EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - OECD Territorial Review of Istanbul

OECD Territorial Review of Istanbul

Introduction

Istanbul is the demographic and economic heart of Turkey. The city has gone through major changes over the past century. Today, it consists of about 15 million inhabitants: a more than tenfold increase since 1950. Over time, Istanbul has established itself as the industrial, financial and logistics centre of Turkey, producing almost one-third of the national output and receiving most foreign direct investment. However, the city also faces several important challenges that could hamper its ambition to beocme a hub for finance, logistics, culture and tourism in the Euro-Asia regions. This territorial review of Istanbul published by OECD, analyses the main challenges the city has to deal with and provides several possible solutions.

Description

The main challenges that Istanbul is facing are described as following:

Increasing competition from low-labour-cost countires;
The dramatic influx of migrants from other parts of Turkey, because of the city's economic growth;
Informal settlements;
Physical infrastructure: congestion pollution;
The informal sector (30% of the city's working labour force);
Increasing income disparities;

According to OECD, Istanbul's economy could be upgraded by taking the following measures:

Accelerate the positive trends in restructuring towards complementary segments. Upgrade towards higher technology activities;
Further strengthening of regional innovation and productivty by targeting Technoparks, technology developments and modernisation of SMEs;
Establish a cluster policy to exploit specific niche markets such as design and fashion;
Focus on promising sectors such as the chemical and medical sectors
Address the informal sector, possibly by creating a legal framework for micro-firms;

In order to remain an important Euro-Asian hub, the following reforms and strategies are suggested:

Logistics: Improve and strengthen transport infrastructure, but take into account environmental concerns;
Tourism: Improve the tourism sector by putting more attention to attracting repeat visitors and cultural events. Also the promotion of competitive creative industries linked with traditional industries is mentioned;
Finance: Implement reforms to reduce high transaction and intermediary costs in the banking sector.

In addition, the OECD policy brief discusses what kind of governance system Istanbul would need to address the suggested reforms. According to the report, the system should become less complex and fragmented. Urban decision making should moreover be more transparent.

Contact info

OECD
Paris
Phone: +33-(0)1-45 24 81 67
Fax: +33-(0)1-45 24 19 50
sales@oecd.org
Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, tel. +33-(0)1-45 24 16 73

Publication date

/03/2008

Article info
Organisation: OECD

Links

Click here for more information or to order the Istanbul Policy Brief

Download the abstract of the Istanbul Policy Brief (PDF, Eng, 255 kB)

Document type

policy

Themes

Urban Policy

Keywords