The waterfront and the cosmopolitan settlement: Spatial transformations in Smyrna between the 1688 earthquake and the development of the quay

This dissertation examines spatial transformations in the urban environment that took place in nineteenth century Smyrna, with a special focus on the area on the waterfront and the so-called Rue de Franque, the main artery of foreign, Levantine, "cosmopolitan" settlement. Since the early-modern period, Smyrna played an essential role in mercantile activities in the eastern Mediterranean and became a commercial hub where diverse communities coexisted. Thus, these changes are observed and assessed as landscape transformations, in the sense that special attention is given to the subjective, perspectival aspects of representation, subject to change over time and according to contexts and backgrounds. Nevertheless, the transformations that took place in Smyrna's urban landscape were a product of gradual, complex, and contested processes. Several factors, such as geographical features, natural disasters, changes in the global regime of commercial exchange, international relations, and state/communal regulations, impacted this process. Besides, in this remarkably diverse urban and social space, cross-cultural relations and plural affiliations were important parts of the transformation process in which individuals and communities became significant actors. In this regard, this thesis investigates how, when, and why spatial transformations took place, how the changing landscape was represented, how urban changes were affected by cross-cultural relations and communities, and to what extent these transformations impacted a multicultural urban and social environment.