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Towards Sustainable Urban Growth in

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W19 The Sustainable City

TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE URBAN

GROWTH IN FAMAGUSTA

Derya Oktay

Derya.oktay@emu.edu.tr
Fodei M. Conteh

Fodei.conteh@emu.edu.tr

Towards Sustainable Urban Growth in Famagusta

Derya Oktay
Department of Architecture
Eastern Mediterranean University, derya.oktay@emu.edu.tr
+90 392 6302701 / +90 392 6302365
Fodei M. Conteh
Department of Architecture
Eastern Mediterranean University, fodei.conteh@emu.edu.tr
+90 392 6302702 / +90 392 6302365

Keywords: Urban growth, sustainability, quality of life, urban sprawl, anti-sprawl

theories, urban policies, Famagusta.

Abstract: In the city of Famagusta (Gazimagusa), Northern Cyprus, due to the

dynamics of urban growth and development and the absence of a working master plan
for the city, incoherent, haphazard and scattered growth with lots of derelict and unused
left-over interstitial spaces coupled with improper land use practices prevail in the urban
environment. In this context, the growth towards the University and the suburban pull
(sprawl) beyond it is gaining momentum, and the historic core of the city suffers from
social and economic problems, such as population decline, social marginalization, and
loss of economic vitality. If this trend continues unabated, what will ensue is the
hollowing-out of the city both physically and socially or what is called the doughnut
syndrome. Moreover, land is a finite resource for an island nation like Cyprus and thus
Famagusta cannot afford to allow the incessant encroachment upon its green field
agricultural land which does not only eat up arable land but equally destroys its biota.
Several research works have been done in this area but have only offered palliatives
rather than concrete or practical tools for implementation. Theories and concepts need
to be translated into actions because cities are experienced through built form. Carrying
out research and analysis in the newly developed quarters of Famagusta as has been
partially done in the context of a masters thesis pursued and supervised respectively by
the authors last year and examining the current development practices, this paper aims
to highlight sustainable ways in which the city should be allowed to expand and develop
and to bracket ways in which the theories advanced can be implemented in the city. This
entails the redesign and development of the unused and derelict interstitial spaces
according to smart growth theories and principles that are the antitheses to a negative
urban growth. This constitutes tools for compact urban development which include the
development of Brownfield sites, infill and mixed use development and transit-oriented
development.
The authors believe that managing the future growth of Famagusta and minimizing
negative impacts on the environment would increase the citys quality of life;
Measuring the Quality of Urban Life in Famagusta is the theme of a relatively new
program of research carried out by the first author of this paper, funded by the Scientific

and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), and is placed under the
auspices of the Urban Research & Development Centre of Eastern Mediterranean
University (EMU). This paper could be considered one of the base studies for the
mentioned program.

Introduction: Research problem and Methodology

Research problem
Famagusta is a coastal city in the Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. As a
historical town, it has changed many hands at different historical intervals. Founded in
circa 648-1192 AD it came under Lusignan rule in 1192 until 1489. Other periods that
followed are: the Venetian period (1489-1571); the Ottoman period (1571-1878) and
the British period (1878-1960). Cyprus gained its independence from Britain in 1960
and under self-rule until the events of 1974 which brought about the division of the
island into two separate states.
However, during the Ottoman era the non-Muslim population of the city vacated to the
outskirts. This was clearly the beginning of spatial segregation of the two dominant
communities: the Greek Cypriot community and the Turkish Cypriot Community. The
Greek Cypriots disengaged to what are known as the Varosha (Maras) and Kato
Varosha (Asagi Maras) areas south of the walled city. By the time the Ottomans finally
ceded the city to the British in 1878 and subsequently becoming a British Crown
Colony, the landscape had already become racially segmentalised (Doratli et. al, 2001)
The event of 1974 was the watershed that finally separated the two communities, with
the timely intervention of the Turkish army to provide highly needed protection to the
Turkish Cypriot population from Greek massacre. This event, as it were, shattered the
political, social, economic dynamics as well as changed the physical landscape of
Famagusta and indeed every nook and cranny of the pristine island. The political as well
as economic blockade which followed in the wake of the Turkish intervention sent the
once thriving tourism sector into a freefall; the closure and buffering of Kato Varosha
(Asagi Maras) prevented further growth towards the south. Consequently, the citys
growth took a turn towards the north (Doratli et. al 2001; Oktay 2005). The surplus
housing stock left vacant by the flight of the Greek residents was eventually filled by
the settler population from Turkish Anatolia and the refugees from the southern part.
Although, as to be expected, the demographics of the island had changed drastically in
the period immediately after the war, the spatial configuration did not change much.
Nonetheless, of great significance to this paper and to the recent urban dynamics of
Famagusta, two events have played leading roles though not in equal magnitudes. The
first and incontrovertibly most significant is the period starting from 1986 and beyond
which saw the establishment of the Eastern Mediterranean University and the huge
influx of foreign students. Since then the number of students and staff have grown
steadily to approximately 15,000 according to the 2005 projections. This number
represents one third of the total population of Famagusta and its environs (i.e. 46,000
inhabitants) (Conteh, 2006).
What this tells us is that if the event of 1974 decreased the population of Famagusta, the
advent of the Eastern Mediterranean University greatly enhanced the demographics and

