Abstract—For a long time as a result of accommodating car traffic, planning ideologies in the past put a low priority on public space, pedestrianism and the role of city space as a meeting place for urban dwellers. In addition, according to authors such as Jan Gehl, market forces and changing architectural perceptions began to shift the focus of planning practice from the integration of public space in various pockets around the contemporary city to individual buildings. Eventually, these buildings have become increasingly more isolated and introverted and have turned their backs to the realm of the public space adjoining them. As a result of this practice, the traditional function of public space as a social forum for city dwellers has in many cases been reduced or even phased out. Author Jane Jacobs published her seminal book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” more than fifty years ago, but her observations and predictions at the time still ring true today, where she pointed out how the dramatic increase in car traffic and its accommodation by the urban planning ideology that was brought about by the Modern movement has prompted a separation of the uses of the city. At the same time it emphasizes free standing buildings that threaten urban space and city life and result in underutilized and lifeless urban cores. In this discussion context, the aim of this paper is to showcase a reversal of just such a situation in the case of the Dasoupolis neighborhood in Strovolos, Cyprus, where enlightened urban design practice has see the reclamation of pedestrian space in a car dominated area. Keywords—Urban Design, Public Space, Right to the City, Accessibility, Mobility I. INTRODUCTION ANE Jacobs described the qualities of living in lively cities as seen from her outlook in Greenwich Village in New York City, where she lived and she observed that cities were no longer being built as agglomerations of city space and buildings, but as individual buildings [1]. Similarly, Jan Gehl notes that shortly after the millennium, the majority of the global population became urban rather than rural and urban growth will continue to accelerate in the years ahead, so greater focus on the needs of the people who use cities must be a key goal for the future. It is equally important to strengthen the social function of city space as a meeting place that addresses the goals of physical as well as social sustainability. Richard Rogers in his forward to Jan Gehl’s latest edition of “Cities for People” is in agreement with that view. He views cities as the places where people meet to socialize and to relax, to exchange ideas and to be creative, to work and to trade. In this view, a city’s’ public domain is seen as a catalyst for such pastimes and activities [2]. The concept of a compact city, which sees the integration of transit oriented development with public transport, walking and cycling emerges as a viable and socioeconomically and environmentally sustainable city form. Andreas L. Savvides is with AIA AICP LEED® AP Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture University of Cyprus, PO Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia Tel: +357-22892967 | Fax: +357-22660834 | als@ucy.ac.cy However, for population densities to increase and for walking and cycling to be widespread, a city must increase the quantity and quality of its public spaces and to provide the structure that enables cities to come to life and to encourage and accommodate diverse activities, from the quiet and contemplative to the noisy and busy, while all the time respecting human scale, health and safety. Moreover, everyone should have the right to easily accessible open spaces and well designed neighborhoods that inspire people to live in them [2], while poorly designed cities are a great disservice to their inhabitants. II. ASPECTS OF COMMUNAL LIFE AND LEISURE In all communal life there is a dynamic between public and private activities. Although the public-private balance is unique to each culture, it will shift under the influence of cultural exchange, technology, changing political and economic systems prevalent at t the time [3]. Early in the 18th century, Canaletto’s pictures of Venice portray spaces filled with life, with energy and with a sense of enjoyment of spending time in this public setting. This panoramic view conveys a picture of public life in this space of Venice, one in which everyone seems to have a place with ample room to engage in the varied activities that are captured by the artist. It is the public life that enriches the scene as well as the beautiful space in which it takes place. ” Public life enables the transmission of important public messages for people, some of them the symbolic messages of the power of the state or their own power, others, according to Whyte, the news of the local area [4]. In the nineteenth century, influenced by European planning principles – in the case of Cyprus it was British colonial practices regarding town planning – led to the appearance of public parks in order to bring more congenial settings to people confined in growing cities. Even later, emphasis was placed on play settings for the children followed by the spread of small sports parks and playing grounds to serve the growing recreational needs at the scale of the neighborhood. In the new world this kind of group life was found in the barn-raising and house-building activities that were seen as public responsibilities of a community, as well as in the formation of marketplaces to sell produce and products [5], merging with the activities of the commons. III. 20 TH CENTURY INVITATION TO CAR TRAFFIC In the 20th century the way cities are planned and developed kept pace with burgeoning urban growth and city development was turned over to modernist ideologies, which began to replace tradition as the basis for development. Modernism introduced a vision of the city as a machine and planning professionals with traffic planners leading the way tried to ensure the best conditions for managing car traffic [6]. Andreas L. Savvides Reclaiming Pedestrian Space from Car Dominated Neighborhoods J World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Vol:6, No:7, 2012 1744 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 6(7) 2012 scholar.waset.org/1307-6892/12103 International Science Index, Humanities and Social Sciences Vol:6, No:7, 2012 waset.org/Publication/12103