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doi:10.1016/j.cities.2004.04.009
Cities, Vol. 21, No. 4, p. 329–348, 2004
Q
2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Printed in Great Britain
0264-2751/$ - see front matter
www.elsevier.com/locate/cities
An analytical methodology for
revitalization strategies in historic
urban quarters: a case study of the
Walled City of Nicosia, North
Cyprus
Naciye Doratli*, Sebnem Onal Hoskara and Mukaddes Fasli
Faculty of Architecture, Gazimagusa, Eastern Mediterranean University, via Mersin 10,
North Cyprus, Turkey
Historic urban quarters are special places not only due to the cultural heritage that they house, but
also due to their urban pattern. Many such quarters are in a danger of losing their traditional charac-
ter if relevant measures are not put in place to ensure the continuity of this character. This paper pro-
poses a new method—based on SWOT analysis—for identifying and assessing the key criteria of
historic urban quarters; from its findings it proceeds to derive an appropriate revitalization strategy. In
order to illustrate the implications of the proposed methodology, to check its validity, and to see how it
empirically works, the paper uses the Walled City of Nicosia in Cyprus as a case study.
Q
2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Economic development, Strategic planning, SWOT analysis
Introduction
It is widely accepted that historic urban quarters
have a special place in the cultural and historical
heritage of any country. As they are coherent enti-
ties, they are clearly identified by their traditional
character and architectural value. They reflect the
accomplishments of a significant cross-section of
the world cultures, and while some represent the
efforts of indigenous cultures, others display the
impact of colonial activities. All mingle their
diverse influences in creative fashion to create
unique forms and patterns of use.
It is these attributes, and their value as a capital
stock, that make historic urban quarters worthy of
conservation. The qualities of these special areas
were often not appreciated until the 1960s, and
individual buildings, structures and other artifacts
were subject to ‘‘preservation’’. It is only since the
1960s that the historic urban quarters have been
re-evaluated with respect to their positive qualities,
and revitalization of these areas as functioning
parts of their cities became popular. Today, the
rationale underpinning the phenomenon of revita-
lizing historic urban quarters is widely recognized,
as is its global diffusion.
As stated by Tiesdell et al., historic urban quar-
ters are part of an economic dynamic; they are
rarely autonomous functioning zones and usually
have a symbiotic relationship with the rest of the
city. They must therefore be considered within the
context of the city as a whole and their conser-
vation has to be considered, not as a straightfor-
ward and restrictive concern for preservation, but
as a concern for revitalization and enhancement
(
Tiesdell et al., 1996: p 22
). The process of revita-
lizing them involves the integration of the historic
legacy, inheritance, and sense of place with the
demands of contemporary economic, political and
social conditions. Accordingly, revitalization can
be defined, in its simplest form, as a ‘‘process
through which the deterioration and decay of a his-
toric urban quarter can be addressed terminated or
reversed’’ (
Doratli, 2000: p 32
). This process is a
complex issue that has to be approached from
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +90-392-630-2241; fax: +90-392-
365-0918. e-mail: naciye.doratli@emu.edu.tr
329
Revitalization strategies in historic urban quarters: N Doratli et al.
many different perspectives, since it should involve
social and economic dimensions rather than purely
physical protection and enhancement measures in a
long-term perspective. Such a process calls for the
connectivity of conservation-area objectives and
the consideration of physical quality, social
viability, economic vitality and the wider concern
for sustainability, all of which demands the rapid,
e
F
cient and focused conversion of new knowledge
into socially, economically and environmentally
acceptable solutions.
It is di
F
cult to apply this philosophy of revi-
talization by utilizing conventional planning
approaches for conservation, since they mainly
deal with (more or less) technical-scientific ques-
tions concerning material aspects of cultural pro-
perty and their straightforward protection. In
addition to this, as
Rowley (1997: p 36)
states,
‘‘...conventional planning approaches tend to be
oriented toward looking at problems based on cur-
rent understanding, or an inside-out mind set;
whereas strategic planning requires an understand-
ing of the nature of the issue, and then of an
appropriate response, or an outside-in mind set’’.
According to
Zapryagaev (1999: p 3)
, strategic
planning tends to be idea driven, is more qualitat-
ive, and seeks to provide a clear vision or focus.
