Radical solutions, including relocating Solomou Square (as a bus terminal), banning all vehicles on Makariou Avenue at weekends, and scheduling cultural and business activities that increase flow and visitor stays, are among the proposals ETEK is putting forward to improve the situation in Nicosia’s walled city.
ETEK further recommends revising and updating the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan based on current data, incorporating these and other proposals into a regulatory plan for the city centre, updating all plans with recent studies and completing the strategy before major decisions are taken.
ETEK president Constantinos Constantis is expected to present these positions during a presentation of results from a preceding workshop that examined actions aimed at accelerating the strengthening, visitor numbers and commercial activity of Nicosia’s urban centre, with respect for sustainable development principles.
Idle property tax and fast-track permits
The ETEK president will also recommend the following:
An idle property tax in the centre with reinvestment of revenues in revitalisation interventions; fast-track licensing for change of use and small interventions, with standards for listed buildings; strengthening and simplification of Area Plan planning incentives, so rules are clear and applicable; and a branding and marketing mechanism for a unified image, targeted campaigns and a “red carpet” for small and medium-scale investments.
Constantis is also expected to propose the adoption of actions that emerged from the workshop, completion of connections and the green spine, holistic planning, transparent and participatory processes, green design with microclimate considerations, quality in design, activation of idle stock with incentives and disincentives, and a permanent mechanism for monitoring progress.
Based on this approach, according to ETEK, Makariou Avenue ceases to be a field of confrontation and becomes part of an overall narrative for a city that functions daily, with quality and identity, for the resident, worker and visitor.
Workshop vision: A centre that functions daily
Regarding the workshop’s general conclusions, Constantis believes there was convergence on the following vision: creating an urban centre which functions daily, with continuity in public space, with permanent residence and mixed activity, with culture and innovation, with shade, greenery and quality infrastructure, and with processes that are fast and transparent.
Constantis will also propose the following two interventions: creating a continuous green arc in the moat and perimeter front, with plantings, shade and a network of gentle routes; and distinct connections that unite neighbourhoods and major poles for steady visitor flow and pedestrian movement.
Makariou Avenue: What was lost and what’s needed
Specifically for Makariou Avenue, the ETEK president is expected to state the following:
Makariou functioned as a turning point because it opened public dialogue about “what city do we want”—meaning, about the cohesion of public space, our relationship with the car, identity and daily life in the centre.
It forced us to see the city as a whole and not as a sum of fragmented interventions. This is the first and most valuable lesson.
What did we lose? We lost time on dilemmas (yes or no to the car) that distracted us from a complex and difficult discussion. What was not adequately implemented from the original “pilot” sustainable city undertaking? The continuity and flow of public space between neighbourhoods, the systematic repopulation of the centre, the exploitation of idle stock, the steady coordination of projects and accountability for results.
The participatory process revealed something clear: “opening” the avenue to cars, as an isolated idea, is not today part of a network of mutual support between different measures and therefore does not emerge as a priority.
Concern for Makariou is of course real and respected, which is why we propose immediately, until overall management is completed, targeted low-cost, high-benefit measures: more shade and greenery for better microclimate, urban equipment, unified hours to create a cohesive experience, targeted parking subsidy for short visits, reorganisation of inter-regional bus routes, relocation of Solomou Square as a terminal, banning all vehicles at weekends, and scheduled cultural and business activities that increase flow and stays.
Revised mobility plan needed before major decisions
All these, however, to have results, must be put into an updated plan, Constantis indicates, who also proposes:
Revision and updating of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan based on current data, incorporation of the above into a Master Plan for the centre, updating of all plans with recent studies and completion of the strategy before major decisions.
Otherwise, we risk repeating the scenario where mature ideas remain suspended—we have seen it in other cases: when project connection is missing, momentum is lost. The city needs consistency and mutual support of interventions: each project to support and be supported by a network of other projects.
The timing is extremely important. Nicosia’s upgrade was explicitly raised at the highest political level, in a recent meeting with the President of the Republic for a package of interventions in the capital.
This creates the necessary framework to move from theory to implementation with clear deadlines, financing tools and public accountability.
We want every decision to translate into tangible, measurable benefit for the citizen, and for the centre to gain continuity, identity and daily usability, the ETEK recommendation concludes.
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