March 2010: Are we seeing Soria Moria in the far distance? Ankara is a city in transition. The old parts could be anywhere in a developing country. Closely stacked are what looks more like boxes than houses, only loosely attached to the steep hills, and in obvious ignorance of the hazardous area in which they are located. Behind that, we see the modern suburbs with more regularly placed boxes, junk space nevertheless. Finally, in the far distance a block of high buildings rises above the horizon defined by a hilly range. In a way, the setting of the picture reminds me of Soria Moria as illustrated by Theodor Kittelsen (see here). In the Norwegian legend of the Soria Moria Castle, which we can think of as a place of perfect happiness, the path to the castle is not clearly marked. Similarly, the path to future cities that would provide a basis for well-being and happiness for their citizens is poorly marked and difficult to discover. But I doubt that these clusters of high-rising junk silos found in abundance around Ankara hold promises for the people as the golden city that shines above the horizon in Kittelsen's painting.