“If the Earth were a single state, İstanbul would be its capital.” – Napoleon Bonaparte is alleged to have said (Schultz 2015)

Over 600 years ago, the eminent Islamic scholar Ibn Khaldun who is considered as the true founding Father of modern sociology, celebrated the transformational nature of cities and their contribution to the advancement of civilization: “The level of a civilization can be estimated by the size and growth of its cities, an inevitable consequence of the development of human society” (Ibn Khaldun, Al-Muqaddimah 1377). By that measure, Turkey has done amazingly well. Today, Turkey is among the most urbanized countries in Europe. In comparison to European countries, the average size of its large urban zones is over 1.1 million inhabitants, nearly twice the EU average and greater than any other country in Europe. Among comparable countries, only South Korea managed a faster rate of urban growth in the years, 1950 to 2013. But more than any other city, it is İstanbul, home to 16 million people, that dominates the urban landscape, accounting for more than 20 per cent of Turkey's urban population (World Bank 2015: 9–10).

A series of nationwide protests in May and June 2013 signify one of the most significant moments in the AKP rule in Turkey. The protests began on 27 May 2013 as a small campaign against the government's redevelopment plans for Gezi Park in Taksim Square in central İstanbul. Since its beginnings in 2002, the AKP regime has been unique in Turkish history, in terms of its economic and political use of the construction sector. It chose construction as the locomotive of its high expectations, that is, to create an active process of development and a lively domestic market. The rapidly rising housing complexes, skyscrapers, giant malls, wide boulevards and the construction of fast motorways, airports, tunnels and metros meant job opportunities for a significant section of the population. In 2004, there were one million people working in the construction sector; this number had reached 2.2 million by 2014. Moreover, all of these projects were considered accomplishments that would be perceived by the electorate as clear signs of economic growth and hence the success of the regime (Sonmez 2015).