Alibeykoy is a northern quarter of the historic Eyup Sultan district of Istanbul. Named after the 7th century Aidar, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, the Eyup Sultan district has seen enormous population growth over the last 50 years.
Like the rest of the Eyup Sultan district, Alibeykoy saw a vast swathe of low quality, non earthquake proof apartment blocks. And like the rest of Istanbul, the Turkish government bought in huge incentives to modernise the district.
New government investments transforms the region
The first step in this investment was investing in a super modern high capacity rail link to the city centre of Istanbul (Sisli-Mecidiyekoy). Construction on the M7 metro line, as it is officially known, started in 2013, with the aim of providing an East-West corridor as an alternative to the over capacity metrobus system.
This investment of nearly a billion US Dollars saw swathes of developers jossling for position around the newly chosen metro station sites. Dozens of new residential, offices, and mall constructions started as a result of this investment. These construction projects are now approaching delivery, with some already having delivered.
Alibeykoy is already well connected to the city centre via the TEM (E6) highway, which provides access to the Maslak and Levent business districts in under 15 minutes by car. However with Istanbul’s traffic problems getting worse by the day, locals are demanding the evolution to high quality mass transit systems.
Easy and fast access to the city centre
The M7 metro line will link Alibeykoy to key city centre locations – Caglayan, Sisli, Mecidiyekoy, and Besiktas at the Bosphorous shore. It will connect to the M2 metro line, which is the key tourist metro line, linking Maslak, Levent, Taksim, Nisantasi, and the historic city centre together. The line is due to open by December 2019.
A further investment has been made by the Istanbul municipality into a new tramway.
This will link the region to the historic old city by terminating at Eminonu, just a few hundred metres from the Grand Bazaar. The T5 tramway lines the Golden horn river, meaning passengers will enjoy incredible views across the historic river. It will serve many historic sites, such as Fener, Balat, Eyup Sultan Mosque, as well as the historic Egyptian Spice bazaar.
Several projects are due to complete in the next twelve months, and these are listed below.
