This article is about a district of Istanbul. See also Bahçelievler, Ankara

Bahçelievler, Ankara

Bahçelievler is a neighborhood in Çankaya District of Ankara, Turkey. The name means 'houses with gardens' in Turkish language.The neighborhood was known in the 1970s as a battleground for the right and left wing political factions...

Bahçelievler (meaning 'houses with gardens' in Turkish

Turkish language

Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

) is a large middle class

Middle class

The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....

 residential suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

 of Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, on the Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an side of the city. It is accessible from the E-5 Highway that runs from the Istanbul airport to the Asian side of the city, covers 5% of Istanbul's land area and is home to over 570,000 people. Bahçelievler is the northern neighbour of Bakırköy

Bakirköy

This article is about a neighbourhood in IstanbulBakırköy is a neighborhood, municipality and district on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey. The quarter is densely populated, has a residential character and is inhabited by a middle class population...

, with a similar area.

History

Stone quarried in Bahçelievler was employed to build the old city of Constantinople. Prior to the Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 conquest of Constantinople, the area was largely farmland occupied predominately by ethnic Greeks. After the foundation of the Turkish Republic in the 1920s, Bahçelievler emerged from settlements built alongside roads stretching out from the center of the province towards Europe -first the Londra Asfalt, and the later E5, built in the 1960s. Factories were built alongside the roads, followed by dense housing and apartment buildings. The population of Bahçelievler grew from 8,500 in 1960 to 100,000 in 1975 and today nearly half a million people are packed into 16.7 km².

In the 1970s part of the area was built to plan, and -until the 1980s- Bahçelievler was indeed full of houses with gardens, as its name suggests. During the rapid economic growth of Turkey in the 80's and 90's most of these houses were pulled down, sold to developers and replaced with apartment blocks- with far less green space between them; today the name Bahçelievler only accurately describes the central Bahçelievler District.

Today

Some districts of Bahçelievler - such as Bahçelievler, Basın Sitesi and Yayla - are well lit, with tree-lined avenues of attractive buildings and small parks, big shopping centers, cinemas and many small cafés. Traffic in these districts is congested, despite efforts undertaken in 2006 to relieve pressure with new roads, bridges and underpasses.

Outlying districts such as Yenibosna

Yenibosna

Yenibosna is a borough, located on the western part of the Istanbul district of Bahçelievler, bordering with the neighbor district Küçükçekmece. The earliest population record, whilst it was a village, was 350 and saw rapid migration after the founding of Republic of Turkey. The origin of the...

 or Soğanlı consist largely of factories, retail and small businesses (including many textile wholesalers), intermixed with extremely dense housing (typically, 6–8-story apartment buildings packed together in long rows) and run through with arterial roads. The infrastructure is poor, and the narrow streets are often choked with traffic.

There are branches of four universities, many public and private schools and hospitals. Prominent landmarks include the Unverdi shopping center (on the site of the old Unverdi cinema, in the center of the district) and the Omur Patisserie/Café on the E5 at the entrance to Bahçelievler. In 2009, a large Carrefour supermarket opened on the E5 at Şirinevler.

Transportation

Bahçelievler is accessible via bus, minibus, dolmuş or car, primarily from the E5 highway, and municipal train. Transit duration depends on the hour, but has been greatly reduced with the introduction of dedicated Metrobus

Metrobus (Istanbul)

Metrobus is the name of the bus rapid transit system implemented and operated in İstanbul, Turkey. The name Metrobüs was coined by the transit agency to suggest that this system is a hybrid between a metro train and a bus...

 lanes; typical times from the major hubs in Eminönü

Eminönü

Eminönü is a former district of Istanbul in Turkey, now a neighbourhood of Fatih district. This is the heart of the walled city of Constantine, the focus of a history of incredible richness. Eminönü covers the point on which the Byzantine capital was built. The Galata Bridge crosses the Golden Horn...

 and Mecidiyeköy

Mecidiyeköy

Mecidiyeköy is a neighbourhood located in the Şişli district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is also one of the prominent business quarters of Istanbul. It is situated between Fulya, Kuştepe, Gültepe, Esentepe, and Gülbahar neighbourhoods...

 run from 35-15 minutes, respectively, and under an hour to the Söğütlüçeşme Metrobus hub in Kadıköy

Kadiköy

Kadıköy is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district of İstanbul, Turkey on the Asian side of the Sea of Marmara, facing the historic city centre on the European side of the Bosporus...

. Atatürk International Airport

Atatürk International Airport

Atatürk International Airport is the major international airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Opened in 1924 and located in Yeşilköy, on the European side of the city, it is west of the city centre. In 1980, the airport was renamed to Atatürk International Airport in honor of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the...

 is 10 minutes away by municipal train

Istanbul LRT

This article is about the M1 and T4 lines. For the M2 line, see the article M2.The Istanbul LRT , which consists of the M1 and T4 lines, is a light metro system in Istanbul with a total length of 32 km There are 36 stations, including 12 underground and 3 viaduct...

. Expedient crossing to Asia is available by sea-bus from the adjacent municipality of Bakırköy, with connections to Kadıköy and Bostancı

Bostanci

Bostancı is a neighbourhood of Kadıköy, located on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, Turkey. The neighbourhood fronts the Sea of Marmara and is not far from the Princes' Islands. From the Bostancı shore, five islands; Kınalıada, Burgazada, Heybeliada, Büyükada, and Sivriada can be seen...

.

Population

Year	1935	1940	1945	1950	1955	1960	1965	1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1997	2000	2008
Bahçelievler Population	523	542	601	812	1,322	8,509	20,881	49,320	102,533	160,733	237,691	322,234	442,877	464,903	571,711

External links

• Official Bahçelievler Municipal Web Site