increased the population. But the question that begs itself is, was the city ready in terms
of infrastructure to accommodate this development? An emphatic no! The second event
- a very recent one - as posited by Yorucu and Keles (2006) is the now ill-fated UN
Peace Plan of 2002 commonly known as the Annan Plan (obviously named after the
initiator, the then Secretary-General of the United Nations). The said plan had generated
an atmosphere of genuine confidence in the estate market that resulted in the surge in
construction activities called the construction boom in the whole of the island. Some
analysts have termed the whole of Cyprus a construction site on a macrocosmic scale.
What followed from these events in the absence of a working master plan was an
incoherent and scattered urban pattern. This was and still is the predominant case in the
housing sector especially. Since the University could not all by itself accommodate, in
housing terms, this overwhelming number of students, the private sector of the economy
had to step in and fill the gap. Untrammelled by any effective regulatory mechanism
and emboldened by this new economic trend and rather fossilised building and planning
regulations, the estate market and construction companies went on a building spree that
totally disregarded good building and urban practices (Conteh, 2006). Accordingly, the
surge in urban growth has become an obvious planning concern in Famagusta.
Methodology
The paper is based on pertinent literature review on urban form and empirical findings
on the residential development in and around Famagusta. It highlights the problems of
the current urban growth pattern of Famagusta through observation and qualitative
analysis. The city of Famagusta has been divided into three zones as have been
mentioned before in the introductory chapter (see Figure 1 below): zone one: the walled
city; zone two: all the development outside the old city that marks the borders of the
new town though the boundaries are blurred; zone three: the discontinuous
developments that have encroached on green field sites outside zone two. It should be
noted that zone two is composed of many other zones that have evolved at different
historical periods. However, for the purpose of this research, they have been taken as
one zone because they fall within the confines of the new town and are in the process of
integration.
Although not within the scope of this present paper, future research using mapping
methods like Geographic Information Systems (GIS) could provide quantitative data on
the urban growth patterns of the city hence the degree of sprawl is need.

Understanding Urban Growth and Urban Sprawl (definitions)

Urban Growth
According to Clark (2003), urban growth has a strong correlation with population
growth. He defines urban growth as, the absolute increase in the size of the urban
population (Clark 2003; p. 49). Accordingly, this will be the case when the birth rate
exceeds the death rate or when there is an increase in net urban in-migration (Clark,
2003). Consequently, population increase is accompanied by increase in spatial
requirements for housing (residential), work (offices), leisure and recreational facilities
in the form of building development. This presupposes that cities will eventually grow
in terms of land size and it is this growth that is crucial. How should cities grow or
expand? Should urban growth be planned in a sustainable way or should it proceed in a

