The neoliberal transformation that swept through the world economy during the 1980’s, and along with it the globalization process that picked up speed, brought with it a deep transformation in cities all over the world. For this new finance-centered economic structure, urban land became a tool for capital accumulation, which had deep effects on major cities of developing countries. In Istanbul, which already lacked a tradition of principled planning, the administrators of the city blindly adopted the neoliberal approach that put financial gain ahead of people’s needs; everyone fought to get a piece of the loot; and the result is a megashantytown of 15 million struggling with mesh of life-threatening problems.
Especially in the past 10 years, as the World Bank foresaw in its reports, Istanbul has been changing from an industrial city to a finance and service-centered city, competing with other world cities for investment. Making Istanbul attractive for investors requires not only the abolishment of legal controls that look out for the public good, but also a parallel transformation of the users of the city. This means that the working class who actually built the city as an industrial center no longer have a place in the new consumption-centered finance and service city. So what is planned for these people?
This is where the “urban renewal” projects come into play. Armed with new powers never before imagined, TOKI (State Housing Administration), together with the municipalities and private investors, are trying to reshape the urban landscape in this new vision. With international capital behind them, land plans in their hands, square meters and building coefficients in their minds, they are demolishing neighborhoods, and instead building skyscrapers, highways and shopping malls. But who do these new spaces serve?
The huge gap between the rich and the poor in Istanbul is reflected more and more in the urban landscape, and at the same time feeds on the spatial segregation. While the rich isolate themselves in gated communities, residences and plazas; new poverty cycles born in social housing communities on the prifery of the city designed as human depots continue to push millions to desperation and hopelessness. So who is responsible for this social legacy that we are leaving for future generations?
While billions of dollars are wasted on new road tunnels, junctions, and viaducts with a complete disregard for the scientific fact that all new roads eventually create their own traffic, Istanbul in 2010 has to contend with a single-line eight-station metro “system”. Due to insufficient budget allocations for mass public transportation, rail and other alternative transport systems, millions of people are tormented in traffic, and billions of dollars worth of time go out the exhaust pipe. What do our administrators do? You guessed right: more roads!
Everything changes so fast in this city of 15 million that it is impossible to even take a snap-shot for planning. Plans are outdated even as they are being made. A chronic case of planlessness. Meanwhile, the population keeps increasing and the city expands uncontrollably pushing up against Tekirdağ in the east and Kocaeli in the west. But does Istanbul really have a plan?
In 1980 the first plan for Istanbul on a metropolitan scale was produced. In that plan report, it is noted that the topography and the geographic nature of the city would only support a maximum population of 5 million. At the time, Istanbul had 3.5 million people living in it. Now we are 15 million, and in 15 years we will be 23 million. Almost 5 times the sustainable size. Today we bring water to Istanbul from as far away as Bolu, and suck-up the entire water in Thrace, destroying the natural environment there. The northern forest areas disappear at a rapid pace, and the project for a 3rd bridge over the Bosphorous is threatening the remaining forests and water reservoirs giving life to Istanbul. The bridges that connect the two continents are segregating our society through the urban land speculation that they trigger. So what are we, the people of Istanbul, doing against this pillage? If cities are a reflection of the society, what can we say about ourselves by looking at Istanbul? What kind of city are we leaving behind for future generations?
Ecological limits have been surpassed. Economic limits have been surpassed. Population limits have been surpassed. Social cohesion has been lost. Here is the picture of neoliberal urbanism: Ecumenopolis.
Ecumenopolis aims for a holistic approach to Istanbul, questioning not only the transformation, but the dynamics behind it as well. From demolished shantytowns to the tops of skyscrapers, from the depths of Marmaray to the alternative routes of the 3rd bridge, from real estate investors to urban opposition, the film will take us on a long journey in this city without limits. We will speak with experts, academics, writers, investors, city-dwellers, and community leaders; and we will take a look at the city on a macro level through animated maps and graphics. Perhaps you will rediscover the city that you live in and we hope that you will not sit back and watch this transformation but question it. In the end this is what democracy requires of us.
There is a Louis Vuitton shop and a few of the other famous Italian luxury brands, the names that escape me now. It is usually crowded with tourists and sightseers, like my wife and I. In South Africa these 'uber' luxury brands are large non existent and only found, if at all, in the most exclusive and expensive shopping centres. So for us it was a bit of a treat to see all this 'luxury' that the pampered 1% so enjoy... Most of the shoppers look like tourists and it was a disappointment to see so few of the 'locals'....
