Category Archives: Uncategorized

It was field work day. Everyone, or most, had their own plans to venture out into Istanbul and collect information on their topics. Or maybe it just happened to be a coincidence. We started the day split in two groups, … Continue reading →

Upon walking through Istanbul, one can see the multitude of Ottoman culture, through Turkish historical relics. With a closer look, one can perhaps draw a connection between original Ottoman culture and later structures, or see how historical structures have been … Continue reading →

On Sunday, Mar.1st, we met with Muge Yorganci, a city planner who participated in the Gezi Park protest. The protest was against an Ottoman Style Shopping Mall project, proposed by the Prime Minister Erdogan of the AKP party. Erdogan tried … Continue reading →

On Thursday, Mar. 5th, I met with managers of several branches that belong to international hotel chains. The first one is Mercure hotel, the 5th branch opened in Istanbul by the international hotel chain Mercure. This new one was opened … Continue reading →

There was a morning when half of the group went to meet a reporter in a newspaper, and half of us went to a Syrian refugee school. I went to the latter. It was my favorite part of the entire … Continue reading →

There was a transformation in Turkey after the Gezi Park Protests. On March 1st, we went to where it happened. We arrived in Taksim Square early in the day and saw what we thought was a protest. The group went … Continue reading →

On March 3rd we met with a vice-mayor for the Zeytinburnu Municipality in Istanbul.   The current Istanbul mayor appoints the vice-mayor and both represent the AKP party.   At the time of the meeting, we’d been in Istanbul for a little … Continue reading →

In both Istanbul and Izmir we were fortunate enough to meet with a vice mayor and the mayor, respectively.  The vice mayor of Zeytinburnu, a wealthier district in Istanbul, did not have much to say about public transportation.  He simply … Continue reading →

On Wednesday, March 4th Saehoon, Tulay and I met with EMBARQ Turkey, a non-profit organization for sustainable transportation.  The meeting was informal and the three women who met with us were very candid.  Although the organization focuses on “pedestrinization” and … Continue reading →

On Wednesday, March 4th following the advice from Tuna Kuyucu, Jyra and I rode the BRT during the morning rush hour.  We left the hotel at 8:23am and headed for the Sirkeci tram station.  Only two minutes after arriving we … Continue reading →