Criticizing the conventional conservation process,
Bold and Guillery point out that it is geared to
site-specific recording, protection and regulation,
rather than the overall assessment of a historic area
(
Gri
F
th and Romaya, 2000
).
Based on these arguments, it can be stated that
only through employment of strategic planning
approaches would it be possible to develop an
understanding and vision across a whole range of
social, environmental and economic issues that go
far beyond conventional approaches, taking a com-
prehensive and integrated approach over long time
horizons. The underlying intention of a strategic
approach is to identify what is valuable in a his-
toric urban quarter, qualities that should be pro-
tected and enhanced; and along with identifying
these, to determine where negative factors could be
removed or mitigated and to identify where the
opportunities for enhancement lie.
Burton et al. (2002: p 1465)
state that the popu-
lar SWOT model (strengths, weaknesses, opportu-
nities, and threats) forms the basis for virtually all
formalized strategy formulation processes. A tool
of situation analysis, SWOT is used in the prelimi-
nary stage of strategic decision-making (
Johnson
et al., 1989
), where it provides the basic framework
for strategic analysis. According to different
authors, the objective of SWOT is to recommend
strategies that ensure best alignment between the
external environment and the internal situation
(
Hax and Majluf, 1996; Hill and Jones, 1992
).
Hence, SWOT analysis can be considered a useful
tool for approaching conservation and revitaliza-
tion of historic urban quarters, indicating a contex-
tual understanding of the historic environment,
which is a prerequisite of all strategic approaches.
However, we consider the original SWOT analysis
(and the one utilized by Moughtin for the assess-
ment of the built environment) to be too broad;
consequently, the authors feel that, in addition,
an interpretive version of the SWOT method is
required. In order to identify place assets, the
processes acting upon them (such as obsolescence
and development pressures) would be much more
convenient for the determination of the strategic
approach for revitalization of historic urban quar-
ters.
Thus, the aim of this paper is, first, to propose a
new method of analysis, a new interpretation of the
SWOT analysis, which would lead to a more orga-
nized and compact set of data that can contribute
to the identification of the most appropriate strat-
egy for revitalization. This method will then be
illustrated in a case study of the northern part of
the Walled City of Nicosia,
1
on the Island of
Cyprus, which will be followed by a critical evalu-
ation of the strengths and weaknesses of this newly
interpreted method.
The challenges of revitalizing historic urban
quarters
Tiesdell et al., (1996: p 20)
argue that the revita-
lizing historic urban quarters ‘‘...involves both the
renewal of the physical fabric and the active econ-
omic use—or utilization—of buildings and spaces.
Accordingly, there is a need for both physical and
economic revitalization. One may prefigure the
other, for example, a cosmetic or ‘‘physical’’ revita-
lization may be a short-term strategy intended to
induce a deeper ‘‘economic’’ revitalization in the
longer term. A physical revitalization can result in
an attractive, well-maintained public realm. How-
ever, in the longer term, economic revitalization is
required because ultimately it is the productive uti-
lization of the private realm which pays for the
maintenance of the public realm’’. Depending on
their inherent qualities as well as local physical,
socio-economic conditions, different comprehensive
approaches, in other words different strategies—
restructuring the economic base, regeneration, func-
tional diversification—should be engaged in the
1
The Walled City, which is the geometric centre of Nicosia, has
been divided into two parts with the ‘‘buffer zone’’ along the east–
west axis. Physical separation due to the inter-communal conflict
and clashes between the two communities—the Greek and the
Turkish—on the island which started in 1958 led to the setting of
this buffer zone in 1963. Since then, the two sectors of the Walled
City have been developing in their own physical and social con-
texts with Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots in
the south. The study covers only the northern sector of the Wal-
led City, since it was not possible to gather data about the south-
ern part when the research was conducted.
330
Revitalization strategies in historic urban quarters: N Doratli et al.
revitalization processes of historic urban quarters
(
Doratli, 2000
).
In historic urban quarters, the necessity of inte-
grating the various exigencies of conservation and
revitalization, of balancing economic development
while respecting environmental quality, is parti-
cularly challenging. Tiesdell’s argument therefore,
underpins three contextual attributes within this
definition of ‘‘revitalization’’: place assets, obsol-
escence, and intensities of development pressures.