laisser-faire state of affairs? Which urban form is more sustainable and which one is less
so? Sure, there are growth patterns and urban forms that are more sustainable than
others but there are no easy answers and the panoply of disagreement in research circles
is a testament to this fact. In the same vein, this article lays no such claim to have
succeeded in pinning down the most sustainable urban form. Arguably though, there is
a near consensus on which urban growth is positive and which one is negative. The
former refers to a planned and orderly growth while the latter refers to an unplanned,
incoherent and scattered growth called sprawl.
Urban Sprawl
In the past decade or more, the term sprawl has become a popular pejorative,
shorthand for poorly planned growth that consumes precious open space and mars the
landscape with development that is too often large-scale, anonymous, and ugly. It is
blamed for constant traffic jams and the consequent loss of time and energy, damaged
farmland, endless suburban tract housing, and a host of other ills that afflict fastgrowing communities. It is also castigated for accelerating, if not causing, widespread
disinvestment and flight from centre cities and older suburbs (Tregoning, 2006).
The first usage of the word, sprawl can be traced back to Earle Draper of the
Tennessee Valley Authority in a 1937 speech he delivered in a national conference of
planners. In learning from Las Vegas, Venturi et al (1977) vividly described the Las
Vegas strip in similar terms. However, definitions of sprawl abound but hardly any
universally agreed-upon. For example, Ewing (1997), has pointed to sprawl as, , a
loose term representing certain types of urban form, is commonly defined as low
density, leapfrog, commercial strip development and discontinuity. He defines sprawl
by four land use characteristics: low density; scattered development (i.e., decentralised
sprawl); commercial strip development; and, leapfrog development. He then divides
the characteristics of sprawl into spatial-structure-based phenomena exemplified by the
latter three, and density-based phenomena of sprawl (Ewing 1997, in Tsai 2005).
Another definition of sprawl comes from Gratz and Mintz (1998) who define it as:
the low-density, land-consumptive, automobile-oriented development that has been
moving farther and farther out from the fringes of existing urban and town centres.
Contrary to other assertions that sprawl is an unplanned, uncontrolled and haphazard
development, Gratz and Mintz (1998) maintain that sprawl is planned but it is the
problems associated with it that are not (planned).
However, two discernible characteristics of sprawling developments are what Ewing
(1997) has enumerated as the two indicators of sprawl: poor accessibility and lack of
functional open space. Accessibility is of two kinds: residential accessibility and
destination accessibility. Residential accessibility measures the distance between
home and outdoor activities while destination accessibility measures the distance
between the outdoor activities themselves. That is to say, whenever the distance
between home and outdoor activity precincts is long, residential inaccessibility ensues
and by extension, when activity areas in a community are too far from one another
which makes movement from one to the other difficult, there is said to be poor
destination accessibility. As can be deduced, the key measure here is, distance. Two
factors, large private land holdings and the segregation of land uses generate this
phenomenon that is characteristic of low-density suburbs (Ewing, 1997). They both

make people go pass empty plots of land while moving from one development area to
another or even within the same neighbourhood. Writing in the middle to late 70s of the
last century, Alexander et al. (1977) suggested the need for the grouping of compatible
activities and evenly dispersing these throughout the community. They went on to
propose that activity areas should be within 10 minutes walk from home without which
the effort expended will overwhelm the need.
The next indicator of sprawl, lack of functional space, is also one of the features of lowdensity suburban developments. In this development pattern every developable acre
of land is subdivided with surgical precision between those who command the capitalist
triad of demand: the want, purchasing power and the willingness to pay. Driven by crass
economic motives, this kind of development has the tendency to account for every atom
of land for private use leaving no room for public common land that functions for the
collective use of a community. In short, the public realm is severely encroached upon
(Ewing, 1997). The empty and undefined no-mans-land type of open spaces between
these low-density developments engenders a series of negative physical and social
impacts on the urban environment. These kinds of developments fall basically within
the category of what Leslie Ginsberg calls, SLOAP, an acronym for space left over after
planning (Oktay, 2001). They are left idle and because they still remain private
property, they are not available for permanent public use.
The economic logic of this is, however, quite understandable in the event that no public
participation exists in the development process. The provision of public space suffers
particularly because of what has been called the free-rider problem (Ewing 1997,
p. 112). There is a question about who pays for such provision when it is normally very
difficult to charge users for the values they receive. Besides, the provision of public
open spaces means lesser building units which run contrary to the capitalist ethos of
profit maximisation. This problem can perhaps be surmounted by a collective
responsibility between the private and public sector (Fischel 1985, in Ewing 1997).
To those whose evaluations are more quantitative and specific, sprawl is the process in
which the spread of development across the region far outpaces population growth.
They describe the landscape created by sprawl as having four dimensions:
-

a population that is widely dispersed in low-density development

clearly separated homes, shops, and workplaces
a network of roads marked by very large blocks and poor access
lack of well-defined activity centres, such as town centres.

Most of the other features usually associated with sprawl - the lack of transportation
choices, relative uniformity of housing opinions or the difficulty of walking - can be
seen as a result of these conditions.

