ABSTRACT
The past circulates in present day Istanbul, not only because historic monuments and artifacts are scattered through the city but also because the past is continuously improvised upon. One of the most striking advertisements celebrating Istanbul's status as a European Capital of Culture (ECoC) in 2010 inserts the image of Haydarpasa Train Station in place of Atatürk Cultural Center. The concept of urban modernity refers to the experience of modern city life and the associated cultural celebration of originality. There are multiple general points of reference for modernity: the post-sacred world of the Renaissance, the intellectual framework of the Enlightenment, and the psychological and social changes of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries connected to industrial modernization. Urban studies dealing with modern and contemporary Turkey from either a historical or a sociological approach draw respectively on theories of nationalism and globalization, and focus either on early nation-state formation or post-1980 developments.