Examination of many implementations of revita-
lization projects in historic urban quarters through
a literature survey shows that success of these pro-
jects is highly related to the employment of the
most appropriate strategic approach, which rests
upon accurate identification of these three attri-
butes (
Doratli, 2000
). Hence, at the analysis stage
of any planning study, identification of the three
attributes should be given a special emphasis. It
can be claimed that the SWOT analysis, which will
be targeted to these attributes, would be a help to
increase the chance of the accurate determination
of the most appropriate strategic approach. Based
on this argument, these attributes will be briefly
overviewed to provide a basis for the new
interpretation of the SWOT analysis.
being generated. The area may suffer under differ-
ent types of obsolescence:
Physical/structural obsolescence: The traditional
buildings would be subject to physical/structural
deterioration, which leads to obsolescence. This
may occur due to different factors: the effects of
time, the weather, earth movement, traFc
vibration, poor maintenance, which result in the
deterioration of building fabric. Obsolescence of
this nature is likely to be—at least initially—grad-
ual (
Tiesdell et al., 1996: p 23
).
Functional obsolescence: Obsolescence of this type
arises due to the functional characteristics of the
building/area. Due to its design and the constraints
of its fabric, the building may fail to meet the con-
temporary standards and requirement of the user/
potential user. Inadequacy of a building may range
from a lack of sanitary fittings in good conditions
and spaces to a lack of central heating, air con-
ditioning and other contemporary facilities.
Locational obsolescence: This type of obsolescence
is primarily an attribute of the functional activities
within the area. When the building was originally
built, its location was determined in terms of
accessibility to other uses, markets, and suppliers,
transportation infrastructure and the like; but over
time the location may become unfavorable or
obsolete for the activities, for which the building
was constructed (
Tiesdell et al., 1996: p 25
). Exam-
ining varied examples indicates that locational
obsolescence can be identified through the analysis
of the changes in terms of ownership pattern, chan-
ges in social composition, land and property values,
rate of rents, vacancy rates, incompatible uses, type
and amount of new development.
Place assets: values and qualities that make the areas
worthy to be preserved and revitalized
A historic urban core possesses a mix of assets
that offers a variety of possibilities for defining its
identity and finds its definition in its buildings,
streets, squares, and people. In traditional urban
environments, urban cores show the most success-
ful qualities of a well-defined urban fabric, namely
architectural unity, order and visual continuity.
Traditional urban quarters may embrace:
Cultural identity value: including age, tradition,
continuity, political and national values;
Scarcity value: resulting from,for example, typology,
form, period of construction, design of buildings in
the area/quarter, which makes them unique assets
when compared with recently built ones;
Resource value: due to the fact that they house a
certain amount of existing housing stock, which
can also be considered as an economic issue.
Beside these most basic types, it is also possible
to consider other forms of obsolescence:
Image obsolescence: related to the perception of a
building or an area. Uncomfortable traFc circu-
lation, noise, smell, vibration in old quarters, which
make them unattractive.
O3cial/legal obsolescence: related to physical and
functional dimensions. Restrictions may render
buildings obsolete; or in an area, which is declared
as ‘‘conservation zone’’, the absence of financial
incentives may reduce the willingness of property
owners to restore and rehabilitate their property.
This, in turn, reinforces oFcial obsolescence.
Obsolescence: factors and processes contributing to
deterioration and decay
Considering the deterioration and decay process
under which most historic areas suffer, obsolescence
is the underlying concept, which can be defined as
‘‘the mismatch between the services offered by the
fabric and the contemporary needs’’ (
Lichtfield,
1988
). Based on this argument, obsolescence can be
considered to be a process through which most of
the problems of traditional urban quarters are
Intensities of development pressures: factors
provoking physical change
In addition to obsolescence, and depending on
the economic pressure for development on the
331
Revitalization strategies in historic urban quarters: N Doratli et al.
area, a historic urban area may face different inten-
sities of development pressure. These might be con-
sidered to be ‘‘high’’, ‘‘static’’ or ‘‘declining’’.