The role of sustainable urban growth on the quality of life in cities

The search for a better life is the basic impetus behind the influx to cities. Quality of life
goes hand-in-hand with urban quality. Urban quality has become one of the most
important parameters for the positioning of cities on the global playing field, and a

positive and sustainable urban growth is essential to the quality of the city and urban
life.
As has been discussed, a positive urban growth is one that is the direct opposite to urban
sprawl. Majority of urban theorists, foremost amongst them Jane Jacobs in her seminal
book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), favour a compact city
development. The proponents suggest a dense, mixed-use and transport-oriented urban
form which, they argue, will create more walkable communities with ready access to
amenities; create variety and diversity of uses which will ensure the added advantage
that there is always an eye on the street for enhanced security rather than strict zoning
ordinances that separate uses; enhance social cohesion and increase economic vitality
because the dense population will support businesses and the optimal functioning of
public transportation. More so, it decreases the over-consumption of fossil fuels and
provides the possibility of reusing urban land while protecting agricultural land and
other green field sites at the urban periphery.
The dependence on the private car or automobile is one of the fiercest critiques levelled
against sprawl. It is so because it maximises the use of fossil fuel which is a finite
resource the over consumption of which leads to pollution, the emission of green house
gas, which in turn damages not only the ozone layer but flora and fauna not to mention
the human health hazards associated with it. The Brundtland Report: (World
Commission on Environment and Development, 1987) has defined sustainable
development as, development that meets the needs of the present generation without
compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. As
reported by Oktay (2001), this would mean a change in attitudes towards how we use
natural - finite or non-finite - and artificial resources and by extension our natural and
artificial environment.
Several theories geared towards salvaging the contemporary urban condition have been
propounded amongst them the theories of the New Urbanism under the leadership of
Andres Duany, Elizabeth Platerzyberk, and Peter Calthorpe; the theories of the Urban
Renaissance and the theories of the Smart Growth movement. However, smart growth is
used here in the wider context to subsume New Urbanism and Urban Renaissance
theories and practices which, in essence, overlap although they may slightly differ in
what they emphasize.

A critical analysis of anti-sprawl theories

The Smart Growth movement has emerged as the most promising attempt to deal with
these contradictions. It has evolved rapidly from its mid-1990s origins as an effort to
recast the policy debate over sprawl in a way that more directly links the environment,
the economy and daily life concerns, and came up with ten smart growth principles:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Mix land uses

Take advantage of compact building design
Create housing opportunities and choices
Create walking distances
Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place

6. Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas
7. Strengthen and direct development towards existing communities
8. Provide a variety of transportation choices
9. Make development decisions predictable, fair, and cost-effective
10. Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions.
Today, in many states in the USA, smart growth is widely recognised as a trend that is
equally relevant and important to rural, suburban and urban areas. In joining the
issues of community design and quality of life with transportation, housing, health, the
environment and economics, its early advocates created a better understanding of sprawl
and its consequences (Tregoning, 2006).
Furthermore, there seems to be a contradiction between peoples approach to sprawl and
their appreciation of the environment. Although many of the high and middle-income
people living in suburban complexes have rising concerns about traffic, rapid growth,
health and other consequences, they remain largely and persistently happy with the
quality of their immediate neighbourhoods in those hygienic enclaves. Even in the
most developed parts of the world, such as in the USA, people want to preserve green
space, but do not necessarily see how that relates to their choice of a house built on
former farmland. As highlighted by Tregoning (2006), they push for new roads to
relieve traffic and provide better access for new development on those former farms, but
are surprised and frustrated by the growth that often follows.
In like terms, Mumford (1989) has noted that the virtues which lured people to the
suburb were short-lived as the city grew towards it. In a bid to shirk collective
responsibility in alleviating the ills of the city those who can afford to live in a more
salubrious, greener, easy parking and quieter environment flee to the urban fringe. The
fresh air, visual relief, green field environments and the much coveted privacy and
solitude disappear as more people move to the suburb and as the city growth catch-up
with the suburb (Mumford, 1989).
Nonetheless, despite the growing popularity of the tenets of Smart Growth, there still
remain the problem of the general acceptability of these tenets and smart growth as a
movement is not without its own critics. Though sympathetic with its ideals, Talen
(2003) levels a trenchant critique at smart growth research pertaining to how, in
particular, the phenomenon of sprawl, which is central to smart growth research, is
measured. Current ways of measurement which include among others, accessibility,
persons per square mile, units by tract and vehicle miles travelled are highly
variable and inadequate. Talen (2003) contends that, depending on the variable chosen
and the aggregation method used, places can vary widely in their degree of sprawl. She
advocates new ways of measuring, evaluating and representing urban form. The focus
should be on a normative theory, among others, for measurement - not only how cities
function but how they ought to function as well. The following elements which can
be measured directly could be added to smart growth research: enclosure, lost space,
public space, spatial suitability, proximity, mixed-use, centres and edges, and divisions.
The critiques not withstanding, smart growth theories remain open-ended and ready for
improvement.

