Famagusta (Cyprus, North)
63 theses under this subject heading
Discussion of Conservation Approaches for the Selected Heritage Buildings in the Walled City of Famagusta
ABSTRACT: The Walled City of Famagusta is a multi-layered city of several socio-cultural and architectural heritages, from various stratus of time, each strata contributing to the richness of the historic city of Famagusta. The evidence of the several layers of architecture can be seen all within the city. To sustain this multi-layered architectural richness, the conservation of these layers of architecture for future generations is vital. To conserve these periods of architecture in the Walled City of Famagusta requires exploration of varying conservation approaches that are internationally valid to provide guidelines for adaptive reuse purpose. The focus of this thesis is to discuss conservation approaches through adaptive reuse for some selected buildings located within the Walled City of Famagusta. Adaptive reuse, as undertaken within this thesis, does not just change the program or function of the spatial environment, but may also prolong the authenticity of cultural and natural heritage of the place. Therefore, the main focus here is to shed some light on conservation of the authentic qualities of heritage buildings while at the same time assigning new uses considering contemporary needs of the users. The core aim of this thesis to provide a foundation for the documentation and appreciation of several architectural conservation approaches for selected periods of architecture in the Walled City of Famagusta and to provide guidelines for efficient conservation through adaptive reuse that is peculiar to selected buildings which are internationally sound. This was to answer the research question which is “what are the various internationally valid architectural conservation approaches that can be adopted for selected architectural products of different periods in the Walled City of Famagusta?” The bases of this thesis are adopted and evaluated through five case studies from the Walled City of Famagusta, which represents various periods of architecture; they are Chimney House, Cafer Pasha Hammam, Old Police Station, Gazi Elementary School and Efecan Building Complex. To achieve the aim of this thesis a Qualitative research methods are adopted through document review of case studies and on-site investigation, and also a critical literature reviews on these topics; Architectural conservation, adaptive reuse, international documents of conservation, authenticity, space, current agenda of conservation, current legal legislation of conservation in North Cyprus. Authenticity measurements stated by the Nara Document on Authenticity are detailed to extract the authentic spatial qualities of the case studies and accordingly proposals are anticipated for the future of these spaces, based on the analysis. The results of this research shows the peculiarity of the various periods of architecture in the Walled City of Famagusta, with guidelines towards conservation through adaptive reuse and the international conservation principles and charters that can be adopted to meet the peculiar needs of each selected period of architecture. Keywords: Adaptive Reuse, International Documents of Conservation, Space, Authenticity, Walled City of Famagusta
Impact of Green Wall Facade on Residential Building Users in Hot Climates - Famagusta Case
Today cities have fewer green areas because of newly constructed facilities thus the surfaces of our existing and upcoming buildings should integrate more vegetation. Integrating vertical green systems is advantageous for improving aesthetic, mental health and indoor thermal comfort. The use of a well-designed and managed green surface systems provides thermal regulation for energy saving buildings with passive thermal insulation for interior spaces. The aim of this study is to find innovative and meaningful ways to increase useful vegetation by implementing them into architectural design processes. Green walls are vertical constructions that are cladded with various types of plants or other vegetation. The walls frequently have built-in watering systems since they contain living plants in them. Integrating green surface systems will decrease energy consumption and increase thermal comfort throughout the year. With the use of Ladybug and Honeybee in Grasshopper, running with EnergyPlus, it allows us to simulate the indoor thermal levels of a residential building in North Cyprus by creating a virtual energy model of the building in Rhinoceros 3D. By running simulations, the effects of integrating green surface systems to the exterior walls of the building will be predictable. The simulation was run three times, the first was to simulate the existing building before integrating green surface systems to serve as a control, whereas the second and third were to simulate the same existing building but after integrating green surface systems to the exterior walls. The average total thermal comfort percent of Döveç Apartment 20 Building with no wall insulation, AC nor HVAC systems was around 35.8% throughout the whole year. After integrating green surface systems to all the exterior walls of the building the average was about 45%, which is a 25.7% increase in the thermal comfort felt by the users of the building. In conclusion adding green surface systems to exterior facades of a building would increase the time spent in the thermal comfort zone of a building, which would decrease energy consumption of thermal regulating systems due to less usage of those thermal regulating systems by the users throughout the year. Keywords: Vertical Green Systems, Thermal Comfort Zone, Sustainability, Residential, Karakol, Famagusta, North Cyprus, Hot Climate
Perceived Social Impacts of Legalized Betting: The Case of Famagusta, TRNC
ABSTRACT: Over time, the features of gaming in TRNC has been altering, influenced mostly by the establishment of the gaming, but in addition to the growing accessibility of other types of gaming like widespread sport-betting and online betting. Even as there is mounting attention on the perceived social impacts of these new types of gaming on TRNC residents. The scale of betting have been on the rise after betting in Turkey was banned in 1997 and Turkish betting operators moved their activities over to northern Cyprus, which, as a result have made TRNC ‘oversea betting reserve for Turkey and the Middle Easterners, from 2003, for Greek Cypriot bettors, recently allowed to go over to the north. Betting-related issues can be perceived to have both social cost and benefit to bettors, the family and the entire society. Betting problems can result from detrimental effects of individuals betting habit. This researched was carried out using quantitative research procedure facilitated with the help of structure questionnaires given to respondent in different betting offices. It was observed that legalized betting is of benefit to both the bettors and the city. This study used the term problem betting extensively as a means to describe the variety of problems caused by pathological betting. The investigation covered several areas relating to betting expansion, cost and benefit of betting, emerging trends, the scale of betting and the motivation for betting. Sport betting in the city is a male dominated activity performed mostly by youths. Despites the low scale of pathological betting, this study reveals that other forms of betting problem persists. The involvement of all stakeholders in the betting process will ensure problem free betting. Keyword: Gaming, betting, perceived social impacts, accessibility, betting-related, social cost and benefits, betting problems, pathological betting, stakeholders. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Discussion on Typo Morphological Approach and Baykal Neighborhood in Famagusta