Intensities of development pressures are highly
interrelated with obsolescence, and it is one of the
key issues in the deterioration process that an area
faces as possible solutions are proposed to address
this process. Physical and functional obsolescence
diminishes the competitiveness of a historic urban
quarter against newly developing districts, and
accordingly intensities of development pressure in
the area approach static or declining states. Or,
alternatively, the flight of inhabitants and uses
from a historic urban quarter under static or
declining development pressure accelerate physical
and functional obsolescence, and give rise to other
types of obsolescence.
In one of the reports of unchs-habitat about
the rehabilitation of existing housing stock, it
is stated that: ‘‘...Some of the historic urban
quarters are affected by structural and environmen-
tal decay but which are nevertheless characterized
by a very high concentration of economic activities
ranging from business concerns and market trans-
actions to crafts and artisan workshops. They nor-
mally provide a wide range of employment
opportunities and are characterized by steadily
increasing densities, which cannot but accelerate
the existing process of structural and infra-
structural decay. Land values in such areas are
potentially very high’’ (
UNCHS-HABITAT, 1982:
p11
).
Such areas can be identified as being in a high
state of development pressure, with too much econ-
omic stress for development resulting in pressure
for the demolition of old buildings in order to rea-
lize the full potential of valuable sites. In that case,
the buildings are either in states of physical/struc-
tural obsolescence, that is, in poor condition or
functional obsolescence, where there would be a
mismatch between the fabric and contemporary
needs and expectations.
Examination of successful examples of revitaliza-
tion projects for historic urban quarters in different
cities (countries) shows that, aside from the appli-
cation of effective organizational, legal, fiscal,
financial tools, correct identification of the contex-
tual attributes identified above during the analyti-
cal stage plays a key role in determining the
appropriate strategic approach to revitalization.
cept of strategy has to be perceived as a plan that
is the result of analyzing the strengths and weak-
nesses and determining what the environment has
to offer (the opportunities and threats), so that the
objectives can be achieved (
Jauch et al., 1988
:p
12). Recently, development of strategies became
much more popular than ever before, not only in
the business world, but also in many other fields
due to the rapidly changing environment. Town
planning, urban design, architecture and conser-
vation planning are no exception to this general
trend.
Considering the main focus of revitalizing his-
toric urban quarters, as it is stated above, the
employment of strategic approaches for their revi-
talization seems to be a major concern. Thus, in
order to provide a historic urban quarter with an
appropriate level of economic competitiveness and
with the basis to channel the various competing
demands for spaces within them, determination of
an appropriate strategic approach is an important
issue to debate.
As in the process of planning in general, strategic
planning for revitalization of historic urban quar-
ters also includes various stages,
2
among which the
analysis stage is the most crucial one since both the
key constraints and opportunities of the concerned
historic area and the external conditions, which
would positively and/or negatively affect the area,
are identified at this stage. Since the main aim of
this paper is to propose a new approach to the
analysis stage of strategic planning for revitaliza-
tion of historic urban quarters, the following will
now focus on this stage in detail.
Analysis stage for strategic approach to revitalization
The analytical stage is the crucial basis for success-
ful planning and proposals and therefore should be
given due attention and effort. Thus, determination
of the most relevant strategic approach should rest
upon a thorough analysis. There are two main
questions to be answered at this point:
. What should be analyzed? The analysis topics
. How should it be analyzed? The analysis meth-
ods/techniques and tools
The answers to these questions will clarify the
scope of overall analysis stage in strategic planning
for conservation and revitalization. Accordingly,
the analysis topics can be classified under three
main headings:
A strategic approach for revitalization
Strategic planning has been extensively used in
the private sector to provide corporations and
businesses with long-term vision and goals and
short-term action plans to achieve these goals.
Although strategy is the means used to achieve the
objectives, it is not just any plan however. The con-
2
In general strategic planning includes six steps: mission, external/
internal analysis, key results, strategy, operational plan (objec-
tives, strategic action plan, performance appraisal and rewarded),
evaluation and control (
Hunt, 1996
).
332
Revitalization strategies in historic urban quarters: N Doratli et al.
. Analysis of the natural environment
. Analysis of the built environment
. Analysis of the socio-economic environment
This distinction between internal and external
conditions is more diFcult to apply when assessing
the potential part of the physical world such as a
city district, or a historic urban quarter.
