Istanbul restores Ottoman-Glory Balat district

Istanbul began a renovation project in the once prestigious district of Balat to revive tourism in the area.

Balat, a UNESCO-protected district on Istanbul's Golden Horn waterway, was once home to a merchant community of Turks, Jews, Greeks and Armenians. By the 1990s, the poor immigrants had settled in the district.

"Our aim is to preserve these magnificent buildings and carry them into the future," the district's mayor, Mustafa Demir, told a small crowd on Tuesday. He said that he hoped tourism in the area would increase.

More than 100 buildings will be painted as a part of the open-ended renovation program. There will be minor facade repair work as well.

Balat's project is a part of a long-running renovation scheme in the region. "This renovation started in 2008. Thousands of buildings have been renovated," Demir said.

Local people speaking to the Turkish press agency AA were content with the project yet voiced unhappiness that rent prices are going up as a result of the project.

"Even a dilapidated building is around 2 million Turkish liras ($890,000)," Ayse Iyieder told an AA reporter. Some others said foreign buyers were interested in the area.

Balat's case is not unique. Istanbul is in fact undergoing a range of renovation projects. While some buildings have been demolished due to their not being earthquake-resistant, others were renovated due to interest from foreign buyers.

The ruling AK Party aims to oversee $400 billion worth of urban transformation in Turkey until 2023. According to the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, over 1.4 million people were exposed to gentrification in Turkey in 2013.