...but suddenly this couple came round the corner, walking briskly, and lost in their own private space...
I had to literally run to keep up with them ...I had my Canon 5d2 with me and a 24-105L lens attached. Fortunately the lens has IS, because even at 2000iso my exposure was only 1/50th sec at f6.3. I really didn't have any time to set the controls or even think about the situation, I just lifted the camera to my eye whilst trying to keep up with the couple and keeping half an eye on the other tourists so as not to bump into anyone, squeezing off a few frames........and then it was all over.....the moment had passed....
I had many thoughts going through my mind when I looked at these photographs afterwards....'Italian style' was one of them but some Italians has suggested that this is more a case of 'Berlusconi style'.......in Milan one sees many many pretty ( and tall! ) girls dressed in the latest fashions...but this girl stood out from all the others, she almost looks like she had just walked off a movie set...fish net stockings, leopard skin dress, Marilyn Monroe hairstyle, dainty shoes.....and then there was the man by her side, he looked quite a bit older with an old fashioned haircut, cigarette in his fingers, high heeled 'cowboy style boots, hard face......I love these photographic moments that just happen, even if I am not quite prepared for them....!
I thought for a change I will show the whole sequence of what I had seen that Sunday afternoon in Milan...
We arrived there on a Sunday morning just after the end of the morning Church service. All the farmers were in their Sunday best having a chat in front of the beautiful 'klip kerk'. On the other side of the church there was loud traditional music blaring from a house with the front door wide open and no one to be seen. . .
I photographed Telang, with his father X-mas hat on and Nomazizi his colleague in front of Pep stores where they both worked.
Then I saw this man walking towards me with part of a beef carcass slung over his shoulder. I walked up to him and asked him if I could take his photograph. I don't think he could speak English or Afrikaans, so I mimed the actions that I wanted to do and after a long silence he nodded his head and I directed him to stand in front of the galvanized corrugated doors of one of the sandstone buildings.
I made few exposures and then three more guys walked down the street with more carcasses. I photographed them as well...I never learned their names or what was going on, but I presumed they worked at an abattoir in town and had been give some of the left over meat and was walking back home with it...
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This morning the girls and I headed to CVS b/c for some reason they keep giving me these 10/50 coupons so I HAVE to use them! I got 3 razors, 2 bottles of styling balm (for the frizz I call my hair), 2 boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats, 2 candy bars (Reese's cups are my weakness), a trial pack of Crest Whitestrips, and 2 tubes of toothpaste for .26 out of my pocket and I got the $18 of ecb's that I used back! I learned so much from A Full Cup, I don't get on there as much anymore but if you ever want to learn how to save check them out!
I went to Target and a bunch of their toys were 75% off!! I bought super nice gifts for the many birthdays that we have coming up for next to nothing. Now I hope nobody tries to return them :)
I get to cross the girl's tiles that I have neglected at the local pottery store off my list of things to do before #3 comes as I am going there tonight to finally finish them! I can't wait until we get them back and hung up, they are turning out really cute! Oh, and I am eating at my 2nd favorite sushi restaurant before hand - all cooked I promise :)
Lastly, Piper got into the preschool that we were keeping our fingers crossed for! Woo hoo!! I am most happy about this b/c not only is it just an awesome place but it is right around the corner from our home, although I do love how much money I saved today too :)
Why? Well, b/c I am just too darn busy when I do have a free minute entering some of the fabulous contests that are going on during the Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival!
Here is a lazy blogger's post - I will let the girls do all the talking :) Don't mind the construction in the background, we are in a constant state of projects down here. Last thing before I go back to my contests - check out Sleeping Beauty's head, it has an Aflac helmet on so she must be going racing :) My kids crack me up every day!