Generally, the architecture of iconic buildings because of their unique characteristics has attracted much attention. Specially with the start of modernist era, design of individual iconic buildings gained more importance which is the product of certain famous architects that reveals some clues about these unconventional typologies. It should be noted that being unconventional is not only limited to iconic buildings with famous architects but it can also be found among the normal and ordinary buildings that form the majority of the structures in cities. In general, building typologies change over time influenced by the factors like socio-economic issues and needs of the users. These changes have not always taken place slightly and gradually, but sometimes are mutated under special circumstances such as irregular contextual issue and have caused the appearance of new typologies called mutated type. This thesis attempts to study and review unconventional apartment building typologies based on cooperative houses constructed in Baykal neighborhood in Famagusta city in the 60’s. To achieve this aim, by scanning and reviewing the development of typo morphological studies based on survey of the previous researches on this subject, the study will proceed to comprehend different typologies in terms of architectural characteristics and important components of morphology science in the field of urban issue. Therefore, the applied methodology in this thesis is adapted from the background information coming from synthesizing the methods of Caniggia and Conzen (famous theoreticians of typo morphology science) to review the evolution of unconventional apartment typology which are created by the added floors on the single storey cooperative houses over time, in terms of façade characteristics and urban factors, in addition, interior space organization and the changes that occurred in space arrangement are taken into consideration as well.
Developing of Pavement Management System (PMS) for EMU Campus Pavement in GIS Environment
ABSTRACT: Systematic processes such as a pavement management system (PMS) are commonly utilized for assisting the decision making process in terms of finding a proper maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) treatment for the pavement network. This kind of process usually can make sure of the effectiveness for funds that allocated for the treatment action. In this study PMS has been established for Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) campus pavement network for both roadways and parking lots, which can be considered as a first step that carried out to establish this system for the campus. In this research, pavement evaluation study was undertaken in the context of phase a pavement condition survey producing pavement condition index (PCI) according to ASTM D6433 standard. PCI has been determined for every campus pavement section according to the existing pavement distress type, severity and quantity. MicroPAVER PMS software was utilized for computing PCI and for demonstrating when and which section of pavement network required (M&R) action. A total of 79 sections of the campus network were inspected and assessed in June 2012, it can be remarked that 37sections are in Excellent condition, 15 sections are classed as Very Good, 21 are classed as Good, 4 of sections are in Fair condition and 2 sections are classed as Poor. Moreover, there is no section observed in Very Poor or Failed condition, and also the average PCI for the whole pavement network is 79. Therefore, the entire campus pavement health can be classified as Very Good. The proposed plan was conducted for the coming 5 years which starts from 2013 to 2017. Additionally, the determined analytical results in PMS have been stored and displayed in Geographic Information System (GIS). This system is one of the latest techniques followed by using computers to save huge amount of data with large areas of the maps that cannot be saved properly on a paper. In this research ArcGIS10 was integrated with EMU campus PMS, GIS was utilized to assist in the preparation of a suitable database for the campus pavement network. For this reason a shapefile was created and an attribute table has been established. This table includes collected and computed pavement data such as: inventory, present and future condition, suggested treatments alongside costs for each individual section that required a treatment action. Finally, several reports, charts and thematic maps are produced. Keywords: Pavement Management System, Campus Pavement Network, Pavement Condition Index, Pavement Distress, MicroPAVER, Geographic Information System. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Framework for Analysing Urban Form by Using Historico-geographical and Configurational Approaches on the Case of Famagusta Commercial Street Network
Coordinating and comparing different approaches to urban morphology is recognized as one of the most important lines of research in urban form. This study places emphasis on two different analytical approaches to urban morphology: the historico geographical approach based on Conzenian tradition and the configurational approach based on space syntax theory. However, considerable efforts have been made to coordinate and combine different approaches to urban morphology. This thesis presents a complementary framework by applying the historico-geographical and configurational approaches, comparing them, and proposing a coordinated combined methodology to achieve a better comprehension of the evolution of the urban form, specifically, the street formation and transformation of Famagusta city. The results confirm that the combination of these two approaches is capable of providing an enhanced understanding of the historical transformation of urban form. Fundamentally, the historico-geographical character and configuration of the town are determined by socio-economic activities. Within this context, both approaches identify the historical patterns of urban form as the key element to comprehend the relationship between socio-economic activity and urban form, which are both configurational and historical. Also, this complementary framework is tested on Famagusta commercial street network in order to apprehend the framework with better understanding.
