Why are people moving to İzmir?

I know lots of people who plan on moving from Istanbul to İzmir.

Istanbul's traffic, the high cost of living and the "urban transformation" that turns into a greater nightmare each day plays an important role in this decision.

On the other hand, the fact that İzmir is the "rising star" of Turkey is another important factor.

Recently, İzmir Mayor Aziz Kocaoğlu criticized the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization's decision to open the estates earmarked as a sports area to construction.

"We don't want İzmir to fall in the same bad situation as İstanbul, the world's most beautiful city," he said.
He is right.

The international credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings, gave the highest credit rating to İzmir.

The fact that the same agencies decreased Turkey's credit scores while giving a high rating to İzmir is important proof that İzmir is a "rising star." Before Fitch, Moody's Investor Service had also given İzmir the highest credit rating.

On the other hand, we take an interest in following the "İzmir model" Kocaoğlu presented to the international public in the Cities Unbound Conference organized by the World Bank and The Economist Magazine.

One of the most important columnists in agriculture, Ali Ekber Yıldırım, describes the model as follows: 

The "Local Development Model" started 10 years ago by the İzmir municipality is a model based on growth and development through cooperatives in agricultural and rural areas. According to Yıldırım, İzmir made a difference in all areas, from growth to employment and from production to organization.

The most important aspect is that it stopped migration from rural to urban areas.

To give numbers from 10 years ago, 29.14 percent of...