Volume 11 - Issue 60

/ December 2022

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.60.12.25

How to Cite:

Akansu, V., & Duman, Ü. (2022). Applying Portugal exemplar to Varosha region of Cyprus for the identification of new

refunctioning criteria for city spaces. Amazonia Investiga, 11(60), 235-248. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.60.12.25

Applying Portugal exemplar to Varosha region of Cyprus for the

identification of new refunctioning criteria for city spaces

KENTSEL MEKANLARA GETİRİLECEK YENİ DÜZENLEME KRİTERLERİNİN

BELİRLENMESİNDE PORTEKİZ ÖRNEĞİNİN KIBRIS KAPALI MARAŞ

BÖLGESİNE UYARLANMASI

Received: November 11, 2022 Accepted: December 30, 2022

Written by:

Vedia Akansu114

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1915-2744

Ümran Duman115

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2385-5605

Abstract

There is a need for research in the field of re-

functionalization of cities and its overall

contribution to the economic, social and cultural

diversity of a city as well as the international

application of projects. The area of Expo’ 98 city

project in Portugal was chosen as an exemplar

due to its design criteria, materials and functional

arrangements. Parallel with the project Expo 98,

an alternative project would be presented in the

re-functioning process of Varosha in Cyprus

which is an ongoing hot debate. This alternative

will also contribute to the determination of the

new regulation criteria in city spaces. Therefore,

Varosha was re-organised with these criteria. In

this study, observation and comparison were

made through the theoretical information

gathered from Expo’98 fair held in Portugal. As

a result, new regulation criteria were determined

in line with the proposed model. Thus, a new

urban arrangement was offered for the city of

Varosha.

Keywords: urban-suburban relationship, re-

functioning, brownfield, Expo’98, Lisbon,

Varosha.

Ozet

Kentlerin yeniden işlevlendirilmesi ve bir kentin

ekonomik, sosyal ve kültürel çeşitliliğine genel

katkısı ve projelerin uluslararası uygulaması

alanında araştırmalara ihtiyaç vardır. Portekiz'deki

Expo' 98 şehir projesinin alanı, tasarım kriterleri,

malzemeleri ve işlevsel düzenlemeleri nedeniyle

örnek olarak seçilmiştir. Expo 98 projesine paralel

olarak, Kıbrıs'ta Maraş'ın yeniden

işlevlendirilmesi sürecinde hararetli bir tartışma

konusu olan alternatif bir proje sunulacak. Bu

alternatif, kent mekanlarında yeni düzenleme

kriterlerinin belirlenmesine de katkı sağlayacaktır.

Dolayısıyla Maraş bu kriterlere göre yeniden

düzenlendi. Bu çalışmada Portekiz'de düzenlenen

Expo'98 fuarından elde edilen teorik bilgiler

üzerinden gözlem ve karşılaştırma yapılmıştır.

Sonuç olarak önerilen model doğrultusunda yeni

düzenleme kriterleri belirlenmiştir. Böylece Maraş

şehri için yeni bir kentsel düzenleme sunulmuştur.

Anahtar Kelimeler: kent-banliyö ilişkisi, yeniden

işlevlendirme, kahverengi alan, Expo ´98 Lizbon,

Kapalı Maras.

Introduction

There are many factors which affect the urban

development process. The strategic location of

the city, the coexistence of residents who comes

from different cultures and different economic

backgrounds, changing and developing social

114

M. Arch, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Near East University, Turkey.

115

M. Arch, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Near East University, Turkey.

relationships, and political changes are among

these factors. Thus, it is possible to observe

preserved historical texture in some regions of

the city and changes and development in others,

based on the conditions of the period. Some other

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regions, however, await for renewal in unusable

and idle condition. These regions (brownfields),

negatively affect the environment and cause

social disadvantages in the region (Randolph &

Freestone, 2008). Therefore, it is important to

restore the functionality of such areas. One of the

main concerns of the design is the parallel

development of the city, city centre and suburban

during the improvement of these areas. Based on

this point of view and considering the current

development and changes, the idle state of

Varosha is a problematic situation which should

be dealt with immediately. Varosha once was a

tourist destination, however, today it is full of

abandoned hotels. Varosha evidences the

contradicting political desires and economic

expectations and it is involved in negotiations for

political reconciliation in Cyprus (Pyla &

Phokaides, 2020). Varosha which was

internationally recognised before 1974, today

creates social and cultural disadvantages with its

current idle (brownfield) state. Although a

certain area was opened for visitation of the civil

population, majority parts of Varosha are still

closed. Necessary landscape and infrastructure

developments have been completed.

