Meydan is Turkish for a market place or meeting place. Since the “Meydan” opened in Istanbul in late summer, as the first ever “shopping square,” it heralds a new generation of shopping centers. It is the green center and the soul of a newly created district of the city on the Bosporus. 
Meydan - new shopping square in Istanbul
The latest and largest METRO Group Asset Management shopping center, designed by London architects FOA, has been opened in a rapidly growing residential area on the edge of Istanbul. A 70,000 square-meter center whose outstanding architecture, and its modern, young sales concept and sustainable geothermic system sets standards for the future.
The architecture of the shopping square also acts as a public space in the center of the rampant sea of houses in this district of the city. The urban planning concept picks up on the existing and predictable paths the residents will take to reach the site, and brings them to converge on the square. The center is rounded off with a movie theater complex and a food court with a wide variety of styles, bringing together the shopping and leisure-time worlds of all generations.
The IKEA store, which opened in May 2005, has already become a meeting place for the city. On a successful weekend it attracts over 55,000 visitors.
