Smart City and Sustainable Development in Iskele City, North Cyprus

Rapid urbanization has generated multifaceted challenges, including traffic congestion, environmental degradation, urban sprawl, and declining urban livability, thereby complicating effective city management. In response, peripheral areas surrounding city cores have seen the emergence of high-rise developments that markedly diverge in structure and appearance from the historical urban fabric. These new developments often claim to embody the principles of smart buildings and smart neighborhoods. However, the extent to which they are spatially prepared to adopt smart city strategies remains unclear. This study investigates the spatial readiness of İskele, a mid-sized city in Northern Cyprus, for smart city implementation by employing space syntax theory. It aims to identify priority zones for strategic intervention and to develop a transferable framework applicable to similar urban contexts. The research adopts a mixed-methods approach, incorporating field observations, archival research, and spatial analysis using DepthMap software. It examines the relationship between spatial integration, connectivity, and core smart city dimensions. The findings highlight the Royal Sun Residence as the most spatially integrated area, making it the most suitable candidate for initiating a pilot smart city project. This research contributes to academic discourse by proposing a replicable methodological framework for assessing spatial-smart city alignment in rapidly developing urban environments, offering practical insights for urban planners and policymakers.