Pedestrian project for SAAD ZAGHLOUL square

Small Urban Restoration Projects:

The Biennial program included a Small Urban restoration project: Urban Redevelopment and Heritage Conservation of Elraml Station historic district-Alexandria, in cooperation with the Physical Planning and urban development sector of Alexandria Governorate.

Abstruct:

Elraml Station historic district is considered the heart of Alexandria and it is one of the most vital areas. The objective of the current urban redevelopment is to revive the historic district, organize traffic, make pedestrians enjoy circulation and preserve the architectural character of the area. The historic district is currently suffering several issues which are negatively affecting its unique character. These include the current over traffic caused by public buses in congestion with the city tram, private vehicles and pedestrians. The presence of current street car parking in addition to car parking in Saad Zaghloul square impedes pedestrians’ movement. The existence of fences around Saad Zaghloul Square creates an unwelcoming atmosphere. The presence of advertisements, banners, screens as well as irregular signs distort the historic district character. Furthermore, it suffers from the poor condition of Saad Zaghloul Square and the absence of pedestrians’ amenities.

Therefore, several proposals are found necessary to redevelop and preserve this unique heritage district through the following:

• Provision of an underground multi-story car parking within Saad Zaghloul Square Park, with an entrance and an exit from the Corniche Street while preserving the design square.
• Pedestrianization promotion and provision of Saad Zaghloul Square Park with needed pedestrian amenities, removing fences and creating an interactive atmosphere in addition to the prohibition of traffic while maintaining the tram circulation within this area.
• Connecting the proposed underground car parking with the tunnel currently located below the tram station to facilitate pedestrians’ movement to other locations.
• Transfer of public transport buses outside this zone and the use of St. Catherine’s garage in Elmanshyeh as an alternative location.
• The need to redesign the island present in the extension of Safia Zaghloul Street till the Corniche Street to be compatible with the historic district character.
• Redesign incompatible buildings to match the historic character of the area.
• Restoration of registered heritage buildings facades.
• Compliance with the requirements and standards of National Organization of Urban Harmony.
• Release of effective historic buildings and historic open spaces legislations requirements and codes to preserve Egyptian historic districts.

The participants:

 Dalia Alsurdy, Sahar Alsharaky, Noha Abd ALatif, Hend Moustafa, Dalia Alsaid