An Analogy of Metropolis “Istanbul” as a Big Machine

Abstract

What does one do in a metropolis with dozens of business towers, huge and luxurious shopping malls, hotels, conference centers, sports complexes, airports, endless construction sites, highways, bridges, sub-sea tunnels, cars, busses, and metros? What does one think to do in a city with a population of more than tens of millions, receiving constantly immigrants from all over the country and from the neighboring countries, constantly increasing housing and nourishment expenses, inaccessible parks and streets in dangerous hours, traffic congestion nightmare, and overcrowded schools and hospitals? Romantic responses are ready to give. Cosmopolite structure, vibrant cultural activities, “amusement” facilities, rich employment opportunities, freedom! Central and local administrations, urban planners, architects all work and spend too much effort, time and money in order to make those metropolises more attractive, livable and investable. Speculative costs, magnitudes and sizes of projects sweep one of her/ his feet. There are numerous stakeholders generating illusion to make us feel freer and more powerful. But, what does one produce except earning for mortgage and installments? What happened if one cannot serve more for the functioning of this giant artifactual machine? Do the lives of individuals devoted to the continuity of this machine to work value also on their own without taking a part in? Honestly, what does this machine produce? Just to had asked all these questions, over the analogy of big cities as big machines, the metropolis Istanbul, where emancipation and possession, and potential and border have intertwined, will be investigated.



Author Information
Burcin Mizrak Bilen, Yildiz Technical University, Turkey

Paper Information
Conference: CITY2018
Stream: Political Science: Administration, Governance and Finance

This paper is part of the CITY2018 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon