Railways and Urban Transformation: The Case of Konya

This paper studies the central Anatolian city named Konya and its transformation into a pioneering city of the Ottoman Empire by the establishment of the railways. During the Era of Sultan Abdülhamit II, Konya was a traditional Anatolian city. Towards the end of the 19th century, by the arrival of the Anatolia Railway Line (July 1896), its destiny changed. Comparisons of the developments within the city during the period of Abdülhamit II and after the establishment of the railways showed that the first transformation began with the city’s structure. The traditional structure quickly began to change by the construction of the Eskisehir-Konya railway line. New businesses and localities, which haven’t been in the city before, began to be established. The existence of these new localities and the construction of the railway opened doors not only to nearby cities but also to other nations and countries within the borders of the Empire, and also to the international world. Thus, a population movement, especially an internal migration, began eventually as Konya was surrounded with modern structures. In addition, by the arrival of the Railways to Konya, cereal transport, which was minimal before, showed an increase, and Konya began to meet the cereal demand of the capital city of Istanbul partially. The Konya Plain Irrigation Project started and was conducted by the Anatolia Railways Company in order to increase the variety of products, and the arable lands made Konya and its vicinity one of the pioneer places of the Ottoman Empire’s development. This paper studies how the structure of a city changed by the establishment of railways.