The Case of Famagusta

Current identifiable zones
The city of Famagusta has been divided into three historical zones representing three
different urban growth patterns (Figure 1):

Zone 1, the walled city of Famagusta

Zone 2, all the developments outside the city that includes the present city
boundaries

Zone 3, the new suburban development area

Zone 3: major
sprawling
developments

Zone 2: districts
developed outside
the walled city in
different periods

Zone 1: walled city

Figure 1. Derived Analytical Zones

Zone 1
The traditional urban patterns of most Cypriot cities including the walled city of
Famagusta (zone 1 in Figure 1) are in sharp contrast to the new developments outside
them (zones 2 and 3). The traditional urban patterns are marked by cohesiveness in
character with narrow street patterns scaled according to height to width ratios (Figure

2). The narrowness of the streets creates pleasant urban rooms and enhances traffic
calming for pedestrian safety. The figure-ground relationship map below shows a
balance of solids (built-up area) and voids (open spaces). This density and the local
context give identity, visual interest, complexity and character to this medieval walled
town. Moreover, the cohesive urban pattern creates a compact neighbourhood character
known in Turkish as mahalle. The mahalle is not only essential in physical terms but
also promotes social cohesion and economic collaboration among the inhabitants. The
traditional houses with their courtyards were faced onto the traditional street and the
street intersections were activity-intensive. Here the public-private interface overlaps with one dissolving into the other - and this is highly predicated on the social and
economic interdependence that is a vital component for a good quality of life (Oktay,
2001).
Sadly though, the old city centre has lost its magnetic pull. Businesses are relocating to
areas around the immediate reach of the University; activity centres are closing down
and more and more people are relocating to areas outside the walls and to the suburbs.

Figures 2-3: Figure-ground map of the walled city of Famagusta (zone 1) and the urban texture
of an old quarter.

Zones 2 and 3
Zone 2 which represents the development outside the walled city and which presently
marks the city boundaries have mixed successes in terms of its urban form. However,
like the walled city, it has many problems that need to be addressed and it is here that
development energies should be directed. In the meantime, because these areas fall
within the city boundaries, the focus of this paper falls on the suburban areas that are the
cause of the very decline that zones 1 and 2 are undergoing.
The new residential developments around the city of Famagusta which is the stage for
this research (zone 3), display many negative urban qualities. As can be seen in Figures
4-5, the new landscape character of the developments exemplifies a very negative
growth pattern. They reveal a distinct and banal character of their own that does not

value the rich architectural and urban heritage of the traditional Cypriot town. The
sheer distances between the individual sites and the lack of cohesiveness of the
development makes the whole area inaccessible, non-walkable and makes the
automobile the only transportation option.
The most prominent amongst the negative characteristics group under the following:
lack of mixed land uses, lack of compact and dense building design incorporating public
open spaces, systematic encroachment upon green fields and damage to the biota, lack
of a meaningful sense of community and local identity, inaccessibility and the greater
dependence on the private car.

Figure 4. Aerial photo showing spatial distribution of the residential complexes

at the urban periphery of Famagusta [Source: Google Earth Inc. 2006].

Figure 5. Figure-ground map of one of the residential

complexes in the study area [Source: Conteh, 2006].

