Istanbul: A global ’metropolitan basin’
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Radikal
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 31, 2009 00:00
Turkey’s globalization cannot be fully comprehended without taking account of its largest city. Difficult to define as just one city, Istanbul is perhaps better understood, on the national stage and in a global sense, as a "metropolitan basin" that features many cities within it. Istanbul produces 20 percent of Turkey’s $658 billion gross domestic product. The city’s economy is worth $133 billion, making it the 34th largest among the world’s biggest city economies.
Istanbul is a leading industrial city, containing 35 percent of the country’s commercial institutions, and a financial capital for the future. It is primed to be the 2010 European Cultural Capital and has a $10 billion municipal budget, excluding the budgets of its companies.
All together, Istanbul is a "global metropolis" that tells the story of Turkey’s Europeanization through its geography, history, economy, civil society, culture, and politics.
At the crossroads
Istanbul is both a historical center and a key element in the country’s process of globalization and Europeanization, making it a crossroads where the traditional and the postmodern are experienced simultaneously.
In this sense, Istanbul can be perceived not as one city but as many, a multi-dimensional and multi-layered metropolis. Istanbul’s administrators strive for "vision, will and effort" with the city’s stance as a "metropolitan basin" in mind. In doing so, they highlight Istanbul’s qualifications as "a financial capital," "a culture economy capital," "a historical capital" and "a cosmopolitan city where the postmodern, the modern and the traditional meet."
In addition to all those qualifications, however, Istanbul also has serious problems with urban sprawl, transportation, earthquakes, water supply and "the violence of daily life." These are the reasons Istanbul ranked only 28th in "habitability" despite being a global city. On this index, it ranks at the top by far for its culture and arts, but only 25th for economy, 31st for urban life, in 40th place for security and 61st for education (despite its many educational institutions).
As a result, despite its important qualities, its relative wealth and its potential as a global city, Istanbul faces serious problems of habitability that must be recognized along with its valuable aspects and its importance to the country.
All together, Istanbul is a "global metropolis" that tells the story of Turkey’s Europeanization through its geography, history, economy, civil society, culture, and politics.
At the crossroads
Istanbul is both a historical center and a key element in the country’s process of globalization and Europeanization, making it a crossroads where the traditional and the postmodern are experienced simultaneously.
In this sense, Istanbul can be perceived not as one city but as many, a multi-dimensional and multi-layered metropolis. Istanbul’s administrators strive for "vision, will and effort" with the city’s stance as a "metropolitan basin" in mind. In doing so, they highlight Istanbul’s qualifications as "a financial capital," "a culture economy capital," "a historical capital" and "a cosmopolitan city where the postmodern, the modern and the traditional meet."
In addition to all those qualifications, however, Istanbul also has serious problems with urban sprawl, transportation, earthquakes, water supply and "the violence of daily life." These are the reasons Istanbul ranked only 28th in "habitability" despite being a global city. On this index, it ranks at the top by far for its culture and arts, but only 25th for economy, 31st for urban life, in 40th place for security and 61st for education (despite its many educational institutions).
As a result, despite its important qualities, its relative wealth and its potential as a global city, Istanbul faces serious problems of habitability that must be recognized along with its valuable aspects and its importance to the country.