Furthermore, certain user groups have usage

permits for some of the buildings. Several

furnished hotels, entertainment centres,

commercial buildings, business suites, libraries

and residential structures that are not currently

being used are abandoned and problematic

spaces. Therefore, it is crucial to redevelop and

offer these buildings for public use.

The literature review on abandoned spaces which

was conducted within this context, suggests

abandoned real estates owned by individuals or

commercial spaces. Dominantly,

recommendations for these types of spaces have

proposed structures with mixed usage

opportunities for locals. The examined

exemplars have included Boca Raton, abandoned

Florida Mizner Park Shopping Mall and

Chatanooga, Tenessee Eastgate Shopping Mall

in the USA. (Feronti, 2003; Dover & Partners

Town Planning, 1998). These examples are

unused structures on abandoned plots in

functional regions. Contrarily, Varosha is

abandoned and unused region. Similar

restoration examples include Berlin-Adlershof,

Bilbao-Abandoibarra, Dublin-Docklands

Development Project (along with International

Financial Services Centre), Melbourne-

Docklands Project, Viana-Donau City and

Lisbon-Expo’98 projects (Swyngedouw et al.,

2002). Examination of these projects reveals that

usually old industrial and/or harbour areas (with

a sea or river shore) are restored. The reason why

Lisbon-Expo’98 was chosen as an exemplar was

not only its climate, land structure, user needs,

assigned importance of supporting potential

tourism activities and other similarities but also

its applicability to Varosha. Furthermore, as a

successful project, Lisbon-Expo’98 has been

adopted by several other country examples

before. Thus, Varosha resonates with Expo’98

project which has an international success as a

restoration of abandoned brownfield. Therefore,

within the context of this study, Varosha has been

considered parallel as the abandoned industrial

and harbour area that lays along the Tagus River

which was restored and acquired a new identity

with Lisbon-Expo’98. Although abandoned,

there have been recent steps towards to reopen

the region of Varosha. Therefore, this study aims

to review and reintegrate Varosha with the city in

the light of Expo’98 project.

The study methodology consists of an

examination of Expo’98 strategies (level of

planning, design, finance, development and

management) and regional planning which was

put forward with the help of identified axes and

they will be applied to Varosha. In the renovation

process of Varosha, the establishment of a

physical relationship with the Mediterranean and

coastal settlement and integration with the

existing urban texture will be taken into

consideration. In addition to its contribution to

the projects that will be carried out in the region,

the resulting study is expected to be taken as an

example for the projects aimed at revitalising the

brownfields.

The parts of this article are designed as follows.

Next section summarises the literature review.

Section 3 explains the materials and

methodology; adaptation of Expo’98 project to

Varosha region. Section 4 includes the evaluation

of criteria which were taken into account during

determining project strategies for Varosha. It also

puts forwards the assessment of the zoning work

and axes which were determined at the planning

stage. The last section provides a summative

evaluation of the findings of this article based on

a review of the existing literature and fieldwork.

Literature review

Varosha, one of the settlements of Famagusta

once was a trade and tourism centre. However,

this situation had only been sustained for 15

years. From time to time, political and economic

factors can create changes in cities and Varosha

region is one of the examples that experienced

change. The word “Varosha” was used for the

first time to identify this region in the archive

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documents of dated 28.1.1573. The region,

which is still called “Varosha” by Greek Cypriots

is known as Maraş (Mustafa Mutlu İbili, 2011).

According to different sources, the name Maraş

(Merash) was used by Richard Pococke for the

first time in 1738 (Cobham, 1969). The region

has an area of 450 hectares (Google Earth, 2019).

It is also known that the land on which Varosha

was settled once belonged to Ottoman foundation

and it was transferred to Famagusta Greek

Municipality in 1898 during the British Period

(Mustafa Mutlu İbili, 2011). (Figure 1.)

