İzmir as Mediterranean Trade Port and Ottoman City in 19th Century

Abstract

İzmir occupies a prominent place among the Mediterranean port cities of the 19th century. The city is quite similar to other port cities in terms of trade dynamics but differs from them in the diversity of actors who had a say in trade. It can easily be said that İzmir was one of the plateaus of 19th century capital competition. Especially in the 19th century, the city was considered the second capital of the Ottoman Empire after Istanbul and continued to be one of its most important ports. In this period, the architectural and urban arrangements made by the Ottoman government on a local scale, as well as the urban transportation interventions made with the initiatives of western countries, significantly affected the morphology of the city. In this context, the morphological transformation of İzmir in the 19th century, its position within local, regional, and global networks, and its relationship with urban interventions will be evaluated through maps, drawings and documents related to railways and transportation.