The areas around the Lake Van, specifically the urban areas of the City of Van, have a significant place among the centers in the Eastern Anatolian Region in terms of receiving migrants from the rural areas at an increasing rate. As the population around the Lake Van continues to increase rapidly, a haphazard urbanization, where geological factors are disregarded and uncontrolled and random efforts of industrialization results in significant environmental pollution, threatens the life-supporting aspects in the urban areas around the Lake Van as well as in some rural areas. The studies regarding the consideration of detailed sedimentary and tectonic investigations during the construction-sector activities in the urban areas of Van, and in its rapidly urbanizing vicinity, provide an example for the area. As a result of the investigations following this approach, essential data are obtained that can be used in the studies preventing the haphazard urbanization mode which results from the heavy influx of rural migrants to the City of Van. The data collected on the sedimentological properties of young sediments which cover the surface areas in the city of Van and its vicinity, on the active tectonics in these areas, and on the establishment of the geotechnical properties of these sediments can also be used in prediction of the behaviors of these during a potentially destructive earthquake. It is possible to minimize the damages from potential earthquakes that are likely to occur in the area by incorporating these data into the urbanization studies. Furthermore, as a yardstick to be used in the establishment of new urbanization areas, obtaining data on engineering properties of the soils and rocks of the area and sharing these data with the local and official administration establishes a basis for the development of a policy for selecting sites for new settlements in the City of Van and its vicinity and contributes to the efforts in creation of a city with a healthy environment for the next generations. As a testimony to this and as a result of continuous emphasis, during the project studies, on the importance of selecting building sites on strong foundations and new tendencies, a Van multi-housing project has now been realized on the travertine rocks of Edremit.