Figure 1. Varosha- Open Varosha Foundation Land (Kapalı Maraş Çocukları, 2019).

The most popular period of Varosha was the first

couple of years of the Republic of Cyprus.

Varosha continued to develop, although a

political conflict was experienced between

Cypriot Turks and Cypriot Greeks from 1960 to

1974. However, with the Peace Operation held

in 1974, residents of Varosha were evacuated and

the region was closed down for civilian use.

Initially, it was believed that Varosha was held as

leverage during the peace negotiations between

Cypriot Greeks and Cypriot Turks. However,

later on, it was described as “Ghost Town” by the

international media (Boğaç, 2020). Varosha is

located in the buffer zone known as the Green

Line which divides the island of Cyprus into two

sectors, and this zone is under the jurisdiction of

the United Nations since 1974. The Green Line

(buffer zone), determines the two separate states

that exist in Cyprus, Greek Cypriot

Administration of Southern Cyprus, and the

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (Bueno-

Lacy & van Houtum, 2018). Within this context,

it is crucial to examine the developments

occurred for Varosha before and after 1974.

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Condition of Varosha before 1974

During the British Colonial Period, while

Turkish Cypriots were living within the

Famagusta City Walls, Greek Cypriots were

living in the part of Varosha which is closer to

the shore and eventually became West of

Varosha today as a result of the expansion of the

settlements at the shore towards the East (İbili,

2011). This part of Varosha was never closed

down (Figure 2. and Figure 3.).

Figure 2. Varosha and the West of Varosha regional borders and their relationship with Famagusta City

Centre (Rafiemanzelat, 2014)

Figure 3. Settlement Regions of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots in Famagusta and Varosha before

1974 (Christodoulou, 2016)

As a settlement town, Varosha experienced a

wave of interest towards the end of 1960s and the beginning of 1970s from a series of investors

who have built hotels (Sterling, 2014). Thus, it

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has become one of the most important towns in

the Mediterranean. Before 1974, as a town

located on the East shore of the island of Cyprus

with over 39,000 population, Varosha’s

importance was attributed to its famous

cosmopolitan region which was developing as a

tourism and trade centre (Michael, 2011). It is

known that the civil war in Lebanon is one of the

reasons for the growing interest in Varosha, like

Beirut, once, one of the famous tourism and

entertainment destinations of the Mediterranean

lost its attraction due to the civil war. The other

factors for the attraction of Varosha were the

location of Cyprus which enables easy access to

Europe, its natural beaches, its climate in

particular and its attraction for the western

Europeans with high income (Akengin & Kaykı,

2013). Thus, the region became a dynamically

developed and growing settlement.

Varosha has consisted of three areas. Tourism

area was located on the coastal part of the region

whereas residential area and social-

administrative centre were located in the west of

Varosha. According to the pre-1974 archive of

Famagusta Municipality, the distribution of the

buildings in Varosha were as such; 45 hotels with

10,000-bed capacity, 60 apartment type hotels,

3,000 commercial units, 99 entertainment

centres, 143 management offices, 4649 private

houses, 21 banks, 24 theatres, and cinemas, 1

library and 380 unfinished constructions (Boğaç,

2002).

Figure 4. A picture of Varosha (pre-1974) (Detay, 2019)

Also, it is known that Greek lands were leased to

foreign investors by granting long-term

investment permits for 50-100 years periods to

international companies (Italian, German,

British) based on build-operate-transfer contract

model (Mustafa Mutlu İbili, 2011).

Based on all these researches, it is possible to

conclude that Varosha was an active area until

1974.

Varosha After 1974

Varosha, which experienced its heyday between

1960 and 1974, lost its attraction after 1974. As

a result of 1974 occurrences, 4,469 families had

to flee from Varosha which still carries the traces

of war and since then, it became a completely

abandoned town. Today, there are 8,852

buildings in Varosha some of which are 10-15

floored apartment flats, and a majority of the

other buildings are most luxury hotels and

casinos. All the commercial and tourism

activities were halted as a result of the

unfortunate occurrences (Akengin & Kaykı,

2013).

