Hello and welcome to the Urbanist, Monaco's program all about the built environment.
I'm your host, Carlotta Ravello.
Coming up, there's very little green space where Istanbul opens up is the Bosphorus.
That's what gives it a sense of space.
We are in Istanbul to mark Monaco's annual Quality of Life conference, which this year sets down on the banks of the Bosphorus.
On the show ahead, we speak with Monaco's correspondent in the city, Hannah Lucina Smith, to hear what made her choose this place as her home, what makes it tick, and what developments have been driving it forward over the years.
She has been here from an up and coming neighborhood to a revitalized industrial district and a revamped hammam, too.
That's all coming up over the next 30 minutes right here on the Urbanist with me, Carlotta Ribello.
Hannah, thank you very much for joining us here on the Urbanist.
It is a special edition of the program dedicated to your home city of Istanbul.
You've been meandering through the streets and reporting on all new happenings of this amazing urban center for us.
I guess I wanted to start by asking you what you choose Istanbul as a city to base yourself from.
Well, I guess this is probably pretty.
Unusual, but it happened by chance.
Back in 2013, I was reporting on the Arab Spring.
I was reporting in Syria.
Obviously at that time it was the kind of main story in that part of the world.
And so I moved actually to a different Turkish city, Antakya, down on the Syrian border.
And I stayed there for eight months.
And, you know, a lot of journalists kind of move about, come and go.