The three-tier hierarchy of Development Plans introduced by the 1972 Town and Country Planning Law is based on the concepts of the “Island Plan,” which refers to the national territory and the regional distribution of resources and development opportunities; the “Local Plan,” which refers to major urban areas, areas of exceptional importance or areas undergoing intensive development pressures and rapid physical development; and the “Area Scheme,” at the lower end of the hierarchy, which in general refers to areas of a smaller scale and is more detailed and specifically project oriented. For all territory where neither a Local plan nor an Area Scheme is in force, an additional type of development plan was introduced to the planning system in 1982, the “Policy Statement for the Countryside“ (PSC), a legally binding document in the form of an adapted regional plan for the control of development and the protection of the environment in villages and rural areas. Along with this document, a series of zoning plans have been published for the majority of rural settlements, while areas of outstanding natural value, selected coastlines and nature protection areas, as well as areas of protected landscapes are all delineated on a detailed cadastral inventory which complements the guidelines of the PSC.

The Island Plan and the Policy Statement for the Countryside

The Island Plan is a statement of the broad national strategy in the area of regional spatial planning with strong links to overall national economic and social policy. It signifies the Government’s intentions in respect to the efficient and sustainable use of land throughout the island and refers especially to the population’s regional distribution, regional-level spatial policies in relation to industry, commerce, tourism and other major sectors of the economy, the designation of areas of special social, historic, architectural or cultural interest, the designation of areas of special natural and environmental value, as well as the pattern of regional transportation networks and other public services.

Nevertheless, with the 1974 Turkish invasion and subsequent military occupation of a sizeable portion of the island, the preparation of an Island Plan was no longer feasible. Therefore, the House of Representatives had to amend the Planning Law, removing the mandatory obligation for its publication and, as a result, the planning system has been deprived of its island-wide regional context. The inability to formulate an Island Plan due to the forced division of Cyprus has led the Government to prepare and publish the Policy Statement for the Countryside (PSC), which refers to all government-controlled territory, except areas where a Development Plan is already in place. In certain cases, areas with a high development momentum, such as some of the most intensively developed tourist resorts, are also covered by the PSC. The PSC, however, is not a regional development plan, in the sense that, say, a Local Plan is. It rather defines land use zones for most rural settlements and communities and areas of special or exceptional natural or environmental value. It also specifies a framework of location policies for a wide spectrum of development types, including residential, commercial, tourist, industrial, agricultural etc.

Recognising that a document as general as the PSC has shortcomings in terms of responsiveness to specific local circumstances and characteristics, the general objective is to proceed with the preparation of detailed Area Schemes for particular settlements, or Local Plans for larger territories and settlement groups, an effort already under way through the cooperation of the public and private sectors. However, the PSC has proven its use and merits in the sense that, since 1990 it has provided the general policy framework and development guidelines in areas where planning considerations could not previously be taken into account in the development decision-making process.

The 1972 Town and Country Planning Law does not clearly specify procedures for promoting active public participation in the planning process. However, it specifies how the public may influence the provisions of a Local Plan or Area Scheme at two stages. In the first instance, the public is involved at the plan-making stage. Stakeholders include representatives of the Local Authorities involved, government agencies and public bodies whose policies are affected by the plans under consideration, organised citizens’ groups and NGO’s with an interest in the area under study, as well as persons of special knowledge or expertise in relation to the study area. This process is essentially consultative and its main objective is to inform the Minister on opinions and suggestions in relation to a Development Plan’s current or proposed policies.

After its approval by the Planning Board, a Development Plan is published and put on deposit for the public’s inspection. Local Authorities, NGOs, or any interested body or individual may thereafter submit objections against any of the plan’s provisions. The Minister examines any objections, submits his suggestions and remarks to the Council of Ministers for considerations and decisions, and eventually publishes the Approved Development Plan, which remains in force until its following amendment. Through these processes, in many instances local ad hoc pressure groups and NGOs have raised issues and questions, which directly relate to spatial planning policy. Political pressure has thus had considerable effects on the implementation of several provisions of published Development Plans.

The Department of Town Planning and Housing is a Government department under the Ministry of the Interior; its main scope of operation concerns urban and spatial planning, while an important part of its mission is the implementation of the 1972 Town and Country Planning Law. The Department is made up of three major Sections, those of Housing, Planning and Development Control. The Housing Section undertakes the planning, design, construction and management of public housing, at present almost exclusively serving refugees displaced by the 1974 Turkish invasion.

