Analysing Path Dependence to Understand Divergence: Investigating Hybrid Neo-liberal Urban Transformation Processes in Turkey

Abstract

This paper explores some deeply embedded differences between urban development processes. These are revealed in a Turkish case study by systematically analysing exogenous contingent events and trajectories. The study tests the concept of path dependence as a framework for analysing urban transformation. It examines the hybrid neo-liberal urban transformation along the Levent–Maslak axis, the extension of Istanbul's CBD (central business district). Commercial property development along the Levent–Maslak axis started in the late 1960s and, since the 1990s, the axis has become the financial heart of the city (even of the country).