Abstract:

In this article the change that Kazlıceşme was subjected to, from the Conquest to today, will be considered in terms of modernization reforms, industrialization, neo-liberal capitalism, decentralization, globalization and urban regeneration. In addition, this work provides a comparison between Istanbul and Barcelona, which are two leading actors of the global cities competition, and is made on the basis of their urban transformation policy. Kazlıçeşme's reconstruction program and Barcelona's 22@ urban regeneration project will be studied together regarding the change that the global economy has on the city level. The urban regeneration literature, developed after 1990 is fed by currently prevailing discourse on world and global cities. One of the main ideas of those urban policies is that the global centers must promote information and knowledge sectors and 'advanced producer services' such as accounting, law or financial firms instead of manufacturing. Decentralized, obsolete industrial urban areas and old derelict city centers are revitalized by adding new functions as well as their historical, cultural and natural aspects. However, the global economy does not influence urban transformation with the same rhythms, rules, goals and co-operations in every case. Istanbul and Barcelona have some convergences on the globalization process but they also have important divergences for their urban regeneration programmes. Measuring the distance from the global urban regeneration project 22@ will also help to understand the place of the land property policy in the global city theories and experiences

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