Urban Design as a Tool for Preservation and Adaptive Reuse of Public Space in Historic Districts

Abstract

This paper looks into frameworks which aim at furthering the discussion of the role of regenerative design practices in a city's historic core utilizing the tool of urban design to jumpstart urban revitalization in the context of historic preservation and adaptive reuse in historic city centers. The main prong of investigation will consider the effect of proposed changes in the physical infrastructure and fabric of the city and the management of public space, as well as the catalytic effect of sustainable urban design practices. Through this process, the work hopes to integrate the contained potential within the existing historic city center, which includes both buildings and the space between buildings. It also looks at the notion of a community's right to the public space and the public life of the target areas as well as the potential contribution and participation of its population in the local economy. It also examines ways in which this coupling of factors can bring to the front the positive effects of this combined effort on an otherwise sluggish local redevelopment effort, and uses a local case study to illustrate the potential application of preservation and reuse sstrategies in the historic core of the Nicosia suburb or Strovolos on the island of Cyprus. The data for this study is being collected and organized as part of an ongoing urban design and development workshop manned by diploma students from the University of Cyprus. The presentation is organized around a historical background and theoretical framework for developement, followed concluding thoughts that address sets of actions that may have a positive impact on future projects conceived along similar lines by educators and practitioners in comparable regional initiatives.