Private Jets & Porsches: The Rich Kids Of Istanbul

The structure of social classes in Turkey is similar in all large cities where the population exceeds 100,000 and evolved with urbanization and industrialization. The urban upper class is mainly made up of government officials, wealthy business people, and professionals, and is primarily determined by political power and/or education. The urban upper class is smaller than the urban middle class and less diverse. Education, particularly a college degree, is the passport to joining the urban middle class. Even though the middle class was expanding steadily during the early 1980s, persistently high inflation rates impeded its stability and growth. The biggest social class to influence the growth of cities since the 1950s is the rural working class. Large numbers of rural poor migrated to the cities, and the movement continues. Prior to the 1950s, more than 80 percent of Turkish residents lived in rural areas, and most of the migrants who came to the cities were unable to find affordable housing. They built shelters on the outskirts of the cities without official permission or approval and, by 1980, up to 60 percent of the inhabitants of big cities were living in these primitive settlements, with no electricity, plumbing, or paved roads. Eventually, some of these neighborhoods were incorporated into the cities and provided with those amenities. About 65 percent of the poor classes depend on unskilled work for their livelihood.