For Istanbul, Double the Trouble?

Istanbul, a city of already perhaps 17 million people, continues to grow at a rapid rate that many fear is simply unsustainable. How to deal with the city's potential growth crisis? Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party and its head, former Istanbul mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are suggesting a plan that would ease the city's growth by building two whole new cities on its outskirts, the idea apparently being that the new developments will siphon off Istanbul's population growth.