The Development Control Section functions as the higher central Planning Authority of the country; it includes the Sectors of Plan Implementation and Planning Enforcement, and provides the administrative umbrella for five of the nation's nine independent Local Planning Authorities (District Offices). Competent Planning Authorities are responsible for granting planning permissions, ensuring the rational location of various types of development, prohibiting the implementation of development projects which are deemed detrimental to accepted qualities and norms, monitoring conformance to standards and regulations prescribed by the planning system and the conditions laid in the permissions granted, and enforcing their implementation in cases of non-compliance.

The Planning Section consists of various policy and project-oriented Sectors, such as those of Regional and Transportation Planning. Development Plans prepared by this Section contain a broad range of urban policy measures and provisions, which refer to land use, development types, infrastructure networks, development standards, quantitative limitations and development intensities. In addition, the Department includes the Sector of Preservation and the Sector of Planning Schemes, as well as supporting administration, while it also provides personnel and advice to the Nicosia Master Plan, a bi-communal ground breaking institution involving both the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities of the divided capital.

There are two types of local authorities; Communities are the local structure for rural settlements of less than 5,000 inhabitants, while Municipalities cover towns and larger settlements, mostly in urban areas. The nine municipalities under Turkish military occupation since 1974 continue maintain their legal status, although their Mayors and Councils have temporarily been displaced to the government-controlled area, as have the great majority of their constituents.

According to the provisions of the Municipalities legislation, directly elected Mayors act as executive authorities, while Municipal Councils function as the local policy-making bodies, with responsibilities including street construction, maintenance and lighting, waste collection, disposal and treatment, the provision of public open spaces, the protection and improvement of the environment and public health, along with additional activities in social services, education, the arts and sport. Moreover, larger municipalities have been delegated as competent Planning Authorities, responsible for granting planning permissions, ensuring the sustainable distribution of land uses, prohibiting the implementation of projects detrimental to public welfare and quality of life, monitoring conformance to planning system standards and conditions laid in granted permissions, and enforcing their implementation in cases of non-compliance.

The Union of Cyprus Municipalities was established in 1981 bringing together in a voluntary association all 33 municipalities of the Republic. Its main objectives include presenting urban issues and developing local government autonomy, whereas its decision-making power is vested in its General Assembly, the decisions of which are implemented by an Executive Committee.

During the past decade, the efficacy of the planning system has been monitored very closely to determine the need for the introduction of any modifications. As a result, it has been demonstrated that there is a need to re-evaluate the scope for the preparation of the Island Plan, according to the provisions of the planning legislation. Indeed, the void at the high end of the Development Plan hierarchy affects the relevance of spatial policy in general and all subordinate plans in particular, both directly and adversely, as well as the validity of social and economic projections upon which Local Plans are based. The scope, nature and contents of the Island Plan should, therefore, be re-evaluated, in order to define a type of regional plan, which will accommodate current and future spatial planning needs, as well as become an instrument for bridging regional disparities in terms of development and employment opportunities, infrastructure and provision of services.

At a more specifically technical level concerning the monitoring of policy results, the Department of Town Planning and Housing is the beneficiary of a new EU LIFE Project, under the acronym URBANGUARD, through which work is currently under way on capacity building for the incorporation of urban sustainability parameters in spatial planning policy through the use of indicators.

To promote the sustainability of urban policy, Local Plans are currently being enriched and strengthened through the introduction of more detailed provisions that specify the manner of implementation of their strategies and policies. Phasing and investment programmes are indispensable tools for promoting sustainability and enabling the implementation of policy measures according to the provisions of published Local Plans. Their scope is, therefore, being widened beyond the control of development initiatives by the private sector, linking urban policy to the Annual Development Budget through the implementation of Planning Schemes and the provision of various types of incentives.

In addition, planning and development control procedures allowing for and encouraging more effective and meaningful public participation are being elaborated. To achieve this, planning agencies must work towards the enrichment of the general public’s planning perception and further promote awareness and information dissemination. Moreover, the strengthening of existing enforcement procedures and mechanisms, as well as the reallocation and redistribution of planning competencies between Central Government and Local Authorities are all issues under examination and evaluation, with the scope of achieving a more sustainable spatial planning system. Finally, with the implementation of the European acquis over the recent years, priority has been given to the introduction of more stringent environmental considerations into urban policy. This process is currently being incorporated within all Development Plans.