Investigation of the Success Level of Namik Kemal Square as a Public Open Space
ABSTRACT: Nowadays one of the most important features of urban life is complication. Some of them were formed in work environment and activities, but concept of most of them was formed in social interaction. Hence, urban space plays an important role in social development of citizens. Social interaction are formed in these places. Therefore, lack of suitable urban space can create social abnormalities in cities. Square is one of the most significant factor, which can be formed social life in the past. There are several of locations in each urban square, which is creating motivate and attractiveness for users. For example, café, waterfront, sculpture, even an event that happened in the square. In fact, some of best urban square have different small attractiveness that improve the quality of square during the day. According the focus of this research the aim is to test the level of success of Namik Kemal square in the Walled City of Famagusta and to make proposals to turn it to make a successful public square. Namik Kemal square is a historic square, which is located in the Walled City of Famagusta. Famagusta is one of the main cities in North of Cyprus with lack of successful urban public open spaces. Main research question of this study is “what’s the level of successful in Namik Kemal square as an important historic public space in Famagusta?” for answering this question ,the research involves both qualitative research methods including literature survey, site analysis and observation and quantitative that including questioner. Keywords: Public Place, Public Open Space, Square, Namik Kemal Square …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Developing an Indicator Base Study for Social Sustainability: The Case of Walled City of Famagusta
Despite of many investigations about environmental and economical sustainability, the social sustainability is largely neglected in different studies. In addition, the Walled City which is located in Famagusta, North-Cyprus has not witnessed serious social sustainability studies. In line with the aim of this study to bring back livability of the Walled City, this research has carried out social sustainability as a tool for proposing new ways of bringing. For this reason, after reviewing of varies resources, it has extracted common social suitability criteria‟s. Unlike the vastly magnitude of social sustainability criteria‟s, it has selected only three social sustainability criteria which are mostly common to various studies. Social equity, social interaction, and sense of place criteria are the common criteria selected. To empirical results, the findings of the common criteria have been examined in the case of study. Likewise, it applies quantitative and qualitative methods to make analysis and measure social sustainability. In addition, it has focused on the Walled City of Famagusta that contains nine different zones. In order to observe social sustainability in the Walled City, it has selected only three streets that are located in different zones. Therefore, the street one located in zone one & four, street two located in zone four & six and street three located in zone three are the case study streets. The results indicate that among the three case studies, street two has not success in enhancing social sustainability for bringing livability back to the Walled City in line with the main objective. Nevertheless, the overall results demonstrate that the social equity, social interaction and sense of place criteria have approximately positive impact on enhancement of social sustainability that can help bringing back livability to the Walled City. Keywords: Social Sustainability, Walled City, Famagusta, North Cyprus
A Research on Sustainability Through Re-Use of Traditional Buildings, A Case study of Famagusta, North Cyprus
ABSTRACT: This research aims to study how old buildings transform with the informal changes, and modifications did by their users. Understanding the level and nature of changes in the houses will indicate the level of sustainability environmentally as well as culturally. It is crucially important to know about potential of these buildings rather than consuming a lot of energy and new resources for constructing new ones when we have enormous housing stock in our hands. The traditional environment of the Famagusta is the selected case in order to analyze the environmental and social sustainability in traditional reused houses. The first chapter has been dedicated to the explanation of the problem and the necessity of such a study. It provides the general approaches to the subject, the procedure of the study and the main objective. The second chapter aims to provide a theoretical framework about sustainability in terms of environment and culture; next investigates the traditional architecture, its relation with sustainability and the advantages of reuse with special reference to the Cypriot settlements. It is divided into three parts: sustainability and its principles, meaning and values of traditional architecture, the concept of traditional architecture of Cyprus in terms of sustainability. The third chapter is devoted to analyze of environmental and social sustainability in reused traditional houses in the walled city of Famagusta. This chapter is divided into two parts. First part provides materials about history and architecture of Famagusta. In the second part five houses caring traditional architecture characteristic environmentally and contextually adapted to contemporary lifestyle are chosen as the case study. This study illustrates changes and adaptation in space organization, building materials and techniques and environmental control of the reused traditional houses selected in the walled city of Famagusta. It aims to underline the power and potential of the traditional houses in environmental and social sustainability. The forth chapter is the conclusion. The findings and results are highlighted through this chapter. Keywords: Sustainability, Traditional architecture, Reuse, Famagusta, North Cyprus. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Personalization at Social Housing District in Sakarya, Famagusta
