Two Walls of Lefkoşa: The Validity of Division
Abstract
Walls
are the artificial and artistic structures of urban civilization. They are
symbols of protection and belonging as well as segregation and exclusion. In
this study, those two faces of walls are investigated for the last divided
capital of the world; Lefkoşa. Firstly, the meanings and the concepts of wall
are discussed with respect to two main aspects that a wall can be a unifier and
divider element of urban space. Whether the walls in cities may provide a sense
of unity, they may lead to decline and obsolescence problems in social and
physical urban space. In order to illustrate the validity of this perspective,
the well-known cities having walls are evaluated including urban design
approaches towards their decline problems. In this respect, two cities having
unifier walls are firstly investigated as Bruges of Belgium and Valetta of
Malta. Then two other cities known as divided cities by having divider walls
as; Belfast and Berlin are discussed. Afterwards, the walled city of Lefkoşa,
having both divider and unifier walls, is examined in historical manner. The
interventions and proposals for the walled city of Lefkoşa are evaluated and
criticized. At the end of the study, further suggestions are discussed by
considering the unified values of the city.
Keywords
References
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
-
Journal Section
Review
Authors
Sıla Özdemir
*
This is me
Türkiye
Publication Date
April 25, 2018
Submission Date
April 29, 2016
Acceptance Date
December 10, 2017
Published in Issue
Year 2018 Volume: 9 Number: 23