In every culture commercial spaces and consumer goods communicate cultural meaning through social rituals. Shopping spaces in the Ottoman city were shaped by cultural aspects and they were developed spontaneously together with the changing dynamics of public life and activity. But, today the enormously productive world economy makes consumption a way of life and today’s society in general seeks personal satisfaction in consumption. Products, marketing strategies, customer expectations and “spaces of exchange” change at an ever-increasing rate. Old commercial centres and spaces of exchange struggle to catch up with these changes while new shopping malls increase in number. This paper discusses the change in the meaning of shopping and shopping places by examining the historic commercial spaces and todays shopping environments in Istanbul.

shopping spaces, commercial buildings, ottoman city