First let me start out this post by saying "Ahhh, coffee." Ok, back to my question - are you a boy? That is what I keep asking the babe that is kicking and boxing my belly every day. If you know me I have said this through 2 other pregnancies and was wrong both times but this time I really think it is, I mean I my "Mother's Intuition" has to kick in at some point doesn't it?. A few weeks back I had to report to the lab so that I could take the 3 hour gd test - with the girls in tow. If you haven't had the pleasure of getting to take this particular test (and I hope most of you haven't) you have to fast until the test is over, yep a pregnant mama fasting. My last meal was supper on Wednesday and I was not able to eat again until 11:30 on Thursday - and they wonder why you feel lightheaded. The test results came back normal but for my levels to even be high was odd and I know that every pregnancy is different but I have never had to do that before so there is one reason why I think the little bean is a boy. As I sit here the kid is doing flips in my belly - hello it is only 7 am. Piper was a very calm babe and barely moved, then came Violet who I thought was CRAZY but this one, let's just say that this one wakes me up sometimes at night with all of the break dancing in there. The heartburn is just about ridiculous every night. The other day I had a salad and even that didn't settle well, however, I did eat a hamburger with jalapenos and had NO issues at all :) How bizarre is that - must be a boy. Lastly is an old wives tale, and I know it is just a tale b/c Piper had lower heart beats on the doplar and Violet had high but babe #3 has been low the entire time which from what I understand old wives say is a boy :) A little boy would be good for us though, Matt would get to buy trucks and tough things that our girls aren't really in to so that would be fun and the little one will be forced into wearing beautiful dresses and probably getting his locks styled by our little princesses. Think of a little boy with 3 other women in the house, that is a man that you would want to marry! A few friends of mine that are all done having kiddos offered me their little baby boy clothes so we would be all set right out of the gates. We'll see what happens here in 7 weeks - stay tuned :)
Why oh why must they package children's toys so that I have to get out my tools to get them out of the box? We purchased a Sleeping Beauty wand a few weeks back and while trying to get it out of the box for Violet, who was pulling at my leg, I ended up stabbing myself with the scissor I was attempting to try and cut off the tie wraps with. It bled and bled but I put on my Scooby Doo band aid and went on with life. After almost 2 weeks it still hurts, I think it is infected :( Guess that I have to go to the doctor and find out what the dealio is with my thumb before it has to get amputated :)
What a nice day it was here today - 60 degrees woo hoo! The girls got out and rode their bikes and Matt took down our Christmas lights, yep we are THOSE people that leave our lights up through January :) Actually it has been either rainy or Matt has had to work which is why they were still up but our neighbors don't know that. I have been meaning to take a picture for a while now of my tulips which probably won't end up flowering this year b/c of our crazy weather. They started sprouting maybe 2 weeks ago when it was like 70 and then it got real cold and now it is warm and the cold is coming again - following that? The spot that I chose for these doesn't get a ton of sun to help them out either. Next fall I will move them b/c they are the neatest colors.
Finally, we had a yummy supper tonight - crab and crusty bread. The local grocery store ran a sale this week on crab legs and our girls LOVE them! How funny is that? I bet I didn't eat crab until I was in my 20's for the first time and our kids have been eating it for years already. Tonight Piper showed interest in helping to crack them. Normally they eat it as fast as we can crack it so Matt and I end up eating a luke warm supper. Now we need to get our 2 year old interested in helping out too :) BTW, it hurt my thumb the entire time - last time I whine about this I promise.
It's that time of year down here where all of the preschools in the area are having their open houses and registrations. 2 years ago we put Piper in a preschool and that lasted less than 2 months, she was just too young and I could not deal with her crying each day that I left her. We had good intentions sending her though, with Violet being a new babe I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep her socially active with kids her own age or have messy fun activities with her but after pulling her out I realized that I could do it. So, there are 2 places that we are looking at near us that offer a 3 day a week program which is hard to find for 4 year olds. Not only are good places hard to find but they have lotteries to get in them. 50 families going for like 6 spots - craziness! This morning we are going to look at the 2nd place which is a church near us. If she gets in to 1 of them great but if she doesn't I know that I can get her ready for school myself. With the 3rd babe coming I will have to structure out time a little better and I'll just need to find more families out there like ours to socialize her with and search out free activities for our family to do during the days. Just a few weeks ago I was very anxious about this situation but once again Matt came in and calmed me when I needed it. He is confident that I can be a mother/teacher but some days I am not so sure. Anyway, another new journey either way for us - she doesn't even look like she should be in school yet does she :(
This morning Piper actually asked to write her letters after breakfast - yeah! Not the best pictures b/c my kitchen has weird lighting in the morning. She had her hair up and then put her crayon in her "bun" but when she tried to take it out she had to take her hair down that is why she looks different in the photos.
