The Annan peace plan has led to a major construction boom in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), in large part driven by speculative demand for real estate. A macroeconomic framework has been used to analyse the principal causes and impacts of the construction sector on the TRNC economy, particularly in terms of income and employment. Given that the TRNC possesses a unique and rare ecosystem in the Eastern Mediterranean, special attention is given to environmental impacts of the current construction boom, highlighting environmental costs and deficiencies in land zoning regulations. Environmental pollution as a result of rapid construction and unplanned urbanisation are also discussed and there is urgent need for rigorous environmental legislation, especially at local government level.Annan Plan, construction boom, economy, environmental ethics,
The author is a Professor of Local Government and Urban Studies at the Faculty of Political Science , Ankara University and Eastern Mediterranean University. He served as Director of the Ernst Reuter Center for Urban Studies as well as Director of the Center for Environmental Studies, Ankara University for many years. His numerous publications include The Politics of Rapid Urbanization: Government and Growth in Modern Turkey (New York , Holmes and Meier, 1985), Housing and the Urban Poor in the Middle East: Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Morocco (Tokyo, IDE, 1986), Urban Management in Turkey (Ankara, Turkish Social Science Association, 1988), Urban Poverty in the Third World: Theoretical Approaches and Policy Options Tokyo (IDE, 1988). Dr Keleş has been a correspondent of Ekistics since 1965. He is a member of the World Society for Ekistics (WSE) and has also served as a member of its Executive Council. The text that follows is a slightly edited and revised version of a paper presented at the WSE Symposion "Defining Success of the City in the 21st Century," Berlin, 24-28 October, 2001.
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