Located on the coastal line of Famagusta city, as

a tourism area, Varosha surrounded with military

fences after 1974 operation. The terms “frozen

town”, “urban destruction” and “ghost city” also

represent Varosha. The residential area and

administrative centre of Varosha (west of

Varosha) on the other hand, remained in use

where Turkish families from Turkey and South

Cyprus were placed for the maintenance of the

abandoned agricultural lands and orange groves

and the sustainability of the fruit and vegetable

production (Önal et al., 1999). Today, there is no

sign of life in Varosha but abandoned buildings

(Bjorkdahl & Kappler, 2017).

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Figure 4. A street view of Varohsa after 1974 (Akansu, 2020)

Figure 4 represents the scenery that families

residing on the unrestricted part of Varosha are

exposed daily.

Lisbon Expo’98

World’s Fair Expo was held in 1851 for the first

time in England. The term “Expo” which comes

from the word ‘Exposition’, names the world’s

fairs. In 1998, in its city of Lisbon, Portugal

hosted this fair which regularly operates in

different cities of the world. Expo’ 98 fair

provided an opportunity to create a truly touristic

area on a brownfield (Benhamou, 2019).

Additionally, this city has been an important

commercial place since the 15th century in

Europe. Expo’98 fair aimed to revitalise the

abandoned Lisbon port and industrial zone. The

project was held as part of the 500th anniversary

of Vasco de Gama’s journey to India with The

Oceans, A Heritage for the Future theme

(Monclús, 2009).

Analysis of Expo’98 Planning Stages

Expo’98 plan is the first prudential urban and

architectural plan which is highly accepted

among world fairs. This is the first exposition

where with a clear strategy, urban planning,

urban design, and architecture were assembled

with a model on a strong financial budget.

Harmonious planning has been made to support

the long term use of the city. The plan allows the

use of lands and iconic buildings. Vassalo Rasa,

the project leader of this plan stated that in public

space design, the aspects such as urban

appearance, its physical relationship with the

river and its surroundings and its coherence with

the existing urban texture were taken into

consideration (Aelbrecht, 2014).

340 idle hectare used in the planning, were

divided into 6 main areas each of which were

designed by different designers. The areas were

designated as 1. The central zone, 2. Enclosure

zone, 3. South zone- residential area and port, 4.

North zone- Residential zone, 5. Sacavém zone

and 6. Large city park zone located in the north

(Akansu, 2016) (figure 5).

Figure 5. Expo’98 the areas of the designed project (Akansu, 2016).

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Additionally, four main axes which were

designated during the planning stage are

determined in figure 3 as the public axis. Public

axis is a vertical axis along the river where public

facilities such as the station, shopping centre, and

the main square (Rossio dos Olivais) are found.

The main axis is the only axis which enables

pedestrians and vehicles access to the city centre

and its neighbourhood. Leisure axis, on the other

hand, is a pedestrian axis which lies along the

river. Secondary axis is a traffic axis which

functions as a backbone that connects the north

and south residential areas and central public

space (Aelbrecht, 2014) (Figure 6).

Figure 6. 4 regulatory axis, determined in Expo’98 (Aelbrecht, 2014)

Two important aims were taken into consideration during the planning stage; self-finance of the designated

area, and the harmonious reconstruction of the area with its environment (Monclús, 2009). It was necessary

to determine the project strategies, during the development stage of these aims. In this regard, Expo’98

strategies emerged as planning, design, development-management and financial stages (Table 1).

Table 1.

Expo’98 project strategies

Expo’98 Project Strategies

(1) Planning Stage

(2) Design Stage

(3)Development, Management and

Financial Stage

Planning activities were initiated

before and after expo collectively. Aim: To create a hub and to organise

Expo Fair. Pillars: -To enable diversified usage

(residential, service areas and

commercial units) -To arrange economic resources -To develop the strategic infrastructure

Design Architectural Design:

of temporary and permanent

structures with the intention of

reuse.

Urban Design: -To design double functional,

communal areas with the idea

of permanency and

functionality

Model Development/Management:

-To establish a private company,

‘Parque Expo’ which has the

responsibilities to design a world fair,

build and disassemble, at the same

time can purchase of regional land,

develop and sell and has access to

public funding.

r, the After Expo fai Financial Model:

sales of the completed project to

private investors and developers (land

and pavilion).

(Aelbrecht, 2014, adopted by the authors).

