Follow Cyprus property investment immigration and life in Cyprus: The town of Famagusta, Cyprus, is set to be transformed into a brand-new "eco-city."
Famagusta was once a tourist destination famous for its art. However, its glory faded after the Turkish invasion in 1974. Today, the place has essentially become a "ghost town" surrounded by barbed wire and infested with insects.
Vasia Markides, a New Yorker whose mother spent her childhood in Famagusta, wants to transform this "blind spot" into an eco-city. She believes this would not only mean that the Greek and Turkish communities could reconcile, but it would also create a model for a healthy ecological environment in the Mediterranean region.
Currently, Markides is working with her partner, Armando Garma-Fernandez, to produce a promotional short film. Architecture professor Jan Wampler and several of his students are also preparing to travel to Cyprus for an inspection and have already developed five proposals for the reconstruction of the city.