The Role of Global City Discourses in the Development and Transformation of the Buyukdere–Maslak Axis into the International Business District of Istanbul

Abstract

Globalization has been the dominant discourse in political and academic circles and is a particular explanation for changes in the world's economic, political, cultural and spatial structures and a bias policy prescription. It suggests that the world economy has been transformed as a result of evolutionary change in the capitalist economy and technological developments, particularly in communication, information and transportation. This discourse claims that the globalized economy has reshaped the spatial organization of the world. It has also been claimed that global economy has been organized over the global cities that manage, control and command the global economy. They are the centres of economic wealth and social and technological progress. During the past 30 years, politicians, professionals and academicians have been inspired by the global city concept, which has resulted in fierce competition among the large cities of the world to achieve global city status. Istanbul, like its counterparts, has been a competitor during the past three decades. Its economic, social, political and spatial structures have subsequently changed to a profound extent. This article aims to explain the spatial transformation of the city and focuses on the international business district of the city in the Buyukdere–Maslak axis. It aims to show that the spatial transformation of the city is the outcome of a wider political project, globalization, which has been constructed in the local areas through economic, political and cultural processes by deploying certain discourses. These discourses have been translated by the elite groups into economic and urban policies, which have shaped the spatial structure of the city.

Notes

From 1984 to 1989 the Motherland Party; from 1989 to 1994 the Social Democrat Party (SDP); from 1994 onwards the Welfare Party, much of which was reinvented as the Justice and Development Party (JDP) after 2000.

For example, the Essen Project, Sisle 2020, Singapore–Manhattan, Ferhatpasa Kozyatagi–Altunizade Projects, Kartal, and Kucukcekmece (see also other articles in the present issue). Most of these remained in the project stage.

The process of obtaining planning permission varies due to the administrative structure of the axis and also the character of the development. Four different plans are under implementation in the research area. They are the Revised Bosphorus Obscured and Interrupted Views Area Development Plan, the Sisli Buyukdere Upgrading Plan Alteration, the Ayazaga–Maslak Land Use Plan and the Dikilitas–Mecidiyekoy Land Use Plan. Development did not always happen as a result of these plans. Sometimes, a plan came after the development in order to legalize it. In many cases planning permission for skyscrapers was obtained by altering the planning decision related to the lot or benefiting from a specific law, particularly The Encouragement of Tourism Act, or establishing some special mechanism, such as the AVAN Project, set up by the Greater Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (1990) between 1984 and 1989.

The AVAN Project Mechanism was formulated by the Greater Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Administration between 1984 and 1989 to create a legal framework for high-rise building demands. Mayor Dalan was crucial to the project. Sezer, the head of the planning department at that time, explained to the researcher in April 2000 the AVAN project mechanism as follows. When Dalan came to power, the city had its Master Plan drawn to a 1/50,000 scale, prepared in 1980. During the military regime (1980–1983), the Bosphorus Obscured and Interrupted Views Area Development Plan was implemented. Recommendations in the Bosphorus Plan and Master Plan were not suitable for constructing high-rise buildings. The Master Plan was a general plan, showed only major decisions, objectives, aims and strategies related to the city's future, and defined general land-use decisions. It was not designed for planning applications. It was followed by the 1/25,000 Master Plan, which showed major decisions about the city's future structure and its connection with other settlements in its region. This plan linked the Master Plan and development plans that came after the Master Plan. The development plans were drawn to two scales; namely, 1/5000 and 1/1000. The first showed the main roads, the regions' densities and the land-use decisions. The second showed all traffic systems, green systems and the condition of buildings, and was used for planning applications. For each high-rise building demand, a 1/25,000 Master Plan was prepared for the relevant lot. From this plan another 1/5000 plan was prepared, again only for the part of the city that included the relevant lot. After this plan had been prepared, investors applied for planning permission. A consultant group, comprising well-known artists, architects, and academics selected by the Greater Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality administration, examined the plans. If it approved the plans, and generally it did, then the plans went to the local government's planning section. The planning section then sent the plans with a report to the Town Council. The Town Council then decided whether to approve or reject the plans after receiving a report from the Development Commission. If the Town Council decided to approve the plans, the plans and projects went to the mayor. If the mayor did not agree with the Town Council's decision, he had the right to send the plans and projects back for further amendment. Even if he still did not agree with the Town Council after amendments had been made, whatever he finally decided was the ultimate decision. The AVAN project system was developed to find a solution to large capital institutions' demands to build high skyscrapers and circumvent the Turkish planning system. The privileged building rights given through the AVAN Project stimulated the demands of other landowners in the axis.

‘e’ means the proposed maximum total floor area right in a development plan. The owner of the land can construct a building on his site equal to e multiplied by the size of the lot.