Foreign Policy's website has an interesting story up by veteran Turkey-correspondent Andrew Finkel about the "dark side" of Istanbul's rapid growth: overdevelopment and environmental degradation. From his piece: 

....while Istanbul is already on the way to becoming the commercial capital of a region well beyond Turkey's frontiers, the city's ambitions know no end. Recessions in Europe and rebellions in North Africa have only strengthened the conviction that the tide is drifting Turkey's way -- that, if it plays its cards right, Istanbul can become the new London or Hong Kong.

Yet the city's confidence may turn out to be its curse. Relentless urban expansion threatens to lay siege to the former imperial capital and scrub away its natural beauty.

The full article, well worth reading, can be found here.