*2.2. Study Area*

The paper explores two case studies: the walled city of Famagusta (also known as Gazima ˘gusa, Figure 3a) and the walled city of Nicosia (also known as Lefko¸sa, Figure 3b). Both cities have rich historic tissue, a large portion of which is located within the boundaries of the historic fortifications.

**Figure 3.** The city and walled city of Famagusta (**a**); The city and walled city of Nicosia (**b**).

### 2.2.1. Famagusta

The growth of Famagusta has been influenced by a variety of social, economic, and cultural intervening factors. The conflict of 1974, which bordered a significant part of the city, and the establishment of the Eastern Mediterranean University motivated the growth of the city toward the university campus and away from the walled city [44,45]; these circumstances have left the walled city less connected to the rest of the urban grid and prone to deterioration [46]. Original regeneration strategies proposed for the historic walled city followed the traditional sustainability triad of economic, social, and environmental factors [44,47]. Nevertheless, the integration of Agenda 2030 and the SDGs has not been fully explored in these renewal processes.

### 2.2.2. Nicosia

The walled city of Nicosia, similarly, has a rich history and has evolved and expanded over time [48]. Similar to Famagusta, the city has been divided after the conflict of 1974, with the buffer zone (or green line) cutting through the middle of the historic walled city. Nevertheless, the city has a master plan that was produced by both sides after 1977 [49] and finalized in 1981 as a conjoined official document [50]. Preservation, regeneration, and rehabilitation of historic tissue were central to the development of the Nicosia master plan, taking into account the complex intricacies of the two parts' economic, political, and cultural divides [51]. According to Tsolaki et al. [52], the Nicosia master plan regards regeneration strategies aiming to achieve social, economic, and architectural objectives. Although the master plan is a great undertaking, it has some shortcomings in considering administrative, environmental, and local stakeholders.

### *2.3. Selection of Criteria/Alternatives*

The current study explores the multidimensional complexity of establishing a comprehensive practice for sustainable urban regeneration in areas with historic tissue. Accordingly, the goal of the study was to determine a more successful site in terms of "sustainable urban regeneration in historic urban quarters." The alternatives in this study refer to the two cases, the walled cities of Nicosia (northern section) and Famagusta, respectively.

Selection of the criteria and sub-criteria is often conducted by addressing the relevant body of literature and the circumstances of the sites [53]. There exist numerous approaches regarding the selection of criteria concerning the preservation and regeneration of historic environments [5,54–56]. The current study approached the topic from the main criteria for sustainable development (economic, social, and environmental); the administrative/legal dimension was added later because it has a significant contextual impact on how the other three dimensions can be realistically implemented [57,58]. The selection process of the associated sub-criteria was motivated first by the targets of SDG-11, the existing literature, and contextual circumstances of the site (see Figure 4). Each sub-criterion is corresponding to one of the targets of Goal 11. Targets 11.b and 11.c are not included due to their international scope that cannot be addressed within the scale of the current case studies.
