This study investigates vital changes in the histories of space, consumption, and identities in the port cities of Smyrna, Constantinople, and Salonica (Izmir, Istanbul, and Thessaloniki) in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. It aims to create a more stringent narrative of what urban culture meant and what role the impact of “Europe” played in pre-World War I port cities. What people in Smyrna, Salonica, or Constantinople considered European often followed ostensible forms from elsewhere on the continent, but these forms became suffused with meanings the local residents projected onto them.

I investigate these interpretations of Europeanness through a focus on changes in the urban texture, such as the construction of modern quays and representative buildings; leisure practices such as balls, operas, and beer drinking; class, gender, and identity discourses; as well as campaigns targeting foreign prostitutes or vagabonds.