortgage insurance was designed to encourage lenders to offer more attractive borrowing terms, helping reshape the framework through which Americans financed homeownership.

Ninety-seven years later, Black Tuesday remains a significant reference point for property history. Its connection to real estate lies in the downturn it intensified and the housing emergency that followed. The enduring lesson is that construction and homeownership depend not only on land and buildings, but also on employment, confidence and dependable access to credit.

Source(s):

1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Building Construction, 1941, Bulletin No. 713

2. Federal Reserve Board — “Housing, Housing Finance, and Monetary Policy,” Ben Bernanke, August 31, 2007