The Nicosia Master Plan

How is a divided city to develop? How does one plan for the future? This was the question the two sides faced after the 1974 division and the Master Plan was the answer they came up with. The Master Plan for Nicosia’s urban development is a project jointly set up and operated by the two communities. It has included two scenarios as to the dividing Buffer Zone or Green Line: one scenario with the Green Line and the other without it. It is two particular persons who are usually credited with the initiation and putting into operation of the Master Plan: Mr. Lellos Demetriades on the Greek Cypriot side and Mr. Mustafa Akinci on the Turkish Cypriot side. In this statement Mr Demetriades recounts his feelings about Nicosia, describes the problems they faced, the obstacles they had to overcome, the practicalities involved in its actual implementation and, finally, offers his personal vision for Nicosia.