Urban Development – Population Growth

During the British period, Nicosia saw an escalating growth in population, especially in the final decade of colonial rule. At the same time, Nicosia grew dramatically in relation to other towns. Being the centre of government with an expanding bureaucracy, Nicosia attracted large companies that, along with an import-dominated urban economy, made it the largest market.

Nicosia offered good quality secondary schools, giving an added incentive to live in or near the city. A growing rural population, which could not be adequately sustained on the land, sought to improve their standards of living by moving to the capital.

However, there was no heavy industry to encourage mass migration, while the outflow of migrants abroad helped to prevent overcrowding in the towns. As a result, Nicosia suffered no serious social consequences from urbanisation.

On the contrary, thanks to good primary education in the villages and the kinship felt among people in a small country, the internal migrants were not set apart, but integrated smoothly with the indigenous urban population.

Since they were drawn largely from the Nicosia district, they did not lose touch with their home villages. Villages around the city formed the nucleus of a commuter belt. Some were gradually swallowed up by suburbia, where most newcomers settled. The rural-urban divide became less distinct towards the end of British rule.