TV series production and the urban restructuring of Istanbul

Abstract

This article explores the entangled relationship between Turkish TV series and the city of Istanbul examining both the series' representation of the city and the effects of flourishing series' production on the city. We argue that TV series production and representation changes and is changed by the urban restructuring of globalizing Istanbul since the late 1980s. analyzing internationally popular series such as Noor, Valley of the Wolves, and 1001 Nights and building on television, urban and cultural studies, this article explores the ways that Istanbul's neoliberal renovation process appears in and is shaped by TV series. the three segments of the article probe how series reflect and push forth the gentrification of historical neighborhoods, their increasing use of abandoned post-industrial areas as shooting locations, and their promotion of spaces associated with creative industries and luxury lifestyles. We show that both images and image making are connected to city making.