Cairo’s Downtown Makeover
A street in downtown Cairo, from my trip in Feb ‘09
The city has secured grant money to demolish some of the old store buildings on Commercial Street. The buildings have long been in a state of disrepair. Mayor Judson Childs says crumbling and collapsing structures are not only an eyesore, but a hazard to the public.
The city is still in the planning stages of which of those buildings will come down and when, but Mayor Childs says one thing’s for certain, Cairo’s downtown will be cleaned up.
“We’re looking for thing to resuscitate Cairo. Because Cairo is in a dying state and we want to give it a treatment here, to try to get something going,” Childs said.
The city has also attained grants to tear down some of the numerous dilapidated vacant homes throughout town. The mayor hopes by tearing down all those old buildings–Cairo can make way to re-build its business base and make strides toward progress.
When I visited Cairo in February this year I found the sidewalk traffic to be less hectic than expected. But maybe that’s because the majority of locals were hooning it up in dented hobo cars on roads without any lane markings.. I spent only a few days there so I can’t give much personal insight on the area, but I can totally imagine how wonderful the central district (where out hotel was) could be if it was to be made car-free. I’m not sure if a permanent ban would be viable, but scheduled off-limit times might really well.. A district of wide boulevards with a multitude of convival sheesha cafes, green rugs rolled out on to the footpath at prayer times, residential balconies overlooking the street, late night wanderings on well-lit paths… 
Fund manager Beltone Financial plans to raise about $80 million to invest in property in Cairo’s historic but decaying downtown, the latest initiative to revive the fortunes of the city’s commercial centre.
The funds will more than double Beltone’s investments in central Cairo, and the move comes as a state firm, the Insurance Holding Co, the biggest downtown property owner, says it wants to pedestrianise many streets that are flanked by peeling neo-baroque and art deco buildings.
“I have been asked by the (Cairo) governor to give a vision to the board, and I am going to do that next month,” he said.
“If it is accepted, then we will go right away and finance the infrastructure for a pedestrian (district),” added Abdallah, whose holding company owns 70 of the buildings in the area.
The eclectic district of neo-baroque, neo-classical and art deco buildings was laid out by city planners commissioned from France in the 1860s, at the time the Suez Canal was being excavated and when Egypt was flush with cash from a cotton boom.
I’ll be looking out for this new draft plan for remaking Cairo’s downtown area within the upcoming months then!
