Determination of Location‐specific Factors at the Intra‐metropolitan Level: Istanbul Case

Abstract

In the context of economic globalisation, there has been considerable academic interest in understanding the choice of location of foreign direct investment (FDI) firms. Generally, studies on the location of FDI firms focus on national and regional levels. There are only a limited number of studies at the intra-urban level, especially for developing countries. This paper investigates where the industrial and service FDI firms are distributed within Istanbul, and how location-specific factors affect their decisions. This study is based on a sample of 100 companies surveyed in Istanbul at the end of 2002. The locational determinants of FDI firms in Istanbul have been analysed using factor analysis and logistic regression techniques. It was found that location-specific advantages influence the location of service and industrial FDI firms (between the central and suburban districts) in the Istanbul metropolitan area. The service and industrial FDI firms in Istanbul also chose different locations. Copyright (c) 2008 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.

Determinants of Office Rents in the Istanbul Metropolitan Area

“…Increase in the amount of foreign investment due to restructuring of regulations for foreign investment also played an important role for the development of its office market. Moreover, its strategic location between Asia and Europe adds to the impetus for office development in these multi-centres (Dokmeci & Berkoz, 1994;Berkoz & Eyupoglu, 2007;Berkoz & Turk, 2008). All of the headquarters of prestigious banks and well-known industrial companies, research and development, advertisement, real estate and insurance companies, shopping malls and hotels are congregated in these new major sub-centres supported by the modern housing projects on their periphery.…”

“…This can be the result of symbolism which is one of the characteristics of post-modern architecture and urban planning that companies feel the need to express their economic power through the height and architectural quality of their buildings (Steele, 1997;Yeang, K., 2002;Berkoz & Eyupoglu, 2007;Berkoz & Turk, 2008).…”

The benefits associated with ISO 14001 certification for construction firms: Turkish case

“…In particular, with the legal arrangements carried out in 2003, it has become easier for direct foreign capital to invest in Turkey. As a result of these legal arrangements, a serious foreign investment flow has been achieved [24]. Having ISO 14001 certificate for the foreign companies planning to make investments may provide benefits for the Turkish construction sector in two perspectives.…”

Spatial distribution of construction firms in Istanbul

“…Globalization, closing down the government factories, and relaxation of restrictions on the agricultural imports fuelled the inter-provincial migration caused the rapid growth of Istanbul (Yazgi et al, 2014). Urban sprawl (Terzi and Bolen, 2009) with squatter development, gated towns in the periphery and multi-centre development (Dokmeci and Berkoz, 1994;Berkoz, 2000;Berkoz and Turk, 2008), government's large urban regeneration projects (Karaman, 2008;Kuyucu, et al, 2010), relaxation of density restrictions increased construction and thus growing construction sector as well as the number of construction companies at city wide. While the location of construction companies were first mostly in the central districts, further they followed the construction activity at the metropolitan level as the city expended.…”