2025 Istanbul

Atmospheric corridors inside the Büyük Valide han

It is dark, with few lights, and all kinds of junk piled in the corridors.  On each side there is an amazing variety of small rooms.  A few are surprisingly glamorous showrooms.  Others are simple workspaces, with people cutting cloth, or making jewellery.  Some are half-bare rooms full of tools and equipment, a few men working with pieces of metal.  One or two are on two floors, with internal stairs rising to another level.  In one corner, there is a café, supposedly with a fine view of the sea.  Since we had already enjoyed a fine view from Mimar Sinan café, we gave this a miss.

A return after three decades to the ancient and amazing city of Istanbul, now a pullulating supercity of 16 million people.  Alongside the famous sights – Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern and Topkapi palace – and the mosque masterpieces of the world's greatest architect, Mimar Sinan, a host of out-of-the-way gems to be discovered among the city's many steep hills.

Stamboul Train of Thought

Interesting Turkish delight from the second OECD World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge and Policy, held in Istanbul on 27-30 June:

Official statistics are a key “public good” that foster the progress of societies.

...

To take this work forward we need to advocate appropriate investment in building statistical capacity, especially in developing countries, to improve the availability of data and indicators needed to guide development programs and report on progress toward international goals

Steady on, chaps, this is getting perilously close to calling for open data:

the OECD is thinking of creating an Internet site based on Web 2.0 “wiki” technologies for the presentation and discussion of international, national and local initiatives aimed at developing indicators of societal progress. By making indicators accessible to citizens all over the world through dynamic graphics and other analytical tools, this initiative would aim to stimulate discussion based on solid and comparable statistical information about what progress actually means.