In regards to data in table 1, different access

strategies were taken into consideration during

the planning stage as a first aim. Thus, national

and international roads were planned. The second

aim, on the other hand, was to enable diversified

usage (Aelbrecht, 2014). In this regard, north and

south areas of the expo were mainly separated as

residential areas and, public facilities in central

were evenly partitioned for commercial, leisure

and cultural activities. To ensure diversified

usage, a single station was planned for train, bus

and metro services. Additionally, Expo’98

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accommodates many different facilities such as

Lisbon expedition centre, aquarium, and multi-

functional pavilion, a variety of public spaces,

parks, hospital, and university. Industrial and

port areas which were previously abandoned,

were restored for the public use within the

context of reconstruction (Figure 7).

Figure 7. Expo’98, before and after states (Instituto Camões-Parque Expo98, 2000. Access date: 06.08.19)

After the implementation of Expo’98, a user

satisfaction survey was conducted and it revealed

that users were satisfied with the outcome.

Furthermore, pavilion and most of the public

spaces have received both national and

international awards. Parque Expo has been

assigned an urban transformation programme as

a result of this interest in public space. Since

then, Parque Expo became a consulting firm

specialising in urban spaces around the globe

with a portfolio including Chicomba in Angola,

Receife in Brazil, Praia in Cape Verde, and Cairo

in Egypt (Aelbrecht, 2014). This is evidence that

Expo’98 planning is a very crucial reference for

other projects.

Material and method

This study is conducted based on observations of

the project presented at Lisbon Fair (Expo’98)

and a comparative approach between that project

and Varosha. The similarities between Varosha

and Expo’98 area contributed to the applicability

of the project. The priority was given to the

implementation of the project strategies, zoning

and axes which were stated at the planning stage

to Varosha to enable its functioning.

Accordingly, Expo’98 project strategies,

planning stages, design stages and development/

management/ financial stages were taken into

account in applying these to Varosha. At the

planning stage, enabling diversified usage, the

arrangement of economic resources, and

development of strategic infrastructure were

prioritised. At the design stage, both architectural

and urban design were considered. Development,

management and financial sages would all

support the financial model through model

development and management. Furthermore, the

axes which are determined at the land description

and design helps to decide the regions and the

creation of the transportation network.

Case Town: Varosha

Cyprus is an Island located on the East of the

Mediterranean with the Mediterranean climate

(Delipetrou et al., 2008). Due to the

characteristics of its climate, it is one of the

important centres of tourism and related

commercial activities. In the North of the Island,

there are five major cities which are Nicosia,

Kyrenia, Famagusta, Trikomo and Morphou.

Among these cities, Famagusta is an important

port city. Although dominantly port cities are

characterised by commercial trade, they also

have a tourism function (Kaypak, 2012).

According to Famagusta Chamber of Trade and

Industry, referring to the period right before

1974, although Famagusta population

constituted 7% of the Island’s population, the

city was providing 10% of the Island’s

employment. 50% of the hotel accommodation

capacity of Island was in Famagusta.

Furthermore, 50% of the Island’s arrivals

through sea-transportation were coming from

Famagusta port and 83% of the postal and cargo

services were handled at Famagusta Port

(Keshisian, 1985).

Determining the Implementation Method of

Expo’98 Planning Stages to Varosha

The reason why the Expo’98 project was chosen

as the exemplar in determining the method for

this study is that there are many similarities and

differences between the Expo’98 region and

Varosha. These similarities and differences are

presented in Table 2.

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Table 2.

Comparison of Expo’98 and Varosha

COMPARISON OF EXPO’98 AND VAROSHA

Expo’98

Varosha

SIMILARITIES

The land that Expo’98 project has been

implemented, used to be a Brownfield.

After 1974, Varosha became a brownfield.

It a land that lies along Tagus Riverbank.

It is a land that lies along the Mediterranean shore.

Due to its location, it has a connection to the

historical texture of Lisbon city.

Due to its location, it has a connection to the

historical texture of Famagusta city.

DIFFERENCES

It was an abandoned industrial and portal region.

It is an abandoned commercial and tourism region.

There was abandoned industrial and portal

waste.

There are abandoned lands, existing buildings and

unfinished constructions.

It is 350 hectares of unused land.

