If your favorite nostalgic hangout is Estoril, or if you like to contemplate the morning bustle of the city over a coffee and newspaper at Cafe Riche, or if you enjoy drawing on a shisha in one of the boursa’s many outdoor cafés, your Downtown experience may be about to be significantly enhanced.

The good news for those who wander among such places is that, if the government’s plans come to fruition, Downtown will become greener, less congested and more pedestrian friendly. But for those who are used to getting from door to door in the comfort of their own vehicles, the environment may seem more hostile. The Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development, is working on turning Downtown into a historical tourist area — and the first step is to implement a ban on cars.

Cairo drivers are used to having it all their own way with the ability to go everywhere and anywhere they please, but the government is trying to imitate historical pedestrian areas in European capitals as a means of restoring the city’s lost glory.

Even for those who are freshly acquainted with Cairo’s congested heart, it’s impossible not to feel that Downtown lives in the 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 the early part of the twentieth century, the area was home to lavish socialite parties, and its cafes bustled with intellectuals, most of whom fled in the aftermath of the 1952 Revolution.

“All the good cinemas, restaurants, and cafeterias were there,” says Hanan Elkhashab, a 66-year-old housewife living in Mohandiseen who recalls the social importance of Downtown in the sixties. “Now the new generation prefers going out in places like Mohandiseen and Zamalek. Back in the day, Zamalek was only residential.”

(Mohsen Allam/Egypt Today) With every building skirted by cars, Downtown is no longer a pleasant place to go fo a stroll.

There has even been an exodus of some of the more modern Downtown institutions. The American University in Cairo has started selling off some its prestigious Tahrir campus as almost all of their operations have moved to their New Cairo site. Most of the Egyptian Museum’s crowd-pleasing exhibits are slated to move to new homes on the Giza plateau and in Fustat. Even the notorious Mugamma may have some of its offices relocated in a plan to decentralize government operations.

But in October 2009, in a move welcomed by enthusiasts who have long been calling for the restoration of Downtown’s lost glory, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif asked the General Organization for Physical Planning (GOPP), part of the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development, to come up with a plan and a vision to renovate Downtown Cairo. Termed Khedival Cairo by the GOPP and urban planners, the area from Tahrir Square in the south to Ramses station in the north, Abdeen in the east to the Nile in the west is slated for a long and concerted upheaval.

“We picked up 10 of the biggest international firms with past experience in developing historical areas around the world and sent them a letter of intent to see if they are interested in working with us,” says Assem Elgazar, head of the CEO’s technical office at the GOPP. “We also prepared [with the help of] urban planning, traffic and urban harmony experts, a list of requirements and criteria that we hope the firms meet.”

These requirements and criteria include pedestrianizing the area at the same time as building garages and parking spaces all around the borders, from which people can then walk or catch public transport into the center. It also includes landscaping and the establishment of outdoor restaurants and coffee shops. The GOPP expects to start reviewing bids this month.

According to Elgazar, the GOPP will be working to develop the area into a vital tourist attraction, highlighting the architectural identity. The goal is to turn the area into a historical district where one can appreciate the stories behind the buildings without the hassle of crowds and traffic. “We want to do what many other cities in the world [have done], where the historical center of the city is pedestrian-friendly,” he says.

Mohsen Allam Grand architecture, now fallen into disrepair, once drew people Downtown.

People with physical disabilities would still be able to enjoy the area, as plans also include tracks for electric cars.

“This option will only exist for emergency and recreational activities, not as a means of commuting because we don’t want to encourage unwanted activities to be in the heart of the city,” says Elgazar. The plans will also include access for police cars, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles.

While the majority of visitors and residents will benefit from the proposed changes, the possibility car ban has some of the district’s business owners worried, under the impression that less traffic will translate to less business.

In a city where an efficient metro system is regularly disregarded because of its social stigma, as are the more chaotic microbus and bus services, and where cycling in rush hour traffic is tantamount to suicide, the concept of Downtown Cairo without cars is unfathomable to many residents. Environmentalists are excited about the project, which they say will serve as a poignant reminder of the negative impact cars have on the environment.

Omnia Amr, head of Eco-Options Egypt, an environmental NGO, acknowledges that the environment won’t necessarily be saved by making Downtown a pedestrian area as the total number of cars won’t actually be reduced, however, she notes, “People might reconsider the metro system, which takes you to several places in Downtown and walking will be a must. That will give Downtown, currently a pollution hot spot, a relief. Perhaps a couple more trees, and Downtown might actually be a nice spot for walking.”

Elgazar also stresses the environmental importance of the project. “Our ultimate ambition, that we want to not just apply over Downtown but all of Cairo, is the ‘park and ride’ concept. We want to improve the quality of public transportation to encourage people to park their car [at the station] and then take public transport [such as the metro or train] for the rest of their journey.”

Amr, who studied at the AUC’s Downtown campus for four years, says that she never once bothered to walk around and discover the aging beauties that line the streets of Cairo. She says that removing cars from the scene might serve as a catalyst to get people wandering around and observing more closely.

“I only found out how beautiful the architecture in downtown Cairo is after my office moved to Sherif street and my carpooling buddy and I parked a couple of blocks down,” she admits. “Looking up, we’d be fascinated and compare observations; looking down, it’s the same old congested streets of Cairo.”

Amr has been driving what she calls a gas-guzzling 4x4 for three years in Cairo. She then tried the metro system and found it very convenient to where she works and lives. The only difficulty, she says, is the overcrowding, so she has to plan her trips based on the peak hours. “I also plan my driving trips based on traffic, so it’s really no different, but I feel pretty damn good when I take the metro and am not proud of my 4x4 anymore.”

Successful implementation of any pedestrianization project is linked to the completion of a handful of multi-story underground garages. If Downtown is to become a car-free zone, there must be enough areas surrounding its borders to accommodate all the vehicles that wouldn’t be allowed in the area. A 26,000-square-meter underground multi-story garage is currently being built in Tahrir Square to accommodate 2,500 cars and is scheduled to open in 2011. “We will also do our best to make sure there are as many parking spots as possible to make it easy for people to get to their destination without having to walk for long,” says Elgazar.

Elgazar insists the current commercial activities will stay untouched but that they won’t encourage types of businesses that won’t support the new atmosphere. “Commercial activities have the complete freedom to stay in Downtown, but it has to be according to the new rules of the area.” he says. et