Lack of mixed land uses

The quarters are exclusively residential thus denying the inhabitants the advantages of
mixed and diverse uses such as shops, grocery stores, sport centres and other
recreational facilities and work or office spaces. This means that for residents to go to
work, shopping for their basic daily needs and for other activities they have to do so
through long distance and time and at very high costs. Mixed land uses also have the
added advantage of creating activity intensive vibrant neighbourhoods. The lack of the
mix of uses generally has adverse effects on the old and ageing and the children in these
communities. That is to say, that they are the most disadvantaged in these kinds of
environments.
Lack of compact and dense building design incorporating public open spaces
Although the individual residential complexes are designed on the regular grid or street
layout with a degree of compactness, the full attributes of a compact development is not
satisfied. They have no clear and well defined activity centres; they have low density
character both horizontally and vertically and the figure-ground relationship (Figure 5)
shows the dominance of emptiness (spaces left over after planning) over solid or builtup areas. Mixed use development is one way of achieving density and compaction that
invigorates a neighbourhood in terms of population and built form. It may compromise
the high level of privacy and quietness the inhabitants of these suburbs are yearning for.
However, privacy and quietness will are virtues that tend to very short lifespan as the
city grows towards these communities. It is good to wait and see if they are going to flee
once this happens and then they will have given a new meaning to the term urban
nomads.

Figure 6-7. Views to the residential complexes in the study area [D. Oktay archive, 2006].

There are also no defined public open spaces as most of the public spaces have been
privatised and as a consequence, the public realm has suffered. Furthermore, the vast
stretches of empty lands which lie between the individual settlements are not available
for public use because they still belong to private individuals. They are not maintained
properly and so stimulate no visual interest and are a dent on the local context and local
identity.
Systematic encroachment upon green fields and damage to the biota
The encroachment upon green field sites while leaving a lot of brown field sites within
the inner city areas has been the most disturbing aspect of these developments (Figures
6-7). As suggested earlier, an island nation with less land area should be leading the

drive for land preservation when there is no real pressure on land. Moreover, the
biodiversity of the island as a whole needs to maintained as its level is not very high.
No research has been done to give us the approximate figures regarding the harm to the
biodiversity of Famagusta. However, it can be said through observation that the
fragmentation of the ecological landscape of these green fields harms the prosperity of
the fast dwindling biota of the environment. This means that organisms which need a
wide area to complete their lifecycles are obliterated.
Lack of a meaningful sense of community and local identity
In terms of community, these residences clearly have a community that is socially
exclusive. The inhabitants are middle and high income earners. They are, in essence
class-based communities or what Ewing (1997) calls communities of interest. They may
look attractive to those who live there but there is little evidence that there is a strong
sense of place: no cultural assets, no public places for chance encounters and activities,
plots are highly personalised.
Most of the buildings in these areas express individual architectural feats rather than a
coherent approach that respects local interests and identity. They are no different from
suburban houses elsewhere in the world. This can be clearly seen in both form and
material. The facades are dominated by car garages and they are generally lacking in
complexity and character.
For instance, the urban street which used to play a communal role in Cypriot cities has
no presence in these predominantly Cypriot-owned communities. Their replacements
have no communal value and the nodes have become ephemeral crossing points where
the automobile is in constant competition with the pedestrian for the right of way. As
the appropriation and privatisation of public open spaces increase, the sharp separation
of the public and private domains is now the rule rather than the exception. This is the
expected outcome of development that is solely led by private investors whose goal is to
maximise profit.
Perhaps part of the reason for this can be attributed to the kind of ownership that
predominates. Most of the residences are second homes for Cypriot families who live
abroad.
Inaccessibility and the greater dependence on the private car
The leap-frog pattern of the settlements and the fact that none of the individual grouping
has any meaningful activity centres makes them suffer from both residential and
destination accessibility. Residents have to drive out to the inner city for most outdoor
activities such as shopping, recreation, walking (which has little or no facility within the
city area itself) and other activities.
The only possible way to cope with these problems is the use of the private car. The
Cypriot penchant for the private car is well-known but this does not pre-empt the
provision of diversified activity centres and walkable environments.