ABSTRACT: The term of “personalization” is commonly used to identify when adapting something regular in accordance with individual needs and preferences. The need for personalization emerges from different social status, social and cultural effects, traditions of that society, individual requirements and life style of the current user where all these also may vary during the time by changing the needs of the current users. The functional requirements are based on the members of the house and their arrangements inside of the building. The life styles of the users depend on the ages of them, the activities that are changing according to their ages, and requirements that they used also the way of using them. The main purpose of this research was to question the personalization at social housing district in Sakarya district in Famagusta. It is identified the reasons behind the physical changes as well as their influence to the environment. The personalization in the social housings are analyzed by six issues; space addition to the building form, architectural detail on the building frame, base plane, object in space, building border definer and fixture. This research, describes several addition and/or changes made to the social houses in order to make more personalized building. A total 75 units are analyzed. The evaluation obtained after the analysis provided that mostly the owners extended the entrance hallway and living room and the small amount of them did bedrooms and balcony. For architectural detail on the building frame, they changed and coloured doors and they try to use different type of doors on building such as glazed door or wooden one. Moreover, the colour of building is also changed and mostly aluminium shutters are used for windows. Furthermore, for landscape usage, most of the owners used open space as garden and decorated by bushes with flowers and grape trees that are also used for shading in parking area and the rest in the gardens. Most of the units, gardens are covered with mosaic and ceramic. Furthermore, most of the houses got canopy with table and chairs. Especially for warm and hot weather these spaces are used for different usages. The garden boundaries are included either iron or concrete barriers and some are designed nicely by shrubs. At last but not least, all units got satellite, split unit and water tank for hot or cold water and some of them got solar panels as fixtures. Keywords: Social housing, Personalization, Identity, Sakarya District Famagusta. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
A Methodological Guide in Progress of Interior Design of Fitness Centers: The Case Of Famagusta, North Cyprus
New technology and transportation made life more comfortable, which does not requires more physical effort comparing the lifestyle with the old generations. Because of that, the need for physical activity has become one of the social needs of people. In the 1970s, fitness centers were created to be an invention to represent a unique indoor physical activity environment. Most of these facilities follow an unguided scheme for interior design atmosphere which could affect the user. Studies showed a connection between interior design atmosphere components and user behavior in the space. In this study, the connections between both interior atmosphere components and fitness center spaces explained to answer the main question of this study “What should be taken into consideration while designing or renewing fitness center interiors?” On this basis, the main aim of the study is to create a source of a guideline on the interior design of fitness centers. This study includes five main chapters. The development of this study guided by the literature information found in the second and third chapters. The factors of interior design and interior atmosphere found in the second chapter. The information including interior design and interior atmosphere of fitness centers explained in the third chapter. The case study found in the fourth chapter which includes all the existing fitness centers in Famagusta / North Cyprus. The case study will be done by observation method including an observation table, which obtains data gathered from the literature review. The interiors of all the fitness centers in the city of Famagusta / North Cyprus will be included in this case study and analyzed. At the end of this study, suggestions will be provided to be used as guidelines for a positive interior design atmosphere in fitness centers. Keywords: Interior Atmosphere, Fitness Center, Ambiance factors, Interior Design, Physical activity, Indoor exercise.
Livability in Historic Urban Quarters Case Study: Walled City of Famagusta
Today livability is one of the main issues throughout the world. In general livability has rolled in three main areas: environmental quality, neighborhood amenity and individual well-being. Generally, the concept of livability involves different aspects of urban life; how well the city works for us, as well as how comfortable and enjoyable our neighborhood and city are. Historic preservation could increase the livability in historic districts. Preservation of historical building and cultural heritage leads to increase livability in the area. Livability has many dimensions and indicators. In this study the physical and functional dimension of livability is examined to measure the livability level in the area, although for complete measurement of livability, the social and environmental dimension has to be measured too. Zone 1 of Walled city of Famagusta is taken as a case study of this research. Due to the lack of appropriate historic preservation and obsolescence, the livability level in the area is questionable. The livability of Zone 1 of Walled city of Famagusta is measured, and some recommendations and suggestions for increasing the level of livability are described. However, before measurement of livability in historic urban quarters, it is necessary to mention about the relation between historic preservation and livability, then the measurement due to these relation will be explained. Keywords: Livability, historic preservation, physical and functional dimension of livability, quality of life, quality of place.
