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Daily Sabah, Turkey
Dec 27 2014
Istanbul's budget larger than 80 country's
As the largest city in Turkey-an important industrial, commercial and
cultural center in the region and a shoo-in for being one of the
biggest 10 megacities in the world-Istanbul has a budget bigger than
the GDPs of 80 countries including Albania, Macedonia and Armenia.
It sounds shocking, but, earlier this week, a record consolidated
budget of 31.9 billion Turkish lira ($13.7 billion) was allocated to
the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality for next year, a figure that
exceeds the budgets for 19 Turkish ministries.
The huge sum begs the question of how fast the city is growing and how
to best manage this growth in both population and transportation.
According to economists, for the growing population of Istanbul the
budget of 31.9 billion lira-ostensibly an astronomical sum-is really a
reasonable amount.
"Istanbul's population, which is officially 15 million, is higher than
130 countries across the world. Unofficially, it has exceeded 17
million people with unregistered inhabitants and domestic and foreign
tourists," says Fırat Polat, general coordinator of the Economists
Platform, a firm of Turkish consultants.
Polat says one of the main drivers behind Istanbul's big budget is its
enormous population: "The budget of 31.9 billion Turkish lira seems a
sufficient amount to manage this megacity and its population."
According to a 2014 United Nations report, the number of
megacities-those with more than 10 million people-has increased
three-fold globally over the past 24 years.
Today there are 28 megacities including Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Sao
Paulo, New York, Mexico City, Mumbai, Osaka, Delhi and Dhaka; Istanbul
ranks 23rd on the list.
"For example five years ago, in the beginning of 2010, Istanbul's
population was 13 million and the consolidated budget of the
municipality was 17.9 billion Turkish lira," says Polat.
"The number of inhabitants has increased 20 percent in the past five
years while the budget has boomed nearly 75 percent. The rise of the
budget is more than the rise of population which is totally normal."
However, the experts think that dense urban environments may provide
certain benefits but generate hazards like transportation problems,
traffic jams, pollution and unemployment.
"This mass rush towards Istanbul has created many problems. With the
latest policies, it seems impossible to prevent the population growth
of the city," Polat says.
The first and maybe the most pressing problem of this growing city is
transportation, experts say.
http://www.dailysabah.com/economy/2014/12/27/istanbuls-budget-larger-than-80-countrys-gdp
Dec 27 2014
Istanbul's budget larger than 80 country's
As the largest city in Turkey-an important industrial, commercial and
cultural center in the region and a shoo-in for being one of the
biggest 10 megacities in the world-Istanbul has a budget bigger than
the GDPs of 80 countries including Albania, Macedonia and Armenia.
It sounds shocking, but, earlier this week, a record consolidated
budget of 31.9 billion Turkish lira ($13.7 billion) was allocated to
the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality for next year, a figure that
exceeds the budgets for 19 Turkish ministries.
The huge sum begs the question of how fast the city is growing and how
to best manage this growth in both population and transportation.
According to economists, for the growing population of Istanbul the
budget of 31.9 billion lira-ostensibly an astronomical sum-is really a
reasonable amount.
"Istanbul's population, which is officially 15 million, is higher than
130 countries across the world. Unofficially, it has exceeded 17
million people with unregistered inhabitants and domestic and foreign
tourists," says Fırat Polat, general coordinator of the Economists
Platform, a firm of Turkish consultants.
Polat says one of the main drivers behind Istanbul's big budget is its
enormous population: "The budget of 31.9 billion Turkish lira seems a
sufficient amount to manage this megacity and its population."
According to a 2014 United Nations report, the number of
megacities-those with more than 10 million people-has increased
three-fold globally over the past 24 years.
Today there are 28 megacities including Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Sao
Paulo, New York, Mexico City, Mumbai, Osaka, Delhi and Dhaka; Istanbul
ranks 23rd on the list.
"For example five years ago, in the beginning of 2010, Istanbul's
population was 13 million and the consolidated budget of the
municipality was 17.9 billion Turkish lira," says Polat.
"The number of inhabitants has increased 20 percent in the past five
years while the budget has boomed nearly 75 percent. The rise of the
budget is more than the rise of population which is totally normal."
However, the experts think that dense urban environments may provide
certain benefits but generate hazards like transportation problems,
traffic jams, pollution and unemployment.
"This mass rush towards Istanbul has created many problems. With the
latest policies, it seems impossible to prevent the population growth
of the city," Polat says.
The first and maybe the most pressing problem of this growing city is
transportation, experts say.
http://www.dailysabah.com/economy/2014/12/27/istanbuls-budget-larger-than-80-countrys-gdp