With new discourses and standards on the cleanliness and regularity of streets gaining influence in the Ottoman administration and public, memorandums and planning policies become widespread in the Mediterranean port cities as of the 1830s/1840s. Especially neighborhoods reconstructed after fires and newly developed faubourgs see their application, although often only partially.

The nineteenth century infatuation with opera by residents of Izmir, Istanbul, and Thessaloniki is grounded mainly in their attempt to take part in a global "civilizing mission." The middle classes and the administration intended but often failed to educate the lower classes to properly behavior during theater performances, refraining from smoking, eating, unpleasant bodily movements or ill-timed displays of veneration. Nonetheless, all these and also violence were not uncommon at the opera house. Moreover, opera aficionados wishes for a "one world" of global stage entertainment, for a cultural exchange with Western and Central Europe. Unfortunately, Western interest in Eastern music and narratives came to an end in the 1820s, whereas Eastern interest in Western performances gained momentum later.

The introduction formulates a critique of the predominant reading of modern Ottoman historiography for its focus on nationalities, nationalism, and the state. It traces the reason for this neglect from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century.It argues that the Europeanized and heterogeneous culture of the large cities needs more attention in studies of the modernization of the region and operationalizes notions of urban, global, and cultural history for this purpose.

Quay development had a fundamental impact on late nineteenth-century Eastern Mediterranean urban space. Large-scale development of the waterfront created not only a new facade for Izmir and Thessaloniki, but also precipitated new usages of urban space and modes of transport, labor, and leisure. They also led to a perceived bifurcation of the urban space into modernized and non-modernized quarters.

Theater and opera venues around the Eastern Mediterranean in the nineteenth century evolved not so much by state initiative and also only rarely due to municipal or citizens' initiative. It was mainly Italian migrant stage workers who took the initiative to establish permanent stages in Istanbul and Izmir around the middle of the nineteenth century and later in Thessaloniki. Following a period of destruction by fire and decay and a rise of multipurpose cafés chantants as venues, a second wave of bigger and more glamorous stages dedicated primarily to opera was established.

Taking three photographs of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century ports of Izmir, Thessaloniki, and Istanbul as points of departure, the chapter investigates the question of why these highly diverse populations and the urban space they inhabited have been relegated to the margins of national and imperial histories of the Eastern Mediterranean. In particular, it claims that the port cities' myriad ways of blending particular aspects of modern Western and Central European culture with more regional characteristics warrants more attention in historiography.

The nineteenth century brought diversification to Eastern Mediterranean pastimes. Residents could visit neighbors and friends at home or meet them at the evening stroll along the waterside or main avenues. Especially as of the 1870s, commercial venues increased to large numbers. Especially the season from New Year to Carnival brought with them numerous receptions and balls as main sites of social prestige. Toward the new century, consumers increasingly expected music and dance opportunities to be on permanent offer through cafés. Especially balls served as loci to perform interethnic and international harmony. While participation in these leisure practices was not equally practiced by all denominational groups, with especially Muslims being underrepresented, there was no formal exclusion of any group, as acquired cultural capital was the main hurdle for taking part and profiting from these sociabilities.