Dinsdag 28 februari 2012
15:00 Leiden TICKETS
Café Istanbul
Turkish Studies at Leiden University and Turkije Instituut/Turkey Institute are proud to present the first event of Café Istanbul in 2012!Ekümenopolis/Ecumenopolis: The City without Limits, a documentary about Istanbul’s rapid urbanisation and its consequences for the urban poor and the environment.
Meet the Istanbul of the 21st century: a vast metropolis and a typical urban sprawl. Today, Istanbul’s population is an estimated 15 million and its metropolitan borders are expanding at an unprecedented pace resulting in the destruction of the environment. A massive construction boom, which had already begun in the 1950s and accelerated during the 1980s, has today become a ‘construction frenzy’. While large motorways, tunnels, bridges, shopping malls, and mega skyscrapers are mushrooming, more and more people seclude themselves voluntarily to luxury gated communities in the peripheries. On the other hand, more and more squatter and slum neighbourhoods are undergoing an ‘urban transformation’ process with devastating consequences for the resident communities. They are exiled to live in high-rise concrete cages, also in the peripheries. While revealing the human pain behind these urban policies, Ekümenopolis/Ecumenopolis speculates on the potential consequences of a possible third bridge over the Bosphorus – another much debated subject in Turkey at this moment. Ekümenopolis/Ecumenopolis is an eye-opener and tells the story of insiders…
Come join us at Café Istanbul to see and listen to this eye-opening story.
Programme:
28 February 2012 at 15.00-16.45: Film screening
Ekümenopolis/Ecumenopolis (Turkish, but subtitled in English) in Lipsius 011 (Main university building).
17.00-18.00: Presentations & Discussion
After a short break we continue with two short presentations on gated communities in Istanbul by Simone Pekelsma (Constructing the Perfect World) and Gaye Eksen (Bosphorus on Sale) followed by discussion in Lipsius 005 .
How to get your FREE ticket:
1- Send an email to: Gaye Eksen (g.eksen@hum.leidenuniv.nl) and get your ticket.
2- If you have a Facebook account, please ‘Like’ our page Turkish Studies at Leiden University and join our group Communication Platform Turkish Studies at Leiden University (and be informed about our forthcoming events).