- Globalization and Development Strategies for Istanbul: Regional Policies and Great Urban Transformation Projects    295 kb by    Baycan-Levent, Tüzin | tuzin.baycanlevent@itu.edu.tr    Short Outline This paper evaluates the development strategies for Istanbul in terms of regional development policies at the central government level and spatial development strategies so-called “Great Urban Transformation Projects” which transform the city to an international center at the local level. How globalization trends affect a world city’s planning system and planning strategies? By reference to the role of the city in the world city network, the paper focuses on the reflections of the globalization trends in the spatial planning of the city while addressing its attempts to transform and restructure itself in terms of urban transformation projects. Abstract Multinational economic aspects of globalization have led certain cities to become so-called “world cities” or “global cities”. In this process cities, particularly metropolises which are the arenas of global interaction, have redefined the conditions and the processes of regional and local developments and have regenerated the new infrastructural conditions of the global economy while seeking to identify their advantages, assets and power to compete with other cities. Istanbul, which is one of the largest metropolises of the world, is in a similar transformation process with the other metropolises. The city has been affected from the globalization process due to its geographical and strategic location, historical and cultural assets, dynamism and functional capacities. While the emergence of new development modes such as foreign direct investments and attractiveness of the service sector has been observed in the socio-economical and spatial aspects at the national and local level, other new developments have emerged in providing services to neighboring region at the international level. The impacts of these developments are great on both the spatial growth and the planning process. Actually, Istanbul redefines the conditions of regional and local developments to become the capital of “Euro-Asia”. Against this background, the aim of this paper is to evaluate the development strategies for Istanbul in terms of regional development policies at the central government level and spatial development strategies so-called “Great Urban Transformation Projects” which transform the city to an international center at the local level. How globalization trends affect a world city’s planning system and planning strategies? By reference to the role of the city in the world city network, the paper focuses on the reflections of the globalization trends in the spatial planning of the city while addressing its attempts to transform and restructure itself in terms of urban transformation projects. Keywords development strategies,regional policies, urban transformation projects Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2003: Planning in a more globalized World   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper