European University of Lefke (EUL) Faculty of Architecture Faculty Member Assist. Prof. Dr. Damla Mısırlısoy’s article titled “Toward sustainable adaptive reuse of traditonal marketplaces” was published in “The Historic Environment: Policy and Practice”, one of the most prestigious journals in its field.

Giving information about the publication, Mısırlısoy drew attention to the importance of preserving and reusing cultural heritage sites, which have many examples in our country and called the Municipality Market or Bandabuliya, with its local name, and emphasized that there are almost no studies on this subject. Mısırlısoy stated that many Municipal Markets (Bandabuliya) in our country are unusable, and those that are restored and reused cannot be sustained in economic, social and cultural terms.

Preservation and reuse of traditional marketplaces was addressed with a holistic approach

“The protection of traditional market areas is important in terms of representing the culture and identity of the community. These marketplaces must be maintained and adapted to the needs of today’s society; However, the authenticity of these cultural heritage areas should be preserved in the process of preservation and adaptation to reuse ”. “In the process of re-use of traditional markets, the identity of the heritage buildings and the spirit of the place should be preserved, so the proposed new function should be in accordance with the cultural heritage structure. The purpose of preservation should be to maintain both tangible and intangible values of the cultural heritage structure. Socio-cultural, physical and economic values should be evaluated with a holistic approach for the continuity of traditional markets ”.

In the study, interviews were made with users consisting of market tradesmen, visitors and tourists.

Stating that “within the scope of this study, the reuse of traditional marketplaces were questioned and important points to be taken into consideration in the decision-making process were revealed”, Mısırlısoy said that three Municipal Markets (Bandabuliya) in Northern Cyprus, Nicosia, Kyrenia and Famagusta were selected as the study area and He stated that the sustainability of these cultural heritage structures that have been reclaimed and reused is questioned. Stating that interviews are conducted with users, consisting of market tradesmen, visitors and tourists as a working method, Mısırlısoy stated that the three reused marketplaces were investigated in terms of the compatibility of new uses and interventions applied.

Stating that the “Great Market Hall” market place in Budapest, which is a successful example, was examined on-site and the factors contributing to the success of this reuse project were investigated, Mısırlısoy stated that a model was proposed to ensure the sustainable reuse of traditional marketplaces in the light of the data collected in his study added.