Behind the impressive vistas of the Bosphorus, rich in the scenery through which Onuris, Scheherazade, Gamush, and the mystique of the former imperial city move, lies the most dynamic economic development in the last two years among world cities.
The Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program has published a report on the cities of the world that are emerging from recession the fastest, based on criteria of income growth based on gross value added and employment growth. Istanbul, with its 13.5 million inhabitants, is recording a staggering employment growth of 7.3 percent and an income growth of 5.5 percent this year. These are the best results on the list of 30 major cities that are emerging from the global recession the fastest.
The authors of the report themselves are surprised by Istanbul’s first place and do not have a complete explanation as they do for the second-placed Chinese city of Shenzhen. However, at the time when the recession peaked from 2007 to 2009, Istanbul suffered a significant decline in both employment and income, by 5 percent and 9.6 percent respectively during those two years. Economists at the Brookings Institution emphasize that such trends, with sharp declines and high surges, are characteristic of economies that heavily rely on exports.
This report from the Brookings Institution, an American think tank for social and economic development, has shown that the results of large urban agglomerations confirm the shifting focus of development: there are no European cities on the list of the 30 most dynamic cities in 2009 and 2010 (Istanbul is classified as Asian). The cities that are escaping recession the fastest are concentrated in three areas: China and India; island nations of Southeast Asia; and Latin America. From the so-called developed world, there are only three cities on this list: Montreal, Austin, and Melbourne. Among African cities, only Cairo is on the list.
