Istanbul: A Luxury Between Two Worlds

Istanbul’s attractiveness is very much related to the city being located between two worlds. First and foremost, the city straddles Europe and Asia, with its three bridges crossing the Bosphorus, and its ferries linking both continents in less than an hour. One of these bridges, which was inaugurated in 2016 and which has the widest span in the world, was built as part of a South Korean joint-venture (Hyundai et SK), and clearly confirmed the Asian interest of a more fluid trade corridor.

This historical geostrategic advantage was reinforced by the construction of the 800 million Euro Eurasia tunnel under the Marmara Sea in 2016, linking the two shores in merely fifteen minutes, and by a new suspension bridge over the Dardannelles Straits – the longest in the world –, which was inaugurated in 2022.

Apart from these gigantic infrastructures, the city also straddles different cultural worlds. Somewhere between a one-thousand-year-old imperial city, now Muslim, and a westernizing bustling capital, its multifaceted identity remains, for some, a mystery. The apparent antagonisms have even caused sociopolitical tensions in the past, such as the simultaneous attack on three art galleries during a vernissage in 2010, within the exposition “Tophane Art Walk”. This extremist attack was apparently motivated by the creeping gentrification of the neighborhood. It is, however, that latter facet of the city that a new class of tourists seem to be seeking, attracted, as they are, by its cosmopolitism and fresh creativity. Investors are also increasingly lured by the opportunities and dynamism of the city in numerous sectors.