Analyzing the Effects of Abandoned Houses on Neighborhood Satisfaction in the Walled City of Famagusta
Housing abandonment is one of the social and physical problems in some of neighborhoods than others today. Housing abandonment emerged as problem in such areas due to wide range of factors such as social, economic and physical forces and public policies. Neighborhood is a place where people and residents spend their majority of life times in. Accordingly, it is a small community that people are gathered in and sharing their emotional feelings and things. Both in modern and tradition cities, neighborhood satisfaction depends on physical, social and economical overall condition of specific neighborhood. In addition, when housing abandonment appears in a neighborhood, it dramatically affects on neighborhood satisfaction that heading into decline of quality of life as well as neighborhood. Not only physical condition, social and economic conditions of the neighborhood had negatively affected by the housing abandonment. Any problems that can happen in these three structures of a neighborhood are directly decreasing the neighborhood satisfaction among residents. Accordingly, main aim of this study is to analyze the effects of housing abandonment on the neighborhood satisfaction. For this study, Walled City of Famagusta as a one of important historical and traditional part of the Famagusta City, is selected as a case study area. This thesis is carried on three residential districts among nine districts that each district has a dense housing pattern. Also, existence of residential abandonment in the selected districts is another reason for this selection. Thus, the case study areas are analyzed through series of analyses and the effects of housing abandonment on neighborhood satisfaction in Walled City is tried to be achieved. Accordingly, this thesis is composed of five chapters. The first chapter is included with introductory part, that relates to aim and objectives and method of the study. Chapter two defines the abandonment issue, its negative consequences and reasons. Chapter three explains the neighborhood satisfaction and its indicators. As a result of the theoretical part, it is achieved that reasons of housing abandonment relies on the neighborhood satisfaction. In the fourth chapter, case study areas are analyzed by using the indicators that are achieved at the end of the literature review in chapter three. Physical and social analyses technique-questionnaire survey is used for gathering data from the selected districts. Conclusion and recommendations are given in the fifth chapter. The findings from physical and socio-economic analysis show that, the physical and socio-economic conditions of neighborhood give impetus to increase the housing abandonment and at the same time decrease the neighborhood satisfaction. It means that residential districts of Walled City have highly deteriorated façade and structural condition, locational obsolescence, lack of environmental standards, fair level of place attachment, lack of safety and health and moderate level of new houses in housing market. Accordingly, these negative impacts are causing housing abandonment in the neighborhood. Due to this growth of housing abandonment that is obtained, from the results of analysis the residents are not satisfied to live in the neighborhoods. Keywords: Historical neighborhood, housing abandonment, neighborhood satisfaction, Walled City of Famagusta
Role of Adaptive Re-use of Buildings in the Revitalization Process of the Historic Quarters: The Case of the Walled City of Famagusta
At some point in its lifespan, every building will lose the purpose for which it was built and may become obsolete in terms of its function. These obsolete buildings will have a negative effect on both the character of buildings and the area, in which they are located. Adaptive reuse, which is adaptation of this kind of building to a new function or use, on a large scale can create a new confidence through a deliberate functional diversification and/or restructuring and promote revitalization of the historic urban quarters. This action gives an impulse to both the building and its environment. Warehouses, which are located in the historic Walled City of Famagusta, with good and improving access and connectivity, with their large floor area, high ceilings, strong floor which would play a significant role in the revitalization of the historic area, became vacant or are under-utilized, due to various reasons. Depending on certain conditions, as any type of building the Warehouses can also adapt to a new function which can be referred to the most appropriate reuse. In the Revitalization Plan of the Walled City of Famagusta, which has been prepared by the Famagusta Municipality in 2005, these warehouses have been considered as the robust and suitable buildings for conversion to various alternative uses to promote the area; thus, some alternative reuse were proposed for them. In this thesis all of these proposals have been re-evaluated according to six criteria in order to determine the most appropriate reuse for these warehouses. Keywords: Revitalization, Historic Quarters, Adaptive Reuse, Industrial buildings+ Warehouses, Walled City of Famagusta.