Conclusions
The term sustainable development is the contemporary buzzword for the mode of
development, as in the Brundtland Report, that is geared towards meeting the needs and
aspirations of the present generation in ways that will safeguard the ability of posterity
to meet their own needs and aspirations. This definition is very telling but the difficulty
with it is the collective responsibility it places on the shoulders of society. This is what
Hardin (1968) calls the tragedy of the commons (Nasar, 1998, 2; Pacione 2005, 675):
a metaphor used to describe and account for situations in which the depletion of
natural resources occurs because individual and collective interests do not coincide and
no institution has the power to ensure that they do (Pacione 2005, 675). The reasons
become obvious when one considers the ever changing dynamics of the human
condition and by extension the changing dynamics of the built environment. This
change is informed by economic, social and cultural forces that are always at play.
Modern society is fast moving from collective responsibility towards a lifestyle of
individualism.
This single most environmental justification behind the compact city paradigm removes
the expression, sustainable development, from the realm of empty rhetoric to the
realm of action which acknowledges the urgency of the moment. The very survival of
planet earth and, by extension, humanity hinges on the reduction in the carefree
consumption of finite natural resources. Suffice it to say that the recent gloomy
assessment of the state of the earth under global warming by a team of scientists was in
essence a clarion call for action. Therefore, the compact city with all its desirable
attributes is believed to ensure the quality of urban life more than any other. Crucial to
the sustainability concept is the need to harness the use of both natural and man-made
resources in the best possible way so that the environment we live in will be passed on
to posterity safe and sound. More importantly, finite or non-renewable resources need to
be used appropriately.
Building activities account for a bulk of the world energy consumption. Therefore, the
growth of the city and development has to be handled in a way that minimises waste.
The scattered, haphazard, leap-frog, commercial trip development called sprawl that is
taking place in major cities around the globe and in Famagusta as well is definitely not
the way forward. This negative phenomenon of urban growth is car-dependent and
therefore causes pollution and the depletion of fossil fuel; it incurs huge infrastructural
costs, destroys green field agricultural sites at the urban periphery, contributes to the
depletion the biodiversity and causes the degeneration of the city centre not to mention
the psychological, health and social costs.
Low-density suburban living which has become the preferred lifestyle of most
inhabitants is allied to this kind of development. To reverse this trend and to ensure a
sustainable urban growth management, theories, principles, strategies and tools have
been propounded by various movements, leading them are three movements: Smart
Growth Movement, New Urbanism Movement and Urban Renaissance Movement.
They advocate, among other things, three basic principles as cornerstones on which
other principles can be founded: mixed land use, dense and compact development and
transit-oriented development. In addition, they propose the physical imposition urban
growth boundaries to contain sprawl.

However, this is not to say that smart growth ends the debate on the search for good
urban form or is a perfect solution. The criticisms levelled against the respective
movements coupled with the ever changing dynamics of our environment and our
changing political, economic, social and cultural circumstances serve as standing
testaments to their imperfection. It is perhaps correct to suggest that the tenets of smart
growth are pointers in the right direction. This view is manifested in the loose-ended
nature of its principles and strategies.
The mixed-use developments where residential, commercial, institutional and open
spaces are brought together are vital for a sustainable growth. People would depend less
on the automobile if their workplaces, grocery stores and places where they can buy
their daily needs are near to their residences. The old and handicapped can benefit
greatly from mixed uses in that it also encourages walking. The walled city provides a
fine example to emulate. Living over the shop or grocery store always provides an eye
on the street thereby putting crime prone places in check. Zoning ordinances that do not
make provisions for this kind of development should be reviewed and expunged
accordingly.
Mixed land uses and public transportation cannot practically work without urban
compaction and intensification and the reverse is true. Efforts should be directed to
redeveloping brown-field sites and the infill of the existing interstitial spaces. This will
refocus all funds that are expended in building roads, providing electricity and water
supply to the suburbs back to the inner city which needs urgent repair.
As sprawl is associated with low density and lack of variety of uses, design
professionals and policy-makers need to look back to traditional patterns of their cities,
and show what densely built neighbourhoods look like in some of the worlds bestloved cities and towns such as London and Amsterdam, if local traditional patterns are
not considered realistic examples.
We should know that, as lacking in the earlier discussions of sustainability, sprawl and
its consequences matter right now as it affects not just our lives but that of future
generations as well. To give it staying power, architects, designers, policy makers and
advocates must offer tangible examples of it in a variety of settings. And perhaps we
have to widen the range of problems studied in an architectural or design education,
while opening the door to a broader participation in both the educational process and in
practice involving urban designers, landscape architects, civil engineers, the historic
conservationists, as well as traffic planners and developers in order to bring different
perspectives together.
This can be achieved with enough political support, delivery of development projects
that is led by design professionals who attest to the suitability of individual projects
according to a set of guidelines and a marriage between the public and private sector in
a public-private partnership. This is particularly important for Famagusta, where
development activities are polarized; the private sector doing what they want without
any checks and balances and the public sector does not have the money to spearhead
urban projects on its own. It is hoped that, the right mechanisms as outlined, will ensure
the sustainable implementation and realisation of good urban environment, good quality
of life and will shift the focus to action-oriented policies in Famagusta.

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