Prior to 1974, the port city of Famagusta, Cyprus, was home to one of the most glamorous beach resorts in the world, the suburb of Varosha. The white sands and luxurious beach hotels stood only a short walking distance from Famagusta’s historic core, a Lusignan-era walled town housing a rich architectural heritage. With the island’s division in 1974, approximately 30,000 Greek Cypriots, most from the resort area of Varosha, fled from north to south. Varosha was abandoned and soon would be surrounded by barbed wire and occupied by Turkish troops. For forty years, it has been held as a bargaining chip in negotiations, while the once-glittering hotels have crumbled. Moreover, the international isolation of north Cyprus’ self-declared state has impeded the restoration of Famagusta’s neglected walled city, and the once-busy port has stagnated.
This project began at a time when the Turkish Cypriot administration was still considering opening the forbidden area to resettlement. The original aim was to assess the various proposed frameworks for opening the city and provide an overview of efforts to imagine its revitalization. After the start of the project, the Turkish Cypriot administration did indeed open parts of Varosha, in October 2020, making the project even more urgent. Research examines how, in this politically charged context, government planners, bicommunal citizens’ initiatives, refugee organizations, architects, and others imagine reviving the city. It also aims to assess the various frameworks for opening the city currently on the table, all of which have differing implications in terms of how they will impact the Cyprus conflict.