The Evaluation of Medium-Rise Residential Buildings in Famagusta According to Climate Responsive Design Elements
The impact of climate on building design characteristic has existed from the beginning of man's searching for housing till today. However, the way it was expressed changed due to the changing of human needs, development of knowledge, and technology. Nowadays, many buildings around the world are trying to achieve the comfort for the user and the climate, due to the adverse effects on the climate, especially on nature, that appears from the harmful methods of human daily life, such as the uncontrolled use of the natural resources for the buildings sector, whether it is in construction or operation process. This study focusses on improving the quality of building design for the users and the climate with the consideration of climate factors. This improvement is surely to be achieved by understanding the relationship between building and climate impact by means of climate responsive design strategies. The new residential mid-rise buildings in Famagusta, North-Cyprus, were selected as case studies to analyze how they have been impacted by the climate responsive design elements. Based on the analysis of the compared case studies it was found out that the consideration of climate responsive design elements is limited. The building design of the case studies has not considered the existing climate condition. Therefore, the building design in Famagusta has to be improved by adopting the suggested building design strategies for Famagusta climate conditions.
Success and Sustainability Criteria for Streets: The Case of Ismet Inonu Boulevard (Salamis Road), Famagusta
ABSTRACT: Streets in cities in addition to being movement channels provide an urban context for social interaction however, nowadays the role of streets as movement channels is overlapping its role as public open space and streets are becoming more isolated. Car dependency and technological development encourage people to stay in their own private while decreases using public open spaces and declining urban life. Developing and designing streets for vehicle is the result of this privatization. As a result there is a need to care about designing street in such a way that become more attractive for people and encourage social interaction in order to increasing the quality of urban life. This research focuses on the designing streets in order to make them attractive and successful public open spaces as streets have potential to become the most livable organs of the city. With this in mind theoretical framework of this research forms to understand the characteristics of street for being a more successful and livable public open space and in continue defining criteria for sustainable and promote them into the case study of Isment Inonu (Salamis Road) to make it as successful and sustainable public open space for the city of Famagusta. Salamis Road as the main access for students of Eastern Mediterranean University`s student to the city have potential to become as the main public open space for the city while Famagusta has serious lack of public open spaces. As a theoretical framework, characteristics of street as physical, functional and social are studied then the concept of sustainable street and its characteristics are explored thorough documentary survey. Then based on the main aim of the study which is evaluating and checking all aspects of Salamis Road as public open space to find out its potential and weaknesses regarding pedestrian satisfaction of the place and existing facilities, Salamis Road will be evaluated through three main characteristics of streets by means of observation, site surveying and questionnaire methods of analysis. At the end based on the analysis result which highlight the potential and weaknesses of Salamis Road in line with theoretical frame work which define successful and sustainable streets` characteristics, a guideline will be defined in order to make Salamis Road a successful and sustainable public open space. Keywords: Public Open Space, Successful Street, Sustainable Street, Boulevard, Salamis Road. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Interrogating Vitality in Streets: An Analysis and Survey in Two Cypriot Towns
ABSTRACT: This thesis focuses on the issue of vitality in urban public spaces, streets in particular, as a major indicator of their success. It is widely accepted that the visual-artistic approach of modern architects and designers left the streets as a traffic channel for movement with free standing buildings alongside without serving the people‟s social needs and activities (i.e. Jacobs, 1961; Anderson, 1978; Gehl, 1987; Roberts and Greed 2001; Oktay, 1990; Carmona et al, 2003), and in this context, the relation between the people and physical setting got less concerns, and urban public spaces in general transformed to undesirable areas lacking appropriateness for pedestrian activity such as walking, shopping, socializing, relaxing or entertaining. The author believes that streets have the potential to become the lifeblood of cities rather than mere traffic channels, and they should be seen as “multi-functional urban „patterns‟” in Christopher Alexander‟s terms. On the other hand, from a behavioral point of view, what attracts people most in public spaces is other people, although many urban spaces are being designed as though the opposite were true; people talk of "escape" and "retreat" when asked in questionnaires, however on the street most tend to be drawn to social centers or the most lively areas (Whyte, 1980). In line with these propositions, this study first provides a theoretical framework for understanding the social value and role of urban public spaces on quality of life in cities, second, tries to determine the essential components for vitality in streets, and finally, investigates how the major streets (Ziya Rızkı Street in Kyrenia and Salamis Street in Famagusta) in two important towns of North Cyprus are working. The work is pursued mainly through analyzing the physical environment as a setting for potential social uses, direct observations of people in real-world everyday situations, and applying questionnaires. Partial interviews will also be held in order to thoroughly understand the reasons behind the active use of certain areas. It is expected that the findings of the study can be used as a useful source for future research and in constructing policies of a comprehensive framework for future urban design. Keywords: Urban public spaces, social life, vitality, streets, Cypriot towns. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The Impact of the International Office Service Quality on Student’s Satisfaction and Loyalty The Case of EMU, Northern Cyprus
Service quality, student’s satisfaction and loyalty are the main concepts that higher educational institutions (universities) must focus on if they are planning to run competitiveness and growth of the institution. Accordingly, higher educational institutions have many fields which care on service quality, students’ satisfaction and student’s loyalty. One of the most important fields of the university is the international office which recruits international students from all around the world, provides the necessary guidance and advising services. The international office’s service quality plays a significant role in satisfaction and loyalty of international students. The main purpose of this thesis is to measure a service quality of the Eastern Mediterranean University’s (EMU) international office and find out how it affects student’s satisfaction and student’s loyalty to the university. This research involved collecting data from randomly selected international students at EMU Campus, in Northern Cyprus. Survey questionnaires were distributed among 235 international students coming from different countries of the world. SERVQUAL Model, One Way ANOVA, Descriptive Statistics, Correlation, Independent Samples T-Test, Gap Analysis and Duncan Test are used to analyze the data. As a result, findings show that in respect of the international office service quality with student’s satisfaction, the expectations of international students exceed the perceptions of international students.
