This article examines the methodological particularities of micro-scale urban planning, with a focus on the distinctive features of the lowest tier of planning that continues to adhere to the fundamental stages of the planning process. To illustrate these features, I draw on examples from a micro-scale urban plan prepared for the town center of Pafos, a Mediterranean coastal town in Cyprus. While grounded in the core stages of the planning process, micro-scale urban plans operate within institutional, spatial, and participatory contexts that demand significant methodological adaptations. This article focuses on three such adaptations: (a) the complexity involved in delineating the study/intervention area; (b) the shift from top-down to bottom-up approaches in formulating the intervention’s aims; and (c) the application of an evidence-based framework for monitoring the plan’s performance. Drawing on the Pafos plan, the article argues that although micro-scale plans are often overshadowed by statutory land-use plans, they constitute a distinct and underexplored methodological domain. Ultimately, the article contributes to the refinement of planning methodology by advocating for intermediary approaches that can enrich both local and broader spatial planning practices.
Ioannis Pissourios (Tue,) studied this question.