The urbanism of Cyprus water system

The grand narratives of urbanism leave little space for everyday histories, as well as for the technological networks that are constitutive parts of it. The hidden space of infrastructures operating at a heterogeneous scale, from environment to bodies, is urbanism and radical architecture made of pipes, which interscalar design allows and constructs our daily routines and rituals. This social subconscious, mostly sunken underground, is the parasitic twin of the built environment, whose image and singularity is due to a sophisticated parametricism. Pipes are not a technical problem, to be automatically shorted out, but urbanism in which politics, science, ethics and aesthetics are assembled. They affect numerous entities, each one operating in different spaces, with diverse evolutions, interests and materiality. Given the vital nature and ubiquitous presence in all forms of life of water, the focus of this work will be on the water infrastructure as an emblematic example. Water is essential for all social, economic and urban development, as well as for maintaining healthy ecosystems. As the worldwide population grows, our ability to meet the rising demand for water will be challenged, especially when compounded by profligate use. Furthermore, with greater climate variability comes flooding and droughts, which places additional pressure on our ability to manage our water resources. Water scarcity may be defined when water resources do not fully satisfy water demand or minimum requirements by all sectors. Climatic conditions, the degradation of groundwater and surface water quality, interregional and international conflicts may all contribute to water scarcity. This is not just a third world problem and in this respect, the focus of this work will be on the small Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, which can be considered as a microcosm example of dealing with water scarcity in Europe and used to highlight pre-cursers to problems that might be echoed in larger cities and regions across the globe in the future. The fact that large portion of the island is occupied by Turkey, again shows how Cyprus can form an excellent test bed for integrated policy and planning scenarios, above all after that the 80 km Turkish pipeline project that was completed the October 2015. Cyprus suffers from the highest water stress level in Europe, particularly in years of excessive drought. Thus, the issue of water shortage is a key aspect of life in Cyprus where limited supply, urban spread and population growth are all relevant producing an urgent need to control its dependence on precipitation. In the 1980s, US government intelligence estimated ten places where water wars could break out, with Cyprus being listed amongst those countries. Water scarcity is a severe issue for both the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities and any joint action may be a means to tackling the continuing political division of the island. The aim of this research is to study the relation between water and sanitation system and the planning discipline, specifically this work will be focused on how the the management of this infrastructure and its design affect the urban, social and politic development of the island. The whole island is here analysed and described from the water perspective, comparing, when it is possible, the different water system of the Republic of Cyprus and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This constitute the backbone for the creation of two scenarios, that take into account the water growing demand ratio for the next future (from 267 MCM in 2000 to 315 MCM in 2020, that corresponds to a compounded annual increase of 0.8%.). The first scenario will consider the island divided, with two autonomous water system that work separately, the second scenario will consider the island as a single system, recognizing its territories not according to the existing administrative borders. Both scenarios will show how a different management development and planning of the water infrastructure generates transformation on the environment, associating the chosen water system and the dimension of its pipes with the urban development that it generates on the surface. scale, from environment to bodies, is urbanism and radical architecture made of pipes, which interscalar design allows and constructs our daily routines and rituals. This social subconscious, mostly sunken underground, is the parasitic twin of the built environment, whose image and singularity is due to a sophisticated parametricism. Pipes are not a technical problem, to be automatically shorted out, but urbanism in which politics, science, ethics and aesthetics are assembled. They affect numerous entities, each one operating in different spaces, with diverse evolutions, interests and materiality. Given the vital nature and ubiquitous presence in all forms of life of water, the focus of this work will be on the water infrastructure as an emblematic example. Water is essential for all social, economic and urban development, as well as for maintaining healthy ecosystems. As the worldwide population grows, our ability to meet the rising demand for water will be challenged, especially when compounded by profligate use. Furthermore, with greater climate variability comes flooding and droughts, which places additional pressure on our ability to manage our water resources. Water scarcity may be defined when water resources do not fully satisfy water demand or minimum requirements by all sectors. Climatic conditions, the degradation of groundwater and surface water quality, interregional and international conflicts may all contribute to water scarcity. This is not just a third world problem and in this respect, the focus of this work will be on the small Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, which can be considered as a microcosm example of dealing with water scarcity in Europe and used to highlight pre-cursers to problems that might be echoed in larger cities and regions across the globe in the future. The fact that large portion of the island is occupied by Turkey, again shows how Cyprus can form an excellent test bed for integrated policy and planning scenarios, above all after that the 80 km Turkish pipeline project that was completed the October 2015. Cyprus suffers from the highest water stress level in Europe, particularly in years of excessive drought. Thus, the issue of water shortage is a key aspect of life in Cyprus where limited supply, urban spread and population growth are all relevant producing an urgent need to control its dependence on precipitation. In the 1980s, US government intelligence estimated ten places where water wars could break out, with Cyprus being listed amongst those countries. Water scarcity is a severe issue for both the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities and any joint action may be a means to tackling the continuing political division of the island. The aim of this research is to study the relation between water and sanitation system and the planning discipline, specifically this work will be focused on how the the management of this infrastructure and its design affect the urban, social and politic development of the island. The approach to water issues and specifically the scientific literature that deals with water access and flow, generally have an engineering and economic approach (how to solve the problem, with what resources). At the same time, the impact that those choices have on the physical shape of the city, and the relation between planning and management of the infrastructure and the development of the urban systems, are topics that are not deepen in the academic literature of urban and city planning, environmental studies, infrastructural planning. “Architects and urbanists have neglected networked infrastructure, because they focused on the designed spaces within building envelopes, rather than the networked infrastructures that knit buildings together, binding and configuring the broader spaces of metropolitan life” The whole island is here analysed and described from the water perspective, comparing, when it is possible, the different water system of the Republic of Cyprus and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This constitute the backbone for the creation of two scenarios, that take into account the water growing demand ratio for the next future (from 267 MCM in 2000 to 315 MCM in 2020, that corresponds to a compounded annual increase of 0.8%.). The first scenario will consider the island divided, with two autonomous water system that work separately, the second scenario will consider the island as a single system, recognizing its territories not according to the existing administrative borders. Both scenarios will show how a different management development and planning of the water infrastructure generates transformation on the environment, associating the chosen water system and the dimension of its pipes with the urban development that it generates on the surface.