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Cairo’s downtown slow revival amid efforts to restore architectural heritage

The collapse of an old building in downtown Cairo has shed light on the state of historic buildings in the area, while heritage preservation is the focus of various projects.
A policeman stands by the rubble at the scene of a building collapse along Kasr el-Nile street in the Egyptian capital Cairo's downtown district, on August 15, 2020. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

An old building in Qasr el-Nile Street, one of the main arteries that runs through downtown Cairo, the urban center of Egypt’s capital, partially collapsed Aug. 15, injuring four people. The building was not an ordinary one.

According to an Aug. 16 statement by the public prosecution, the four-story building, which housed two residential units and several stores, was built in 1941 and registered as a building of special architectural style. The prosecution noted that there had been several orders to restore the listed building in the past, the last of which dated to 1993, but all these orders had been ignored.

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