Evaluation of the Lost Spaces in Karakol and Sakarya Districts of Famagusta, North Cyprus

Most of the modern cities, nowadays are faced with the huge amount of unused and misused spaces which spread throughout in the urban fabric. These ill-shaped and ugly spaces mostly emerged after industrial revolution and later on under the influence of modern movement in architecture and planning. Factories and highways were built and millions of people aspiring for a better life moved to the cities. Over time, cities became more crowded and polluted, thus factories were shut down and relocated to the cities peripheries. Moreover, people who now have their own car started to leave inner cities and settled in suburbs, far from air pollution and crowdedness (Shojaee far, 2011). As a result cities were drastically faced with huge vacancy in inner parts, abandoned factories with contaminated soil and massive unused spaces in urban areas. On the other side, designers and architects which were charmed by the modern movement, ignored the importance of the relation between space, human needs and buildings. Cities, buildings, roads and streets were built with too little concern about human needs. The city of Famagusta which was one of the best tourist destination in Mediterranean Sea with an important trading port, is faced with the problem of unused and lost spaces. Thus, the focus of this research is the analysis and evaluation of unused and misused spaces which mostly emerged after events of 1974 in Famagusta. This study is based on scholars’ and experts’ debates and ideas about urban voids, lost spaces, residual spaces, unused spaces and so on. The process of study is based on qualitative and quantitative research which covers collecting data and preparing the maps as well as site surveying. Accordingly, a holistic criteria has been defined in order to be able to determine the lost spaces in the study area, which is the newly developed parts of Famagusta. The result of this research presents the total amount and location as well as types of lost spaces within the study area. Keywords: Lost space, Residual space, Unused space, Urban voids, Negative voids, Empty space, Famagusta, North Cyprus