Research Information System
European Council of Spatial Planners (ECTP-CEU) Young Planners Workshop 2018, Paris, France, 18 May 2018, vol.1, pp.38-52
The aviation market has always been critical not only for the passenger and freight transport, but also for enhancing the regional and international connectivity as well as national economic growth. Many countries are in an attempt to develop new high capacity airports to acquire a big portion from this market. New airports offer many facilities such as game centers, shopping malls, zoos, botanical gardens, trade centers and so on to increase their global attractiveness and to provide a new way of flight experience for their customers.
Two airports, which are Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen, serve domestic and international flights in Istanbul, Turkey at present. Both of them were built in a traditional airport style and have run over capacity since 2010. Therefore, the Turkish government has decided to develop a new airport in Istanbul that would be one of the biggest, high-tech and green airports in the world.
The new airport is located at the north part of Istanbul, Arnavutköy region near the Black Sea. There isn’t any crowded settlement or a large urban function around the project area. A new motorway and a bridge (Yavuz Sultan Selim) have been constructed to connect the airport to the city center by road. A new tube project is now under construction to support this connection by a subway train.
This paper aims to explore the impact of Istanbul’s new grand airport on the urban structure and behavior of Istanbul and discusses the project in an economy/nature dilemma from an international perspective.