THE CABINET is soon expected to have a full proposal on the restoration of the old GSP area so an architectural competition can be set up.
According to Nicosia Municipality’s senior architectural officer, Agni Petridou, the proposal was prepared taking primarily into consideration the results of the recent public referendum that was posed to Nicosia residents.
The public had been asked to offer its views on how it would like the area in central Nicosia to be upgraded in a questionnaire.
The questionnaire was then evaluated by a Committee appointed by the Interior Ministry and headed by the Town-planning Department, which was joined by Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou, the Public Works Department and officials from the related departments.
“At this moment, the Interior Ministry is promoting a proposal to the Cabinet to open architectural tenders for the restoration of the GSP area,” Petridou explained.
“The municipality’s views on the matter were those that we gathered from the public,” she added.
Taking the public’s views into consideration, the ministry and municipality decided to promote the creation of a square that will include an urban park.
According to the results of the referendum, 48 per cent of citizens voted in favour of an urban park and 43 per cent voted in favour of a large square. The results also indicated that people preferred large open spaces, in contrast to indoor areas. Specifically, 70 per cent voted for open spaces and 81 per cent said they wanted only a few buildings.
Taking international standards into account, planners established that the square must have a capacity for 18,000 visitors to enable the organisation of large gatherings that cannot be housed elsewhere at present.
The square, which could feature a park, will be constructed next to the new state theatre, another upcoming project.
In addition, the plan provides for the creation of three underground parking areas at the old GSP square, providing approximately 1,500 parking spots.
The referendum had indicated that citizens are more concerned with providing easy access to pedestrians than to cars, as 75 per cent stated that they prefer the provision of easy pedestrian access, while only 19 per cent indicated that they want unobstructed movement for cars in the surrounding area.
