Economic Symposium in Globalizing Istanbul

Friday, December 11, 2009, 9:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 12, 2009, 9.30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Along with globalization, Istanbul's economy has also undergone rapid transformation. While industries that thrived during the period of economic development regressed, those financial and manufacturing sectors fueled by global links prospered. The surge in investments targeting the "culture industries," the media, the arts and tourism, has boosted employment opportunities in these sectors. At the same time, this has accelerated spatial change in the city. As districts and public spaces that did not fit the city's new image were excluded, new construction activities and types of buildings emerged. Under the title "Economy in Globalizing Istanbul," the symposium will address the above topics and consider some neglected aspects in the macro analysis of the city.

Since the Ottoman Bank Museum building is undergoing major renovation, the symposium will take place at İTÜ's Taşkışla building.

Please click for the program.

Symposiums on Istanbul

Friday, April 10, 2009, 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 11, 2009, 9.30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

On April 10 and 11, 2009, the Ottoman Bank Museum is launching a new symposium series that examines Istanbul from an economic, social and cultural perspective. The opening symposium, Old Istanbulites and New Istanbulites will shed light on the unknown demographic structure of Istanbul during the process of modernization. The first session will present a general framework to analyze population dynamics during the process of modernization, while the second will address changes in the ethnic composition of Istanbul's population. The symposium will close with an evaluation of the changes and new trends in post-1950 Istanbul population dynamics.  

After an accelerating population growth in the 19th century, certain developments in the second quarter of the 20th century, such as the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, the capital's decreasing scope of influence due to the emergence of new nation-states, the adoption of etatist economic policies and the related decline in employment, brought about a fall in Istanbul's population. Following World War II, a half century phase of stagnation was replaced by a period of rapid growth. It was only at the beginning of the 1950s that the city was able to attain the population size it had possessed at the start of the 20th century.

From the 1950s on, especially after the transition to import substitution policies and the consequent accelaration of rural-urban migration, Istanbul registered a 12-fold increase in population compared with 1950. The city, with its rapidly changing patterns in lifestyles, community participation, household composition and social, ethnic and religious structure, became one of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe. The symposium focuses on the reshaping of Istanbul's urban population structure and composition during the process of modernization.

Please click for the program.