Trying to grasp the way many megalopolises have grown in the last decade means considering a whole series of parameters, some less obvious than others, but all directly linked to the way these large urban centres have developed or are still developing.
Large Western cities, whose identity was forged many years ago, and which today function within a democratic framework of mature capitalism, appear to have preserved their essential character and layout over time. Many have seen improvements in public works and services, and population growth is due to general urbanisation trends as people move to the city.
The changes taking place in large Western cities are more of a social and economic kind: the increased average age of the population, and the crisis of a growth-based economic model that for the first time has been severely undermined, generating a new kind of poverty. If it is to be solved, the crisis requires innovative models in the immediate future.
Elsewhere in the world, in Asia and the BRICS countries, huge new cities, some well known others still obscure, are emerging from the radical political changes and rapid distribution of new wealth from natural resources. These cities are in the throes of tumultuous, often unbridled, growth with all the contradictions this entails.
Part of this complex scenario, Istanbul is a very special place. First of all, it has an enviable geographical position, much of it overlooking the sea. Istanbul, the crossroads between East and West - the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus being the line of demarcation between Asia and Europe - basks in a tangible ancient and more recent past, making it a prime tourist destination destined to grow even further. Compared with Western cities, Istanbul has a very young population, which in turn attracts the new generations from elsewhere in the world. It has also recently seen continual improvement in the quality and efficiency of its public services.
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