Istanbul: a candidate city for the global innovation league?

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to explore potential of Istanbul as a city region in the innovation league. There is a growing awareness amongst regional authorities that the economic growth and competitiveness of their cities depends largely on the capacity of indigenous firms to innovate. This paper mainly analyzes the technological and innovation infrastructure of Istanbul and compares Istanbul with some successful global cities. By situating the city in the national and global context, it shows that Istanbul has gained a substantial lead in developing an innovation environment but it still lacks global network and linkages as well as weak in terms of research institutions. Finally, some of key challenges Istanbul face in becoming a global city is pointed out.