Sustainable Residential Neighborhoods: A Case Study of Pertev Paşa District In Aşaği Maraş (Kato Varosha), Famagusta

During the past few decades, sustainable urban development has been considered as one of the ubiquitous subject matter of urban studies and researches. During the recent years, various factors and elements affected the urban expansion and it highlights the significance of residential neighborhoods in formation of the urban areas and manage it toward sustainability criteria. A neighborhood as a fundamental building block of the community playing a crucial role to define sustainability for the bigger scale of urban areas. Undoubtedly, without having sustainable neighborhoods, achieving sustainable cities is impossible and global sustainability will become not more than an illusion. Neighborhood is a unit in which social interactions occur daily and directly in association with people who are living there. This study, based on the reviewed literature, tries to examine sustainability indicators in neighborhood level. Accordingly, after defining the neighborhood sustainability dimensions, needs, principles, indicators, a list of measurement criteria was provided to investigate the case study (Pertev Paşa District in Aşaği Maraş-Kato Varosha) in Famagusta, North Cyprus. Furthermore, through identifying environmental and socio-economic problems of the neighborhood this research has attempted to provide some useful and practicable suggestions and recommendations to enhance the quality of life and returning this neighborhood towards sustainability path. The breif introduction of this research is stated in the first chapter. The second and third chapter is allocated for defining sustainability and neighborhood. These two chapters profoundly investigate and interpret different points of views towards sustainable development and neighborhoods. Subsequently, in the third chapter combination of sustainable development criteria and neighborhood is demonstrated, and has attempted to bring forward some main principles to define characteristics of sustainable neighborhood. Sustainable neighborhood characteristics have been surveyed by some qualitative and quantitative methods in the case study during the fourth chapter. Finally, in chapter five wide range of recommendations and conclusion completely cover the main problems of the desired neighborhood. According to various characteristics of sustainable neighborhood Pertev Paşa are located in a poor level of sustainability. Keywords: Sustainable Development, Neighborhood, Sustainable Neightbourhood, Pertev Paşa District, Aşağı Maraş, Famagusta, Northern Cyprus