The city of three Empires and the city on two continents

How many of you have ever stopped to reflect deeply about the true value of living in a glorious city like Istanbul in your lifetime?

Human beings tend to be pessimistic, fellow Istanbulites. We all have a leaning to see a glass of water as half-empty rather than as half-full. This phenomenon is almost universal. There is an ample amount of studies and surveys indicating the natural inclination of the human race toward the exaggeration of hardships of daily life and to belittling the significance of blessings endowed to them.

In our country too, people love to highlight and criticize the negative aspects of their life and make quarrels with fiery passion.

Globally, dissatisfaction with cities comes first in this regard. The position of Istanbul, in the eyes of its approximately 15 million people, is no exception either. I am saying this not because I have done extensive surveys that measure the level of dissatisfaction that Istanbul inflicts on its residents or because I have statistics of such surveys available to myself, but simply because I have an unremitting habit of constantly drawing sociological conclusions out of my observations of people  from all walks of life: whether it be my family, close relatives, friends, people who appear on TV or even those faceless strangers who share public transport with me day in, day out.

They have never mistaken me in their complaints about Istanbul. To hear, for example, that the hurry and rush in Istanbul is eating up our life, or that the looming great earthquake is upon us, or that the terrible traffic is Allah?n Gazab? (the Wrath of God) is not only a vivid manifestation of collective dissatisfaction with this colossal city, but also a clear signal about which urban issues,...