Will the Ripples Collide? A Critical Look at the Impact of External Quality Assurance Process on an English Language School
In recent years, in order to better cope with the increasing number of higher education institutions in the region and thus, the inevitable competition, the validation of their programs by an external/international accreditation body has become the primary objective for some universities in North Cyprus. The Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) is not an exception to this movement. This research aims to discover the perceived impact of external quality assurance process (run by Pearson Edexcel Assured) on the development of certain pre-defined internal quality management and assurance strategies which are maintained to reinforce organizational learning within the specific context of the English Preparatory School at Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU EPS). To this end, the study focused its specific attention on the perceived impact of Pearson Edexcel Assured accreditation process on the development of core strategic building blocks of a ‘learning organization’ (i.e., ‘clarity of purpose and mission’, ‘shared leadership and involvement’, ‘experimentation’, ‘effective transfer of knowledge’ and ‘teamwork and group problem-solving’) at EMU EPS. Adopting a descriptive case study design, the study aimed to gather both quantitative and qualitative data from three different groups of internal stakeholders: the Leadership team, the EPS teachers who were directly involved in the accreditation process, and the EPS teachers who were not directly involved in the process, by means of a survey and semi-structured interviews. In addition, publicized documentation such as policies and procedures, or documents produced by the Continuing Professional Development working group, which were located on the school premises and the school’s official online communication portal, was used as supplementary qualitative data in order to support the discussions drawn from the data gathered from the participants. For the data analysis, a number of methods were used depending on the sort of the data gathered. The quantitative data were analysed by means of descriptive statistics. For the qualitative data, content analyses were conducted following the guidelines provided by Berg (2001). In this respect, a combination of deductive and inductive reasoning was applied, and the data were thematically coded into categories of emerging patterns of the participants’ views on the core components of a learning organization and the impact of the accreditation process on these attributes. The findings yielded interesting results indicating differences in the perceptions of the internal stakeholders not only as regards the degree of formative impact of Pearson Edexcel Assured accreditation process, but also regarding certain internal quality management and assurance practices such as professional development initiatives. Therefore, it is hoped that the results will serve for a better understanding of the continuing professional development initiatives in the ELT world by providing well-grounded impetus for further in-depth studies. Keywords: Accreditation, academic quality management and assurance, learning organizations, English language teaching.
Relationship between the Urban Form and Socio-Spatial Segregation: The Case of Famagusta
Considering the urban form of cities in North Cyprus, urban segregation can be considered as one of the major problems after 1974. The city of Famagusta which is located on the east of the island, is no exception with regard to this general problem; though in this case the problem of urban segregation have been intensified due to different geographical limitations, effects of division of the city after the war in 1974, and political decisions. Thus, segregated urban form of Famagusta affects the social structure of city in a negative way. This thesis explore the urban form in relation with socio – spatial segregation, because physical separation of different social groups in the city has a distinct direct relationship to the way cities are shaped and structured. Understanding and investigating this relationship quantitatively is the major focus of this study. This thesis suggest that the more a spatial structure of a city become fragmented, the more it become socially segregated as well. In order to explore the statement, and study this relationship two methodologies of ‘Space Syntax’ and ‘Social Area Analysis’ are utilized in this study. Methodology of space syntax will analysis the urban form of Famagusta neighborhood by neighborhood based on how much they are accessible, integrated, and intelligible, then in the second part, the methodology of social area analysis will explore the social structure of each neighborhood through census data based on socio – economic variables of education, income, and occupation. Then results of physical and social structure of neighborhoods will put together to show how much they are matched and affect each other. Keywords: urban form, urban segregation, space syntax, socio – spatial segregation, social area analysis
An Evaluation of Interior Space Defining Elements of Re-functioned Historic Warehouses: Liman Road, Famagusta