It is a ~ 450 hectares of unused land.

It is at a location where an international railway

passes through.

It is ~2 km away from Famagusta Trading Port.

There was no evidence of flora and fauna.

The region became a living area of flora and fauna

densely.

Based on the comparison, it was decided that

Expo’98 can be applied to Varosha. Varosha was

evaluated based on Expo’98 planning stages.

Based on Expo’98 project strategies, identified

axes and zoning have been put forward for

planning as a method and have been adapted to

redevelop the region. Besides these, the criteria

identified for Varosha project based on Expo’98

have been listed in Table 3.

Table 3.

Criteria for Varosha Project based on Expo’98 Project Observations

Varosha Project Criteria

1. Reconstruction activities within the concept of universal design (Social Values) - Transportation: pedestrian and vehicle transportation - Circulation: within the town, town centre and others - Accessibility: Town centre and functions within the town

2. Form-function relationship -Horizontal-vertical structures -Usage of different functions together (residential-commercial and similar others)

3. Choosing the material for reconstruction activities (Economic Values) - Existing materials (Town centre and materials of surrounding buildings) - Modern materials

4. User Needs - Previous user needs - New user needs

5. Design proposals which can self-finance

6. Designs that are environmentally compatible (outdoor, semi-open and indoor space relations)

Within the light of these, the method which

emerged has been adapted to Varosha.

Implementing Expo’98 planning stages to

Varosha

As a result of observations and research of

Expo’98 on Lisbon city, project strategies

identified for Tagus Riverbank have been

adapted to Varosha. These strategies have been

determined based on two important aims. The

first aim is that the designed region can self-

finance its inactive fields, and the second one is

that the region can revive compatibly with its

environment. These strategies are presented in

Table 4.

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Table 4.

Project Strategies Suggested for Varosha

(1)Planning Stage

(2) Design Stage

(3) Development, Management and

Financial Stage

Planning work has been started

considering both before and after

1974. Aim: To create a hub and to re-

functionalise Varosha so it

becomes a commercial and

tourism centre. Pillars; -To enable diversified utilisation

(residential, service areas and

commercial units) -To arrange economic resources -To develop the strategic

infrastructure

To design Architectural Design:

new structures in place of

abandoned, unused buildings

To design new Urban Design:

buildings which are compatible

with existing town centre texture

with the idea of permanency and

functionality.

To Model Development/Management:

establish private companies with

responsibilities to purchase, develop

and sell regional land with access to

public funding.

Once the project is Financial Model:

completed, to enable its lease or sale

to investors or developers.

(Adopted from Aelbrecht, 2014)

In line with data on table 4, the first aim at the

planning stage is to consider different

transportation strategies to the region and to plan

national and international transportation access.

The second aim is to enable diversified usage.

Within this framework, besides balanced

distribution of facilities for central, commercial,

business, entertainment and cultural activities the

northeast and east of Varosha have been

allocated dominantly for residential purposes. To

enable diversified usage, a single hub for tram

and bus transportation has been considered. In

addition to this, semi-open, indoor and outdoor

art centre, one Mediterranean aquarium, multi-

functional pavilion, various public spaces and

parks have been considered with different

functions. With this transformation and

reconstruction project, Varosha region which has

been abandoned can be made available for public

usage once again.

Approximately 450 hectares of land which would

be used at planning, has been divided into six

main zones; 1. Central Zone, 2. Diversified

Usage Zone, 3. South-East Zone – Protection

Zone (protected zone which is home for endemic

fauna and flora) 4. North-West Zone –

Integration Zone with Historical Texture and

Port, 5. West Zone – West of Varosha and

Integration Zone with South Cyprus and 6. Shore

Zone – Pedestrian zone.

Table 5.

Zoning Plan for Varosha

VAROSHA ZONING PLAN

ZONE NAMES

SCOPE

(1)Central Zone

Indoor, outdoor and semi-open arts centre,

parks, town square, places for social and public

activities.

(2)Diversified Usage

Zone

The zone which has touristic, residential,

commercial and administrative building.

(3)South-East Zone

Protected Zone which is considered as national

park area with endemic fauna and flora.

(4)North-West Zone

This zone consists of residential, entertainment

and commercial areas and it integrates with

historical texture and the port.

