In an effort to transform Istanbul into "the financial center of the world" Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is encouraging development of convention centers, shopping malls, luxury hotels and high-end villas, often at the cost of historic places, middle-class residents and public spaces. Many previously protected sites are falling prey to developers.
For example, Taksim Square, which has been an urban refuge since the 1940s, was previously an Ottoman military barracks that fell into disuse, which was demolished to create the
park. But developers found a loophole in Turkey's laws on perserving historic buildings.
Photo of Taksim Square (Wikipedia)
In an interview with NPR, Imre Azem said, "developers have long coveted this prime property but were blocked by laws protecting the city's green spaces. Then they hit on the idea [...] of using Turkey's laws on preserving historic buildings. In order to protect this already-demolished building, they're rebuilding it,"this new "historic building" will then house a shopping mall."
To read more on the development of Istanbul, click the link below.
In local news, historic preservationists admit defeat on Admiral's Row, in the Brooklyn Navy Yard which will soon be razed to make room for a supermarket.
Admirals Row as seen from Flushing Avenue
Read more here:
http://ny.curbed.com/tags/admirals-row
http://www.officersrow.org/
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