Yep, schools were canceled down here. I am not sure if parts of the 2 surrounding counties got more than the dusting that we did but I sure hope so to cancel so many things today. The girls saw the snow at breakfast and wanted to go and play in it, I am sorry to say that there wasn't very much playing going on since there wasn't very much to play with :) Anyway, I thought that our northern friends and family would enjoy this :)
Last night was comical really. Piper fought us to go in the room but Violet was pretty ok with it, now I don't think she would do it alone though. Matt read the 2 new books that Violet got for her birthday and then a few of the stories from our girl's all.time.favorite nighttime storybook Snoozers (they "read" along with it). Before Matt went to watch tv Piper made him promise to sleep in there so he said yes. I laid with them for a little bit and again promised that we could bring out the stamps today and left. Here is the funny part, and maybe only our chaotic house would find this humorous but Matt and I got ready for bed and went in by the girls. They now have 2 twins (at different heights btw) pushed together. I took the end so Matt was stuck almost on the crack. As a special big girl gift I got Piper a Sleeping Beauty nightlight but what I didn't know was that it changed colors all the time. Piper would not let Matt take that out of the room so we have to deal with that too - he calls it the Las Vegas nightlight. So all 4 of us are laying there when Sadie and Mabel decide to join us. Sadie wasn't digging it too much b/c there really wasn't anywhere for her 65 lbs to fit but she found a place by Matt and Mabel cozied up to the back of my legs. Him and I just get done laughing over the craziness that is our current sleeping arrangement when we hear "Meow", why not Lily - come on up :) We lost it! Here we have this REALLY nice king sized bed that no one is sleeping in right now. I do hope that the girls end up getting used to their room and this works out in the end for our family. It isn't that we would mind that they still slept with us but with new babe coming I am just not so sure our bedroom is big enough anymore. Piper and Violet both got up this morning when Matt did but at least they both went down ok and I am hoping that is a step in the right direction.
Totally off topic and just for fun here is a picture that I got of Piper the other day. We do love our dress up :) See the poms? Her favorite cheer is "Go Daddy" - lucky guy to have such cute cheerleaders.
and our little girl made the most of it! All of the babes had a great time at the party but it was at a fabulous little gym by our house with so much to do it is hard not to have fun. Mommies and Daddys could be seen jumping on trampolines or bouncing in the big bounce house. I saw a lot of lounging in the foam pit too - mostly my Mattie :)
Violet hangs on those rings for almost a minute - she could probably do more but she loves dropping down in the foam as much as swinging :) The picture is blurry but it is one of the only ones I got today b/c my camera was left on and the battery was almost dead :(
And then came the good part - the song and the cake! Thankfully Daddy and Piper were there to help out Violet b/c she wasn't so sure about the whole blowing out of the candles. Look at how serious she is looking at that cake/candles - I wonder what the heck she was thinking.
Her friend Gracie lent her a "Birthday Girl" crown to wear while she was partying :) Again the serious face, my daughter really does smile - a lot!
Violet was once again spoiled rotten by all of the gifts she received, our playroom is going to overflow but a huge thank you for everyone's generosity. What a super fun day - the whole family is tired and will probably turn in any minute. I just realized I posted 3x in 1 day - a record is being set here today :)
I am done and it is noon on Sunday! Thank you Matt for helping out and keeping the girls busy this morning (and also to Mickey Mouse and Frosty). I don't think that it turned out half bad for only being the 2nd "decorated" cake that I have ever attempted in my life. Of course it totally could be featured over at Cake Wrecks but Ha! I didn't pay for it :) I did learn a few valuable lessons from this though.
2. When baking multiple cakes and making this much frosting either have or borrow (I borrowed) a Kitchen Aid mixer - it was a life saver for sure!
3. When trying to decorate the cake don't talk on the phone at the same time. This morning I was trying to "multi-task" and my cake fell over resulting in me having to fix it and not so well I might add.
4. Make extra white frosting and keep it off to the side in case your cake falls over and you need more to fix it :)
5. Don't try and get fancy by adding chocolate chips to your cake unless you know how to keep them from just falling to the bottom while cooking, I do not have this skill. We have a "layer" cake now, 1/2 yellow cake (top) and 1/2 chocolate chip yellow cake (bottom), so not what I was visioning.
Here it is - don't laugh at the cookies, I realize it looks like a 5th grader might have made them but it was actually me :)
Hopefully I will get pictures from the party today up in the next few days. Now, off to shower and try and get the red food coloring that has stained my hands and nails off :)
(Saturday) - I was trying to get the perfect red icing for Violet's cake (the big red car) so Matt put the girls down for the 1st time in their room. Violet came out saying she wanted back in our room b/c she just didn't like that room and all I could hear from Piper was crying that she didn't want to stay in there. After listening to them for a few minutes I relieved Matt of his duties and went and laid down with both of them in the new room. They finally settled down after I made some promises about today.
1. They could have an oatmeal bar for breakfast rather than their oatmeal (as I type this they are telling me that they are hungry so we will eat breakfast 2x today but oh well).
