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The Quality of Urban Life and Neighborhood Satisfaction in Famagusta, Northern Cyprus

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Investigating Quality of Urban Life

Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series ((SINS,volume 45))

Abstract

During the last few decades, people’s perceptions of their residential environments and their quality of urban life (QOUL) have been important topics for urban researchers. The Famagusta Area Study (FAS) follows this tradition by using face-to-face interviews with permanent residents and university students in this city in Northern Cyprus. As part of FAS, subjective measures covering aspects of urban life were compiled. Respondents in nearly 400 households located in eight Famagusta neighborhoods were interviewed in the summer and fall of 2007. The chapter first provides an overview of Famagusta and then reviews the methodology used to carry out the research. Next, selected findings covering overall QOUL, neighborhood satisfaction, the assessment of neighborhood attributes, and other community issues are presented. Finally, the uses of the findings for policy, planning, and design are discussed, along with opportunities for further analysis of the data.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Famagusta Study, titled “Measuring the Quality of Community Life in Gazimagusa” and directed by the first author, is one of the partner cities included in the International Program of Research on Quality of Life coordinated at the University of Michigan, USA, under the coordination of Robert Marans. The study was funded by the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) for the period of September 2007–May 2008 and is placed under the auspices of the Urban Research & Development Center of Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU).

  2. 2.

    A preliminary study by the authors has proved the existence of these differences across the neighborhoods (Oktay et al. 2009).

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Correspondence to Derya Oktay .

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Oktay, D., Rustemli, A. (2011). The Quality of Urban Life and Neighborhood Satisfaction in Famagusta, Northern Cyprus. In: Marans, R., Stimson, R. (eds) Investigating Quality of Urban Life. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 45. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1742-8_10

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