Nicosia
Nicosia has been the capital of Cyprus since the 9th century AD and remains the largest city and the political and administrative centre of the island. The historical core of the city was first fortified during the middle ages, but the walls were replaced in 1567 during the Venetian period (1489-1571) partly to consolidate the town and partly to provide better defence to an expected Ottoman attack. The Venetian fortifications remain in place today and are still perhaps the most recognizable feature of the contemporary city, shaping the old town centre with their 11 bastions. Two main ethnic groups, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, have been co-habiting the city in different ways through time; first they lived together in spatial proximity to each other. This situation changed with time and today the two ethnic groups are spatially and socially separated. The city is currently divided east-west by a buffer zone implemented by the United Nations following the 1974 Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus which led to the complete separation of the two major ethnic groups on the island (the Greek Cypriots now residing in the southern part and the Turkish Cypriots now residing in the northern part). Broadly speaking Muslims were concentrated in the northern part of Nicosia and Greek Christians in the southern part. Initially the two areas were divided by the physical boundary of the river; later on Ermou Street (which occupied the old river bed, covered up for hygienic reasons by the British) took over as the peculiar axis of division and unity of the capital. This new central road eventually became the main commercial and trading area of the city bordering the Turkish and Greek residential areas and it was were commercial exchanges between the different ethnic communities took place. With the coming of the British, Muslim Cypriots lost the monopoly over positions of power, since the colonial government begun hiring Greek Christians to state posts, and established equality as regards the law, tax obligations etc. These developments were spatially reflected in the gradual increase in the percentage of Greeks inhabiting the towns. British administrators placed their offices, as well as some residences, south and south-west of the walled city. By the 1930s some wealthy Greeks had followed the example of the British, moving southwards, out of the walled city. This process was accentuated after the post-World War II economic growth and the increasing use of the walled city for commercial purposes, which meant that many residences in the inner city were converted into shops and commercial offices. Gradually this development expanded out of the walled city and a new commercial area grew, in a south and south-west direction. Effectively there were two main commercial areas: the older one, within the walled city, with Ledras Street as its primary axis; and the newer one, starting outwards from the walls, with Makariou Avenue as its primary axis. Independence, achieved in 1960, did not manage to eradicate underlying simmering tensions, and after the 1963 inter-communal conflict the Turkish Cypriots withdrew into enclaves. Eventually the establishment of a buffer zone with hard boundaries on each side of the city cut off Ermou Street and turned the streets that used to cross it leading from the northern side to the southern side of town and vice versa in to dead ends. Ever since, the southern side of Nicosia has seen further urban growth spreading out towards suburban areas; most wealthy and middle class families moved to new areas of Nicosia, leaving behind the poorer families and the elderly. The lack of strict planning regulations, fragmented land ownership and a cultural preference for detached low-rise houses has led to extensive suburban sprawl of the southern city. Generally the city has expanded to the north and to the south, avoiding the east-west axis along the buffer area despite the fact that before 1974 development was occurring towards the east and the west.
View of south Nicosia from Shakolas Tower
The development of the street network
The images below show the development of Limassol's street network between 1883 and 2014. The analysis identifies street segments which have high accessibility values at the whole city-scale and at a local scale of 1200m radius - this is considered the multi-scale core of the city and it can be noted that over time this gets more fragmented, during the years of division if shifts to the south of the old city, howeever, with the opening of check points in 2003, Ledras regains its importance as the main route of the old city and as both a global and local connector of the two halves of the city. The analysis is based on space syntax methodology.
The images below show the development of Limassol's street network between 1883 and 2014. The analysis identifies street segments which have high accessibility values at the whole city-scale and at a local scale of 1200m radius - this is considered the multi-scale core of the city and it can be noted that over time this gets more fragmented, during the years of division if shifts to the south of the old city, howeever, with the opening of check points in 2003, Ledras regains its importance as the main route of the old city and as both a global and local connector of the two halves of the city. The analysis is based on space syntax methodology.
Multi-scale analysis of Nicosia's street network
Bibliography
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Lead Contributors: Nadia Charalambous and Ilaria Geddes