Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore top government hands-on megaproject management model applied to Istanbul’s new airport megaproject. The study aims to find an answer to this research question: “How is the organizational design and management of a megaproject that has been alive in a confrontational socio-political environment and whose national strategic importance is high?” Design/methodology/approach Organizational theory and critical theory perspectives are used in this study. Istanbul’s grand airport is chosen as the case study. Interview, focus group and document analysis methods are used together. The research yields data from qualitative resources. Verbal and written materials are organized into three major themes and 27 key subjects for content analysis. Findings A top level of organizational management can be attained in the state in order for the mega projects with high national strategic importance to survive without problems and with high performance. The top government-level organizational structure implemented at Istanbul’s new airport has reduced complexity, risk and uncertainty; increased performance and product quality; and strenghtened inter-organizational compatibility and communication within the megaproject organization. However, this structuring also increased centralization, reduced transparency and direct public participation in the decision-making process. Research limitations/implications The megaproject is run in strict confidence and limited information is shared gradually in a controlled way with public by the megaproject organization. Therefore, a qualitative methodology is followed and the usage of quantitative data remained limited in the research. Practical implications The study presents an exemplary top government-level megaproject management model for countries experiencing strong socio-political conflicts and aiming to perform megaprojects with high national strategic importance. Social implications The organization of Istanbul’s new airport megaproject offers an exemplary, flexible and innovative organizational management model for countries that want to realize mega projects with high national strategic importance and experience strong socio-political conflicts. The questions of how to cope with challenges, how to build management capabilities and how to improve the cooperation and coordination within megaprojects have found some answers with this study. In addition, this study provides an insight into how to make more effective objections to wrong megaproject practices and the right strategies that the opposing organizations can follow. Originality/value This empirical research widens and deepens the theoretical foundations of top government hands-on megaproject management. The study, which includes a process analysis, allows to better understand the philosophy, nature, success, planning process, social organization and dynamics of megaprojects and to explain them through the values and strategies of organizations.

PurposeThe continuation of globalisation and liberalisation processes has prompted the restructuring of many national and local property markets. The research examines the evolution of Istanbul's retail property market to identify how global and local agents engage with one another to produce a unique “glocalized” outcome.Design/methodology/approachThe morphogenetic approach is adapted and applied to analyse the dynamics of market change. The focus is on the character and behaviour of national and international market actors and how they interact with the wider political economy. The research uses a combination of elite interviews, document analysis and corporate case studies to obtain empirical evidence.FindingsThe liberalisation of the Turkish economy heralded the entry of the first international companies into Istanbul's retail property market in the 1990s. International involvement expanded rapidly after 2004, accelerating the process of market re-structuring. However, while the number of global buy-outs increased, the expansion of local property companies–and the establishment of some international/national corporate partnerships–was even more marked. This resulted in a “glocalised” market with a strong and distinctive local culture.Originality/valueIstanbul has been a major centre of trade for millenia. This is the first substantive analysis of the recent restructuring of the city's retail property market. Previous research on market maturity and market evolution has paid limited attention to the dynamics of change. The paper describes the use of a process-based theoretical framework (morphogenesis) that was explicitly designed to analyse structural shifts in socio-economic conditions through an examination of the characteristics and behaviours of the actors involved.

The aim of this paper is to determine an urban model for Kırıkkale city according to the sustainable urban development potentials and dynamics. This model is dependent on the many planning decisions which include the assessment of ecological potentials, the foundation of urban open-green system and also the reorganization of the neigbourhoods in the city as the clusters.In this paper, the methodology is based on the cluster analysis which consists of the assessment of the neighbourhoods in the city as named clusters and also transferring data onto maps according to the sustainable urban development dynamics and future potential. This paper focused on Kırıkkale city which is at an early stage for sustainable urban models in Turkey, but this paper also contributes towards the debate and study of sustainable urban models in Turkish towns according to the methodology.

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Istanbul is a unique part of the world because of not only its history, but also its function as a bridge from the point of economic, social and cultural interrelations. There are many cities, which are settled near a water source; however, Istanbul is the only city that is settled between two continents and two seas. All these features create some opportunities and threats for the city in terms of hinterland relations and the spatial structure. This paper aims to find out the economic, social and cultural impact of globalization on the spatial structure and the hinterland relations of Istanbul while discussing the city’s contradictory positions as an edge of Europe and as a bridge between the East and the West. Within this scope, we made a multiscale analysis considering interregional and inter-urban relations and their socio-spatial imprints within the boundaries of the city. Firstly, we made a comparative analysis to understand the changing position of Istanbul in the world in the 21st century by using global and regional indexes. Secondly we examined the change in the hinterland relations of the city by investigating the flows of people, goods, services and ideas between other regions / cities and the city of Istanbul in time. Thirdly, we traced the spatial imprints of these flows and interactions within the city in terms of relocations and displacements. Our study shows the growing importance of the city not only as a part of Europe but also as a node and bridge for the globalized world while emphasising socio-cultural and socio-economic tensions within the city as a result of this process.