Location of Financial, Insurance, and Real Estate Firms in Istanbul

Abstract

The interurban location of high-order service activities was investigated by many researchers during the 1980s, but few of these studies concentrated on the intermetropolitan location of high-order service activities (i.e., producer services, finance, insurance, real estate, investment, and holding companies). During the past ten years, Istanbul has become the hub of a vast hinterland that extends from the Balkans to the Caucuses and represents a prime focus for foreign investment. The increasing importance of high-order activities in the Istanbul metropolitan area demands a closer understanding of the locational behavior of high-order service enterprises and its effect on the city’s development. The aim of this study was to ascertain the determining characteristics of decisions concerning the location choice by FIRE firms (finance, insurance, real estate, investment, and holding companies) in the Istanbul metropolitan area, a city currently in the midst of a rapid change process.