Residents of Cairo’s affluent district of Heliopolis have recently succeeded in stopping at the last minute the construction of a bridge in the heart of the neighborhood that in the eyes of its residents would have threatened its main heritage area. The project was part of the Egyptian authorities' ongoing plans to develop the capital's infrastructure with the aim of solving its increasing traffic problems and improving the connection with surrounding cities.
The new bridge in Heliopolis would have stretched 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) across the neighborhood’s largest and oldest heritage sites, according to the Heliopolis Heritage Initiative, a civil initiative aiming to protect and revive the district’s quality of life that led efforts in stopping the construction of the bridge. The bridge would have run across the most important square in Heliopolis, where its famous 108-year Basilica is located, several buildings of historical importance and Ittihadiya Palace.
