Like human beings, cities are constantly changing, even though this process might seem imperceptible to us as we shuttle back and forth to work by the same route every day. But when we look back over the decades to our childhood, it is obvious that while we chased after balls in streets where cats, dogs, gulls and street vendors added their noises to our shouts, Istanbul was already pregnant with inevitable change. In hindsight Istanbul was even then heading into the mainstream of modern life. Throughout history its geographical position had made this city a link between continents and cultures, and the time had come to open up to international markets and take its place in the hierarchy of world cities. Globalisation was squeezing all cities into similar moulds, and Istanbul, with its wooded hills and leafy suburbs spreading lazily on either side of the Bosphorus, was caught up in the current. Somehow it had to make room for a miniature New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris or Tokyo within its boundaries.

The expanding business sector, with its ever growing number of companies and increasing volume of foreign capital, lent momentum to the transformation in banking, telecommunications, marketing, engineering, advertising, leisure and other areas. This in turn was bringing about a visible change in the human profile of the city. The high ridge above the Bosphorus between Levent and Maslak became the axis of the Istanbul of the future. Istanbul Stock Exchange made its home in Ýstinye and skyscrapers began to spring up. These districts took precedence not by coincidence but as a direct result of their accessibility from the new motorway and second Bosphorus bridge. The clusters of skyscrapers which underpin the clouds and command views over the entire city contain spacious, light, streamlined offices which reflect the standards of modern business and architecture. The highest point of this high-rise area is the 52-storey tower which houses the headquarters of Is Bankasi, one of Turkey's leading banks.

Every inch of space in the apartments is made use of in the most efficient way, and their facilities include remote control of equipment, steel safe, hydromassage shower system, hundreds of TV channels broadcast from four different satellites, direct satellite Internet link, sophisticated air-conditioning for all seasons, fan-coil heating and cooling systems, special windows with controlled opening mechanisms, smoke detectors and sprinklers in every room, and colour-vision diaphones linking lifts, halls and apartments. Intelligent buildings like this are formidable showcases of modern technology, and make futuristic living a thing of the present.

* Hande Demirkaya is a freelance writer