Bahçelievler (meaning "houses with gardens" in
Turkish) is a large
middle class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...
residential
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...
of
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
, on the
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an side of the city. It is accessible from the
D.100 that runs from the Istanbul airport to the Asian side of the city, covers 5% of Istanbul's land area and is home to over 570,000 people. Bahçelievler is the northern neighbour of
Bakırköy
Bakırköy is a neighbourhood, municipality and district on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey. The quarter is densely populated, has a residential character and is inhabited by an upper middle class population. The municipality of Bakırköy ...
, with a similar area.
History
Stone quarried in Bahçelievler was employed to build the old city of Constantinople. Prior to the
Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, the area was largely farmland occupied predominantly by ethnic Greeks. After the foundation of the
Turkish Republic
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
in the 1920s, Bahçelievler emerged from settlements built alongside roads stretching out from the center of the province towards Europe -first the Londra Asfalt, and the later E5, built in the 1960s. Factories were built alongside the roads, followed by dense housing and apartment buildings. The population of Bahçelievler grew from 8,500 in 1960 to 100,000 in 1975 and today nearly half a million people are packed into 16.7 km
2.
In the 1970s part of the area was built to plan, and -until the 1980s- Bahçelievler was indeed full of houses with gardens, as its name suggests. During the rapid economic growth of Turkey in the 1980s and 1990s most of these houses were pulled down, sold to developers, and replaced with apartment blocks- with far less green space between them; today the name Bahçelievler only accurately describes the central Bahçelievler District.
Today
Some districts of Bahçelievler – such as Bahçelievler, Basın Sitesi and Yayla – are well lit, with tree-lined avenues of attractive buildings and small parks, big shopping centres, cinemas and many small cafés. Traffic in these districts is congested, despite efforts undertaken in 2006 to relieve the pressure with new roads, bridges and underpasses.
Outlying districts such as
Yenibosna
Yenibosna is a borough within the district of Bahçelievler in west Istanbul, Turkey.
The borough is in the west of Bahçelievler, bordering with the neighbor district Küçükçekmece. The original settlement was initially named Saraybosna, the ...
or consist largely of factories, retail and small businesses (including many textile wholesalers), intermixed with extremely dense housing (typically, 6–8-story apartment buildings packed together in long rows) and run through with arterial roads. The infrastructure is poor, and the narrow streets are often choked with traffic.
There are branches of four universities, many public and private schools and hospitals. Prominent landmarks include the Unverdi shopping centre (on the site of the old Unverdi cinema, in the centre of the district) and the Omur Plaza on the E5, by the Incirli Metrobus station.
Transportation
Bahçelievler is accessible via bus, minibus,
dolmuş
In Turkey and Northern Cyprus, dolmuş () are share taxis that run set routes within and between cities.
Background
Their name is derived from Turkish for "seemingly stuffed" referencing the fact that in days past these taxis were often filled ...
(share taxi), or car, primarily from the E5 highway, and municipal train. Transit duration depends on the hour, but has been greatly reduced with the introduction of dedicated
Metrobus lanes; typical times from the major hubs in
Eminönü and
Mecidiyeköy run from 35–15 minutes, respectively, and under an hour to the
Söğütlüçeşme Metrobus hub in
Kadıköy
Kadıköy (), known in classical antiquity and during the Roman and Byzantine eras as Chalcedon ( gr, Χαλκηδών), is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey, on the northern shore of the Sea ...
.
Atatürk International Airport is 10 minutes away by
municipal train. Expedient crossing to Asia is available by sea-bus from the adjacent municipality of Bakırköy, with connections to Kadıköy and
Bostancı
Bostancı is a neighbourhood of Kadıköy, located on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, Turkey, on the shore of the Sea of Marmara. As the easternmost neighbourhood of the Kadıköy district; it borders Suadiye and Kozyatağı (also neighbourh ...
.
Climate
Bahçelievler experiences a
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
(''Csa/Cs'') according to both
Köppen and
Trewartha
Trewartha and Andrewartha are Cornish family names (and placename, Dexter). There are places called Trewartha in the parishes of Merther, St Agnes, St Neot and Veryan.
According to the ''Handbook of Cornish Names'' by G. Pawley White, "Tre ...
climate classifications, with cool winters and warm to hot summers. It is rather warm and dry compared to most places in Istanbul, it is classified as
USDA hardiness zone
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...
9a and
AHS heat zone 4.
Population
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahcelievler
Districts of Istanbul Province
Populated places in Istanbul Province