Architect and planner Hakkı Atun met with the CIU architects of the future

At the seminar organized by the Cyprus International University (CIU) Faculty of Fine Arts, Design and Architecture (FADA), the architect and planner Hakkı Atun was hosted as part of World Cities Day.

At the event that was organized by the CIU FADA academic staff Assoc. Prof. Dr. Payam Mahasti, Dr. Gizem Caner and Dr. Nezire Özgece, the subject “The Development of Cities in Cyprus with Special Reference to the TRNC ” was examined.

Explaining the city planning processes in Cyprus and the TRNC within his speech, Hakkı Atun advised that in this context, the British colonial administration officially put city planning into practice in Cyprus following the Second World War, and that in 1946, the Chapter 96 - Roads and Buildings law was enacted and that with the declaration of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960, the Planning and Construction Department came under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior.

Stating that he graduated from the Istanbul Technical University as an architect-engineer in 1959, Atun gave further information in relation to the works he carried out in the field of planning in both the north and south of Cyprus from that year onwards, and in relation to the duties he undertook in government institutions.

Speaking in relation to the process of establishment of the Planning and Construction Department, Hakkı Atun reminded that the first and biggest problem during this process was in meeting the housing needs of the 25 thousand immigrants that came to Nicosia.

Informing that several housing projects were erected in Nicosia during the British Administration, Atun went on to say, “The planning and construction office had prepared a comprehensive 'Housing for Immigrants in Cyprus' project. Various types of houses were built in 1965 and 1970".

Atun advised that after July 1974, the two communities residing upon the island had separated geographically, and with this, the Turkish Cypriots for the first time in their history were a population living within a location where their borders were certain, and he continued, “They established their own country. The preparation of the Nicosia Master Plan was recommended by the UN and an agreement was reached between the two mayors of the city. Two alternative plans were put forward, in the event of an agreement, one that would unite the two halves, and one with more flexible planning”.

Elaborating in his speech that the Greek Cypriot side had accepted the plan and put it into effect, Atun expressed that the Turkish political authorities were delayed in realizing the necessity of this plan and added, “With a delay, the Nicosia Development Plan was put into practice. While the plan was supposed to be revised every five years, the process didn't work in that way.

Finally, drawing attention to the fact that planning mechanisms should be separated from politics, Hakkı Atun underlined that in order to have better and more livable cities, political decision-makers should abandon populism and be open and honest with the public.