(5)West Zone

This is an integration zone to West of Varosha

and South Cyprus. Bus and tram station is

planned for this zone.

(6) Shore Zone

This is a pedestrian zone. It consists of

touristic, commercial, entertainment places

(hotels, bars, clubs, restaurants, pedestrian

paths and cycling lanes).

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/ December 2022

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As in the case of Expo’98, when new planning

criteria were applied, the main axes have been

identified. To enable interconnecting access to

zones and to support the workability of the

transportation-movement-access hub of the

zones presented in table 5, four main axes have

been identified. These are labelled as the main

axis, secondary axis, leisure axis and public axis.

As the primary axis, the main axis enables the

accessibility of neighbouring zones and connects

pedestrian and traffic to the town centre.

Secondary axis is a traffic and pedestrian axis

which functions as a backbone that connects

areas (residential and public spaces) to each

other. Leisure axis is a pedestrian axis which lays

along the whole seashore. Vertical to the sea,

public axis, integrates West of Varosha and the

seashore where it consists of main public

facilities such as shopping mall and the town

square. The transportation station is located at the

junction of the main axis and public axis (Figure

8).

Figure 8. Planning Axis Identified for Varosha

In the light of these studies, planning strategies,

zoning criteria and identified axes for Expo’98

have been adapted to Varosha.

Discussion

This section provides an assessment and

discussion on the criteria that was taken into

account regarding the stages of project strategies

as well as zoning and axes which have been

identified during planning for Varosha. Firstly, in

the assessment, a table has been created to cross-

check the project strategies and project criteria

for Varosha (Table 6). With this cross-check, the

connection between the project criteria and

strategies have been employed for the evaluation

of the zones which were identified as part of

Varosha reconstruction project.

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Table 6.

Cross-Check of Project Criteria and Strategies

PROJECT CRITERIA

PROJECT STRATEGIES

(1)Planning

Stage

(2)Design Stage

(3) Development,

Management and

Financial Stages

1. Reconstruction activities within the concept of

universal design (Social Values) -Transportation: yaya ulaşımı ve araç ulaşımı -Circulation: within the town, town centre and others Accessibility: Town centre and functions within the

town

2. Form-function relationship -Horizontal-vertical structures Usage of different functions together (residential-

commercial and similar others)

3. Choosing the material for reconstruction activities

(Economic Values) -Existing materials (Town centre and materials of

surrounding buildings) -Modern materials

4. User Needs -Previous user needs -New user needs

5. Design proposals which can self-finance

6. Designs that are environmentally compatible

(outdoor, semi-open and indoor space relations)

Before initiating the planning and design stage

(architectural and urban design), previous user

needs have been taken into consideration and

new user needs have been identified. Attention

has been paid to plan and to create

environmentally compatible designs and has

outdoor, semi-open and indoor space relations.

Furthermore, transportation, circulation and

accessibility have been considered in line with

the concept of universal design. Importance has

been given to interconnectedness of town, its

centre and main transportation stations (airport

and seaport). The utilisation of different building

heights enables the region to develop in a

balanced way both horizontally and vertically.

This approach provides an opportunity for

individuals with different income levels to live in

the same neighbourhood. The material for the

reconstruction areas have been chosen based on

the consideration of existing construction

materials (dominantly concrete), financial

availability and international commercial

agreements, and prioritising the use of new

materials. While zones are designed, it is

recommended that self-financing designs are

created. At planning and designing stages,

designers have taken into consideration that the

project is beneficial to everyone, it addresses user

needs, that it is in harmony with the existing town

texture and it is economical. On the other hand,

at development, management and financial

stages, it is the potentially financing private

companies and public institutions which are

responsible for the implementation and the

ability of self-financing of the project.

In conclusion, any project that is planned and

designed is expected to have the capability of

self-financing, addressing all stakeholders’ needs

and is accessible by all. When the particular

project of Varosha is considered as a whole, this

reconstruction project is crucial to regain its

popularity and its touristic and commercial status

in the international arena.

Conclusion

Besides residential areas and greenfield, cities

also have abandoned areas and Varosha is one of

the examples. In this study, a reconstruction

project was proposed for Varosha town which

has recently become a hot debate topic once

more. Reconstruction of abandoned areas is a