Shopping malls: New fair grounds of Istanbul
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Asli Saglam
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 28, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - The characteristics of shopping malls are changing. Rather than only offering stores and restaurants to visitors, the new malls surrounding Istanbul day by day become venues where people can spend their whole day.
Besides being the financial and cultural center of Turkey, Istanbul has also become the paradise of shopping malls in just the last few years. Some have claimed to be the biggest shopping mall in Europe while some have even earned international architecture awards for their contemporary looks.
The city has to offer activities to its huge population. Istanbul now literally has at least one shopping mall, big or small, in each of its districts. Unlike the first constructed malls, the new ones don’t push people to spend their money only on shopping but they also offer entertainment and cultural activities. They are now qualified as venues where one can spend a full day without getting bored. İstinye Park, build by the association of Orjin Group and Doğuş Group and designed by Development Design Group, or DDG, is one of the favorite malls for the foreigners in the city, said Gökçe Gürgener, public relations director of İstinye Park.
Arranging daily tasks
The considerably new mall welcomes nearly 50,000 people on weekdays and around 80,000 people at the weekends. The mall has 291 stores, 46 cafes and restaurants, 12 theater halls also has a nostalgic bazaar, exhibition and concert areas.
Frequent visitors of İstinye Park arrange their daily tasks in the mall. Consisting of mostly women, they come in the morning, have their morning coffees, go to the gym or spa in Hillside and Sanda Spa, go grocery shopping and complete the day with a movie. The shopping mall, which offers complete wireless Internet coverage, is designed with every detail in mind, including for children and people with disabilities.
For some people İstinye Park is bigger than huge, especially its car park. Many people said they have forgotten where they parked their cars so the management decided to offer a service to help them. They have several golf carts and drivers who can help people find their cars easily.
"It’s not like in the old days, women don’t usually prefer gathering with friends at home, its more interesting for them to meet outside to spend the day. We have many women’s groups gathering and arranging meetings at İstinye Park. Also there are authors who come with their laptops to work here, businessmen hold their meetings in various venues of the mall," Gürgener said.
Nilüfer Narlı, a sociologist, agreed with Gürgener and said, "Turkish women now have the habit of meeting at shopping malls instead of chatting, eating and drinking at home."
People settle their work and fulfill their needs under one roof according to Narlı, who thinks that the lifestyle of Turkish people is changing. "People in their daily life were not going to the gym or doing any kind of sports just a few years ago." Apart from those who can spend one whole day in a shopping mall with various activities, there are also people coming from the suburbs to visit and walk around the malls, said Narlı. "They barely buy something from the shops or drink a tea." Narlı draws attention that there are many unemployed people in Istanbul, especially young people and the malls are the best places for them to pass the time.
Everything in one place
When considered from the customer point of view the shopping malls offer everything in one places Mustafa Sönmez, an economist, said. "Moreover one can use credit cards, is able to find hundreds of brands and compare prices."
According to the economist even if people are not in the state of spending money they at least can see what they want to possess and they know that it exists. "Shopping malls are like fair grounds, it is attractive for most of the people. There is a chance of seeing different people and its cool during the summer and warm in winter time," Sönmez said who thinks that malls build a ground for socialization.
Sönmez, describing that malls are the continuation of the hundreds of years of fairs, said building shopping malls continuously is an outcome of capitalism, which triggers consumption.
Sönmez said Istanbul wants to be a global city and this has pushed people to improve this sector of building shopping malls and it ended up with a chunk of skyscrapers and modern looking buildings. The crowd of idle onlookers is pushing Istanbul to shopping mall crises, Sönmez said. The situation for those who aim to appeal to high-class consumers are not different according to Sönmez. Akmerkez, Atrium, Astoria, Cevahir, City’s, Capitol, Carousel, Fly inn, Galleria, Historia, İstinye Park, Kanyon, Mayadrom, Metrocity, Olivium, Profilo and Town Center are just a few of the shopping malls in Istanbul.
The city has to offer activities to its huge population. Istanbul now literally has at least one shopping mall, big or small, in each of its districts. Unlike the first constructed malls, the new ones don’t push people to spend their money only on shopping but they also offer entertainment and cultural activities. They are now qualified as venues where one can spend a full day without getting bored. İstinye Park, build by the association of Orjin Group and Doğuş Group and designed by Development Design Group, or DDG, is one of the favorite malls for the foreigners in the city, said Gökçe Gürgener, public relations director of İstinye Park.
Arranging daily tasks
The considerably new mall welcomes nearly 50,000 people on weekdays and around 80,000 people at the weekends. The mall has 291 stores, 46 cafes and restaurants, 12 theater halls also has a nostalgic bazaar, exhibition and concert areas.
Frequent visitors of İstinye Park arrange their daily tasks in the mall. Consisting of mostly women, they come in the morning, have their morning coffees, go to the gym or spa in Hillside and Sanda Spa, go grocery shopping and complete the day with a movie. The shopping mall, which offers complete wireless Internet coverage, is designed with every detail in mind, including for children and people with disabilities.
For some people İstinye Park is bigger than huge, especially its car park. Many people said they have forgotten where they parked their cars so the management decided to offer a service to help them. They have several golf carts and drivers who can help people find their cars easily.
"It’s not like in the old days, women don’t usually prefer gathering with friends at home, its more interesting for them to meet outside to spend the day. We have many women’s groups gathering and arranging meetings at İstinye Park. Also there are authors who come with their laptops to work here, businessmen hold their meetings in various venues of the mall," Gürgener said.
Nilüfer Narlı, a sociologist, agreed with Gürgener and said, "Turkish women now have the habit of meeting at shopping malls instead of chatting, eating and drinking at home."
People settle their work and fulfill their needs under one roof according to Narlı, who thinks that the lifestyle of Turkish people is changing. "People in their daily life were not going to the gym or doing any kind of sports just a few years ago." Apart from those who can spend one whole day in a shopping mall with various activities, there are also people coming from the suburbs to visit and walk around the malls, said Narlı. "They barely buy something from the shops or drink a tea." Narlı draws attention that there are many unemployed people in Istanbul, especially young people and the malls are the best places for them to pass the time.
Everything in one place
When considered from the customer point of view the shopping malls offer everything in one places Mustafa Sönmez, an economist, said. "Moreover one can use credit cards, is able to find hundreds of brands and compare prices."
According to the economist even if people are not in the state of spending money they at least can see what they want to possess and they know that it exists. "Shopping malls are like fair grounds, it is attractive for most of the people. There is a chance of seeing different people and its cool during the summer and warm in winter time," Sönmez said who thinks that malls build a ground for socialization.
Sönmez, describing that malls are the continuation of the hundreds of years of fairs, said building shopping malls continuously is an outcome of capitalism, which triggers consumption.
Sönmez said Istanbul wants to be a global city and this has pushed people to improve this sector of building shopping malls and it ended up with a chunk of skyscrapers and modern looking buildings. The crowd of idle onlookers is pushing Istanbul to shopping mall crises, Sönmez said. The situation for those who aim to appeal to high-class consumers are not different according to Sönmez. Akmerkez, Atrium, Astoria, Cevahir, City’s, Capitol, Carousel, Fly inn, Galleria, Historia, İstinye Park, Kanyon, Mayadrom, Metrocity, Olivium, Profilo and Town Center are just a few of the shopping malls in Istanbul.