The Egyptian capital is planning a makeover, turning the downtown into a pedestrian-only zone in the spirit of Europe's historic cities in order to attract tourism.
Osama Diab of Egypt Today says that downtown Cairo is a shadow of its former self:
"Created by Khedive Ismail Pasha, in the latter half of the nineteenth century to be a Nile-side imitation of Paris with wide boulevards and spacious squares, the belle époque architecture now crumbles onto sidewalks lined with gaudy, neon-lit storefronts and streets deafened by the crawling mass of honking traffic."
In 2009, Cairo's General Organization for Physical Planning (GOPP) was tasked with creating a revitalization plan. Working with urban planning and design consultants, they prepared a plan that restores the historical nature of downtown and simultaneously meets current ideas of placemaking and sustainability.
FULL STORY: Downtown Cairo's Extreme Makeover
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