Istanbul's Urban Transformation Quiz

In the 1980s, the neoliberal transformation swept through the world economy, and along with it the globalization process that picked up speed.

This led to a deep transformation in cities all over the world, with major cities of developing countries being particularly affected.

In Istanbul, which already lacked a tradition of principled planning, the administrators of the city blindly adopted the neoliberal approach that put financial gain ahead of people’s needs, and the result is a megashantytown of 15 million people struggling with mesh of life-threatening problems.

Especially in the past 10 years, as the World Bank foresaw in its reports, Istanbul has been changing from an industrial city to a finance and service-centered city, competing with other world cities for investment.

Making Istanbul attractive for investors requires not only the abolishment of legal controls that look out for the public good, but also a parallel transformation of the users of the city.

This means that the working class who actually built the city as an industrial center no longer have a place in the new consumption-centered finance and service city.

So what is planned for these people? This is where the “urban renewal” projects come into play.

Armed with new powers never before imagined, TOKI (State Housing Administration), together with the municipalities and private investors, are trying to reshape the urban landscape in this new vision.

With international capital behind them, land plans in their hands, square meters and building coefficients in their minds, they are demolishing neighborhoods, and instead building skyscrapers, highways and shopping malls.

But who do these new spaces serve?

The huge gap between the rich and the poor in Istanbul is reflected more and more in the urban landscape, and at the same time feeds on the spatial segregation.

While the rich isolate themselves in gated communities, residences and plazas; new poverty cycles born in social housing communities on the prifery of the city designed as human depots continue to push millions to desperation and hopelessness.

So who is responsible for this social legacy that we are leaving for future generations?

While billions of dollars are wasted on new road tunnels, junctions, and viaducts with a complete disregard for the scientific fact that all new roads eventually create their own traffic, Istanbul in 2010 has to contend with a single-line eight-station metro “system”.

Due to insufficient budget allocations for mass public transportation, rail and other alternative transport systems, millions of people are tormented in traffic, and billions of dollars worth of time go out the exhaust pipe.

What do our administrators do? You guessed right: more roads!

Istanbul is facing many environmental and social problems because of the construction of new bridges and highways.

The bridges and highways are dividing the city into two parts and are causing social and ecological problems.

The city is losing its ecological and social cohesion and is becoming an ecumenopolis.