2. We could break out the new stamps that we bought the other day and play with them after breakfast. Piper is a crafty kid so this was a huge deal for her b/c I was sort of trying to keep those stamps for a rainy day.
3. We could watch Frosty the Snowman sometime this morning - thankfully this one seems to have been forgotten :)
So how did they do on night 1? Well, they went to sleep w/o me in there b/c I left shortly after the promises but Piper woke up at around 5 and went into bed with Matt. Violet slept until 6:50 this morning so a little later than normal but I am not sure what time they finally got to sleep last night. We will see what happens this evening when we do it all over again.
I am so nervous. This Sunday we are having Violet's birthday party and I am making her cake. This isn't just any cake but a Wiggle's cake. Tonight I sit here and wonder what the heck was I thinking? Matt already knows that he is on kiddie duty Sunday so that I can decorate b/c I will probably need every minute up until 3 pm which is her party, wish me luck!
Well for this week anyway :) Violet had her 2 year appointment this morning and I had to take a picture of our perfect little girl, doctor's words not mamas. I just love Dr. Wendy :)
It is getting cold outside, we have been spoiled I will admit it. It is only supposed to get up to 32 on Friday! Today we went and played outside b/c between my kids and the ones that I sit for there was a lot of energy in the house and they needed to get rid of some of it :) My girls would ride their bikes all day every day if you let them. Violet can't always peddle the best, especially when she gets near a little hill and has to actually work for it, but she will scoot a long normally quite happily. You should have seen how cold their little hands were when we all went in - time to get out the hats and mittens NC!
I am not a huge TV watcher but how excited am I when both American Idol AND Lost both have their premiers this week. Our Tivo will be working overtime :)
Well, I guess that the only update is that it is almost done as far as there is furniture in there and paint on the walls. The night that we returned from MO Piper was totally psyched to sleep in her own room like she did at her friend Kyle's house, it lasted about an hour and she came back to ours. We ask her just about every other night if she might like to sleep in there and she says no, but Violet wants to just not alone. So, I think that we are going to throw them both in there together :) Now there will be an update.
Thank you Matt for putting up with all of the craziness trying to please a 3 year old and a 37 year old who both really just want a cute room, love you! He so isn't going to love me posting his picture though :)
This morning Piper and Violet got some new (to them) pj's from their good friend Rylyn and Piper HAD to put the Arial set on immediately. Shortly afterwards she decided to accessorize the outfit with her jewels and cousin's little light up toy. These 2 pictures were taken 1 right after the other, I will call them "happy" and "done".
I am so not a computer person but I wish I was. I am not a photographer but again, wish I was. Put that all together and you've got yourself a mama who has no clue but still blogs and posts pictures of her kiddos as often as I can :) This year one of my goals is to learn my camera and take better pictures. After trying to update the look on our blog yesterday I am adding a little bit of education on html so that I can figure out how to get my archives and about me to show back up on my sidebar :) For that matter I would love to get my buttons back over there too but even after spending waaayyyy too long last night after the family went to bed on it I still couldn't figure it out. So, I will try tonight to maybe get buttons and archives on the bottom until a light bulb goes off in my brain. Most people don't need to know all about my musical likes and dislikes anyway so I probably don't actually need an about me section :) I am still stumped by my photo processing b/c my Photoshop isn't the best so I can't get my pictures to look like I want them too - I will be working on a new header over the next few weeks (children willing) too :) Now, off to take down the Christmas tree :)
We were invited to a wedding this past weekend but were not able to take our girls with us. I went back and forth but knew that this was a once in a lifetime event (for me) and b/c good friends volunteered to watch the girls I felt more comfortable leaving them. The emotions that I went through though were crazy, it wasn't even that I thought anything would happen I just felt that I was missing out on what they were doing. I cried on the car ride to the airport and thought of them all the time we were there. What were they doing? Playing like crazy girls and probably not even thinking about us :) Piper barely spoke to me when I called to say goodnight and Violet was too busy eating her mac and cheese to pay any mind to the phone. At least I know that they can handle it if we had to leave but I don't see anymore trips in my distant future - too hard on mama :) 29 hours was enough! My husband and I did have a fabulous time and it was really good for us to get out and have some fun together. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was very nice, we will always have great memories from the weekend. I got the chance to spend time with people that I don't ever get to see anymore but will always be dear to me. If you glance at this thank you so much for watching the girls Leslie - you are a special friend.
No cameras were allowed at the wedding but b/c it is so rare that we ever dress up and go anywhere we propped up our little p&s and took a quick picture of us before we left :)