by Demetris M. Demetriou
Nicosia has structural issues. Where other cities have the sea, Nicosia has the Green Line. By its very nature, its development, and even the daily relief of its traffic, does not unfold in any smooth or natural way. It bears, unfortunately, the burden of being Europe's last divided capital, confined both by fact and by geography. And I’m not referring solely to issues of development, but also to matters affecting daily life and residents' quality of life.
Nicosia also faces a temperament issue. It lacks local pride, from both its residents and its politicians. I’m not saying we don’t love our city. But we don’t fight hard enough for it. Certainly not with the determination, passion, or urgency shown by the residents, local authorities, and MPs of the other districts. And while Nicosia is the capital, by far the most populous city in Cyprus, its voice goes unheard. The result? It ends up the neglected relative.
Take, for example, the recent announcements by the President of the Republic. In both quantity and substance, they fall short of what Nicosia’s size and population warrant. Or look at the case of AXIK. It had been based in Nicosia for decades, but Paphos, Larnaca, and the Free Famagusta area were all clamoring for it. We all know how that ended, AXIK moved to Paphos. And not one of us stood up to defend its remaining in Nicosia. This wasn’t some isolated incident.
But let’s talk about today and what we can do for our city in the coming years. The greatest challenge is traffic. We are teetering on the edge of gridlock, a point where even short trips become unpredictable in terms of time. We need to be bold. And we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We simply need to implement what has already been planned and filed away in drawers. The Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, the well-known ΣΒΑΚ, was drafted in 2011 and recently updated. Very little of it has been realized, mostly by the Municipality of Nicosia. Which is why none of it really makes sense.
To implement it, two ingredients are essential: political will and funding. As of now, we remain unconvinced of the former. The latter is a matter of proper prioritization. But persistence and patience are also needed. Tackling traffic means creating alternatives so we can get out of our cars. We’ll need to withstand public backlash when, for instance, bus lanes are created or when infrastructure for a tram system is built.
Of course, Nicosia needs much more. It must remain the country’s business hub. It must continue to grow, but in an orderly and transparent way. And above all, we Nicosians must stop resting on the laurels of being the capital. We need to love our city a bit more. We need to become a little more localist, a little more demanding on its behalf.
We must insist on living in a sustainable city, a walkable city, not one turned into an endless boulevard with no neighborhoods. We must protect the green spaces we've inherited and demand new ones. We must understand that if we don’t become active participants, we will remain a capital in name only.
And we must always keep in mind: our benchmark should not be the other cities of Cyprus, but the other capitals of Europe. Otherwise, we will become, and officially so, the neglected relative in decline.
Demetris M. Demetriou is an MP for Nicosia with the Democratic Rally and Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Institutions.
*This opinion was translated from its Greek original.
