This paper investigates the spatial distribution of bank branches via the transformation trend
of Istanbul from a monocentric to a polycentric city pattern. The same study was done with
the 1997 data, which needed update. It is again observed that the population and employment
of peripheral districts have kept on increasing rapidly, while those of the old core districts
have decreased. New CBDs are keeping on emerging at the intersection of the radial and the
peripheral highways and the new subcenters have been growing on the first and the second
ring peripheral districts. The main reason of this decentralization is, the transformation of the
economy into one that requires large and modern office spaces, private car transport with lots
of parking space. The ongoing construction of peripheral highways and junctions have
contributed to this pattern of polycentric development. The CBD is characterized by a
hierarchy of uses. The financial nucleus is at the top of the hierarchy. As banks serve as the
locomotive of the finance sector, they are very significant indicators. The study done in 1997
had indicated that the banks of the first ring outnumbered those of the core and the second
ring respectively. The 2007 data shows that, banks of the second ring has outnumbered the
first two.