Moughtin
(1999)
argues that in strict management terms, the
analysis could be applied to an organization con-
templating a particular intervention in the real
world estate but not necessarily in quite the same
way for the potential of real estate itself. According
to
Moughtin (1999)
, many of the threats facing an
inner city area or the opportunities it presents
could be considered to be internal to the physical
structure being investigated.
Balamuralikrishna and Dugger (1995)
point out
that sometimes threats can also be viewed as
opportunities, depending on the people or groups
involved. They also argue that ‘‘a pessimist is a
person who sees a calamity in an opportunity, and
an optimist is one who sees an opportunity in a
calamity’’. Similarly,
Moughtin (1999)
states that a
weakness can be viewed in a more positive light as
an opportunity, while in some instances strength in
one area when viewed from a different perspective
can appear as the source of weakness. Neverthe-
less, the structure imposed by the listing and cate-
gorizing of aspects and qualities of the project site,
or the working district, under these four broad
headings, does assist in formulating possible strate-
gies for intervention.
Within the regional development environment,
the SWOT instrument is intended to highlight
those dominant and determining factors, both
within and outside of the territory in question,
which are likely to influence the success of the pro-
ject, as well as to produce relevant strategic guide-
lines by linking the project to its environment
(
European Commission, 1999: p 42
). The com-
pletion of the analysis can also form the basis for
questioning the assumptions underlying project
goals and objectives. The SWOT analysis can,
therefore, assist in the clearer definition of the
design brief and point the way to design solutions
(
Cuesta et al., 1999
).
SWOT has been considered as a basic tool,
which, while highly subjective, helps to sharpen the
focus of the situation analysis (
Strategic Approach
to Urban Management, 2003
; http://www.dola.-
go.th/web-pages/m03130000/ResourceBookEn/:
p 12). Although it is a ‘‘quick and dirty’’ technique
with a relatively low level of sophistication, when
used in a matrix form, SWOT analysis is a power-
ful tool for identifying the properties and potential
of an urban area (
Cuesta et al., 1999
). If the exam-
ination of the data is structured as shown in
Figure 2
, then the strengths and weaknesses of a
number of the main aspects of life in a study area
can be addressed and analyzed. The properties and
potential of the study site or city district can be
examined under a number of broad headings or
factors, such as physical properties and aesthetic
These analysis topics are dealt with via various
techniques and methods which are summarized in
Figure 1
.
Beside these analyses, there is also a need to
identify key constraints as well as potential oppor-
tunities. This is a necessity for a sound basis for a
strategic approach to conservation and revitaliza-
tion. For such identification, the SWOT analysis
method, which has recently become popular in
environmental studies and is a prerequisite for stra-
tegic planning, should be applied to the area for
conservation purposes. Based on the data gathered
from the analyses methods shown in
Figure 1
, the
stages of implementing the SWOT analysis will
include:
. a scan of the inventory of the buildings to identify
their value; physical condition and the land-use
survey for detection of the functional obsolescence
in the study area; and
. the re-evaluation of the socio-demographic, econ-
omic, and physical indicators in order to assess
the indicators of locational obsolescence—owner-
ship pattern, changes in social composition, land
and property values, rate of rents, vacancy rates,
and incompatible uses and the type and level of
development.
Since this method is specifically developed for
strategic planning and borrowed from another
discipline (i.e. management), the authors feel that it
should be specified in detail for further discussion.
Thus, what follows will first give general infor-
mation on this specific method and then explain
how this method has been interpreted and adopted
for the purpose of conservation planning and thus
revitalization.
SWOTanalysis and its new interpretation for historic
urban quarters
A derivative of the Harvard policy model, also
referred to as the ‘‘design school model’’
(
Mintzberg 1994: pp 36–39
), the SWOT approach
seeks to address the question of strategy formation
from a two-fold perspective: from an external app-
raisal (of threats and opportunities in an enviro-
nment) and from an internal appraisal (of strengths
and weaknesses in an organization). SWOT gen-
erates lists, or inventories, of strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats. Organizations use these
inventories to generate strategies that fit their parti-
cular anticipated situation, their capabilities and
objectives (
Bourgeois, 1996; David, 1997; Pearce
and Robinson, 1997
).
333
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