 
PROJECT PARTLY FUNDED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
LIFE PROGRAMME – Third Countries
The use of spatial sustainability indicators can play a key role in assisting planners and other planning process stakeholders to evaluate urban development issues and promote the enforcement of sustainable spatial policies in Cyprus. Moreover, Development Plans implemented according to the national planning system will in this way be more efficiently and effectively monitored, while decision-makers will be enabled to reject unsubstantiated and short-sighted demands, often based on speculation and the drive for personal gain rather than the quest of long-term sustainability and the benefit of society in general, through concrete and substantiated criteria based on urban sustainability factors.
URBANGUARD aimed to facilitate the incorporation of urban sustainability indicators into the spatial planning process in Cyprus. As a first step, appropriate sustainability indicators were selected and the mutual agreement of competent government services, local authorities and special interest organisations was secured for their successful implementation. The process continued through the creation of the necessary capabilities and system tools for the monitoring and reporting of these indicators, as well as their application within the urban policy decision-making process. The project also promoted environmental reporting as required by the EU through the implementation of the Sixth Environment Action Programme.
The URBANGUARD indicators will mainly be used by planners and authorities responsible for preparing and reviewing Development Plans, by local administrators, stakeholder organisations and other special interest groups making suggestions for plan reviews, as well as by the wider public when filing objections against published Development Plans. This will inevitably improve the tools that enable a more productive form of public participation and a higher level of governance, through which decision-makers can be held responsible for their choices.
The scope of the project: 
Project Summary: 
The URBANGUARD brochure:
Layman´s Report: 
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