Study Team

The office of the Nicosia Master Plan began its work in 1981 with the establishment of an inter-disciplinary team of scientists from the two communities, supported where necessary by United Nations experts.

The implementation of this programme involving a common functional reorganisation of the two parts of the city was executed in three phases:

The first phase, from 1981 to 1984, covered the Nicosia broader urban area and established a comprehensive town planning strategy for the city’s future development. It also determined the city’s future structure, setting as its guideline the need for a cohesive layout of the built environment.

The second phase (1985) focused on an in-depth study of the centre of Nicosia, that is, the commercial town centre and the walled city.

This area, directly impacted by the violent division, suffered from a lack of vitality, the absence of significant urban functions and in general a loss of identity.

The overall aim was to develop and boost this area, transforming it into the capital’s primary centre for the provision of services as well as a focal point for the social, cultural and commercial zone of Nicosia but also for the island in general.

The third phase, from 1986 till the present day, focuses on one of the most important aspects of town planning - revitalising and upgrading the city’s historic centre, which suffered the worst consequences of the capital’s division.