İstanbul culture, tourism, diversity: How to manage a metropolis
by
KLAUS JURGENS

I would like to share some of the issues we discussed with our readers: We talked about the politics of culture and tourism. We mentioned the importance of viewing, from time to time, developments in this fascinating city from an international/cross-border perspective, or as was very charmingly expressed to me in the Turkish language “as seen with yabancı gözyüle.”

I personally believe that the process of increasing the relevance of İstanbul as a world city as well as Turkey’s determination to constantly modernize itself began many decades, if not centuries, ago. As cities grow, so do their bureaucracies. Municipalities all over the world are often described as being “faceless” regardless of how effectively they may operate. Observers and locals alike tend to overlook the fact that the way a city is organized reflects, for example, on the number of business startups, levels of employment, citizen’s purchasing power and in more general terms the quality of daily life. Even if you do not know the elected representatives of your town or haven’t met with a leading civil servant in person, you will nevertheless be greatly affected by their actions.

We spoke about İstanbul being a capital of three past empires (Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman), a treasure trove of past and present cultures and a center of tolerance with more than 3,000 years of history. Fast forward to 2010 and on a different note, İstanbul now boasts 50 shopping malls similar to -- and perhaps even better -- than those found in Miami or Hong Kong. Besides, the city never sleeps: Your browser may not support display of this image.it is a capital of art and culture with many options in opera, ballet, theaters performing Turkish and foreign plays, concerts, exhibitions, festivals, conferences, music and cinema as well as dance.

If this were not enough, more recently, large-scale (public) events have become a regular feature, too. Formula 1 -- which, measured on a global scale, is one of the biggest sports events -- arrived a few years ago and made İstanbul a regular stop on the annual tour, and after 20 years, the Eurasia Marathon has become extremely successful with over 150,000 participants during recent years.

İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Directorate of Tourism is a relatively new addition as it was only established in 2006. Its mission statement reads as follows: “As a location of where different cultures crossed, encountered, met and reconciled with each other over the centuries İstanbul has a unique heritage. As the Tourism Directorate of İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, our mission is preparing this world city to extend its tourism potential, strengthen its original character, and make [it] one of the most attractive tourism destinations in the world.”

In 2005, nearly 5 million foreign tourists visited İstanbul, generating an income of $4 billion. This increase is far above the increase observed in centers such as Antalya and Muğla in the same year. As of 2009, İstanbul attracted nearly 7.5 million visitors. The goal for 2010 is to attract 10 million tourists to the city. In 2007 alone, the city hosted 51 fairs, attracting 30,000 visitors.

Coming back to my intended agenda for our meeting, during which I wanted to find out how tourism and culture work hand-in-hand to create a more “social” city, and taking the information provided to me during our meeting into account, I came to the conclusion that there is a strong link between increased numbers of incoming tourists, more large-scale public events and the overall diversity and prosperity of İstanbul.

The British government, well before bidding for the Olympics which were ultimately given to the city of London for 2012, had commissioned a study about measuring the environmental and social consequences of a large-scale public event.

A similar approach for İstanbul could imply measuring the overall impact of being a tourist destination with outstanding cultural beauty, which is transforming itself into a “brand” and how, most importantly, its citizens would better benefit from this social and cultural diversity.