ABSTRACT: There has been a great tendency in regarding the adaptive re-use of historic buildings in last half of the 20th century. Adaptive re-use is known as the main key in the field of conservation which has an impact on controlling: deterioration, change of use, legal restrain, conservation and sustainability. Walled-City Famagusta encloses a variety of historic warehouses from 19th century, which were built in the British period. The thesis aims to evaluate the interior space defining elements of re-functioned historic warehouses, considering elements defining space, arrangement of elements and design principles. These elements define visual aspect-spaces, features and finishes of interior space characteristics. Most of these buildings are re-used in order to transform to a new function such as, retail store, market and club. The conversion of these buildings has led to alter the main interior space characteristics, which decreases the space efficiency to minimum. The space organizations of original states and re-used state of warehouses are analyzed and assessed from the inventories in order to, compare and identify the reasons, which caused appropriate and/or inappropriate alteration of the interior space characteristics. Keywords: Conversion, Adaptive re-use, interior Space characteristic, Space organization, Historic Warehouse. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The ‘CreXperience City’: Setting up a Branding Strategy for Small Cities: The Case of Famagusta
City branding is a world wide increasing phenomenon. Cities are working hard to keep up with this trend and try setting themselves into the right scene with attractive and appealing images. Competition today is far more than competing for tourists, but also for new residents and investors. However, examination of the existing branding strategies shows, that they are mainly developed for larger cities, whereas small cities often cannot adapt them to their own case. As a result small cities are often focused on their locational attractiveness, such as climate, natural beauty and heritage for promoting themselves. However, such an approach would not always be successful since firstly, only values and opportunities of small cities would only be partially covered. Secondly, small cities are fragile against external influences such as natural catastrophes, global financial crisis or a simple change in the taste of tourists. The aim of this study is to identify solutions for smaller cities while considering a wider range of values and opportunities beyond locational qualities. Accordingly, this study intends to suggest the basic ideas and structure for an alternative branding strategy for small cities through evaluating their given assets and considering all other potentials. This thesis first sets out to present an overview of city branding, its evolution and applications, while focusing on image determination and branding process. The thesis then overviews and compares current branding strategies, while focusing on two most recent branding strategies: the creative city and the experience city. It becomes clear that most branding strategies are developed for larger or mega cities, while smaller cities are often neglected. Based on this, this thesis aims to identify an approach for small cities that fits best to their needs and consider all potentials. This study argues that the most appropriate approach for small cities is a strategy that combines dimensions of the creative city and experience city. Based on this, a hybrid model for small city branding is developed: the creXperience city strategy. Lastly, the proposed model has been applied to the city of Famagusta in order to, firstly, check the validity of the proposed hybrid strategy; secondly, evaluate the potential of the city of Famagusta as a creXperience city. Keywords: City branding, small cities, creative city, experience city, Famagusta
Employees’ Perception Regarding Gender Inequality in Higher Education Sector: Evidence from Eastern Mediterranean University
This study empirically explores employees’ perception regarding gender inequality in higher education sector, in this case, Eastern Mediterranean University. Two hundred thirty questionnaires were distributed and a hundred eighty were collected from employees in Eastern Mediterranean University. Frequency, Descriptive Statistics, Independent T-test and One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were conducted to examine if there existed any statistically significant differences between the examined groups. Independent T-test results revealed 26 statistically significant differences among men and women employees’ perception regarding the enquired items. In order to investigate the possibility of existing any potential differences between the perceptions of our respondents’ subset groups, which are Age, Education Level, Job Status and Work Experience, Analyses of Variance (ANOVA Test) was carried out. Statistically significant differences were observed among three sub groups except for Education level. Keywords: Gender Inequality, Eastern Mediterranean University, Academic/Administrative and Operational staff, North Cyprus, Independent T-test, ANOVA test.
Homesickness among International Students in Famagusta, North Cyprus
The study’s aim was to examine the issue of homesickness among international students studying in North Cyprus and to educate the entire world especially incoming or new international students on homesickness. These 4 objectives were set to achieve this aims: 1.To establish whether the international students studying in North Cyprus were homesick or not. 2.To determine the reasons for international students’ homesickness. 3.To examine the impacts of homesickness on international students; health, academic performance, behavior and character. 4. To understand how international students deal or cope with homesickness. In order to collect data a qualitative approach to research was adopted, through semi structured interviews; 29 African students who suffered from homesickness were interviewed. The data analysed shows that these international students missed several aspects of their homes like: family, friends, food and many more. Language barrier was identified as one of the main causes of homesickness, it also deprieved international students the opportunity of becoming friends with their fellow students and locals in the community. In some cases language barrier caused problems due to misunderstandings and lack of communication. Keywords: Homesickness, international students, African students, North Cyprus.