From the Media - Part 34

posted by mh on 2006/02/19 03:44

[ From the Media ]

The Observateure Urbaine d'Istanbul has released its quarterly newsletter (Electroui23.pdf, in French), documenting media coverage on urban issues. A couple of the more interesting headlines (in English) can be found below.
  • A “new Istanbul” is planned in the northwest of the present agglomeration. Located between Ikitelli and Catalca, the project is designed to accommodate another 2,5m inhabitants.


  • Since the project for the twin Dubai Towers in the Maslak area has been announced, the land prizes of the surroundings have risen, at time even doubled, due to rumors that rich Arabs are planning to buy property in the surrounding area.


  • The Association of Independent Architects of Istanbul has launched a student competition for alternative propositions for the transformation of port areas (Golden Horn, Haydarpasa, Harem, Sirkeci, Galataport) http://sos-istanbul.org


  • Formerly the centre of press and publishing, the neighborhood of Babiali on the historical peninsula is gradually losing this role. The daily Cumhuriyet has announced its moving to the modern district of Sisli.


  • The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has (again) approved the project for the third Bosphorus bridge between Arnavutkoy and Vanikoy, against which the previous mayor had vetoed.


  • The Mayor of Istanbul has announced his intention to build a bridge between Eyup and Sutluce after the 1502 design of Leonardo da Vinci. (!)



  • Contrary to developments in Lisbon and Singapur, the waterway transport is diminishing in Istanbul. While the city’s legendary vapur system had transported 160 million people annually in the 1980s, in 2004 only 61 millions took a ride.



  • The mayor of the Eminonu district wants to transform the Sultanahmet area into the “heart of congress torurism in Turkey”. He desires 5 buildings, 3 of which along the Hipodrome, to be converted into congress centers. Another most wanted location is the Darphane, the former imperial press located within the Topkapi palace walls, which had in recent years been used by the renowned Turkish History Foundation (Tarih Vakfi), but is now threatened to be evicted by the new director of the Topkapi Museum.


  • A teleferique connecting Eyup (center) with the Pierre Loti hill has been inaugurated in December 2005.



  • On the occasion of the 150th birthday of the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz, his former Istanbul house in the slummy Dolapdere district has been transformed into a museum.


  • Istanbul’s candidature for the title of European Cultural Capital 2010 has been officially announced in Brussels.


  • The Sadberk Hanim Museum (run by the Koc foundation) has announced its move from Sariyer, on the northern end of the Bosphorus, to the Beyoglu district, which is believed to further reinforce this central quarter’s role as Istanbul’s cultural pole.


  • The former central electric plant at the end of the Golden Horn is now transformed into an international art platform (“Santral Istanbul”) by Bilgi University and is expected to open in October 2006.


  • Statistics have been (re-)released whereby only a little more than a quarter of Istanbul’s official 10m inhabitants were born in Istanbul. Of Istanbul’s 69 representatives in Ankara only 14 are Istanbul natives.



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