Every day, over 27,000 cars pass through the narrow streets of the Old City of Syria’s capital, an area only 1,500 meters by 800 meters. But as of April 1st, this traffic flow will be drastically reduced. From then on, only residents of the Old City, along with service vehicles will be allowed to drive there. Residents will be issued parking permits zoned according to where they live.

Parking for all other vehicles will be facilitated outside the Old City walls, where five parking lots – in Sofamiyeh, Bab Tuma, Dar al-Salam, Hariqueh, and on Amin Street – will be dedicated to that purpose. Instead of conventional taxis, fifty to seventy electric cars will be available for hire, and twenty electric trams will run regular routes through the city’s main thoroughfares. Light-weight delivery vehicles will be able to enter from 6 to 10am, and garbage will be collected three times daily.

Some of the project’s finer details have yet to be worked out, and some goals are further from reality than others. The fares for the new taxis have not yet been set. And for now, flat parking lots are provisional substitutes for the smart parking garages envisioned in the future. But the overall direction is clear.

“A clean Old City, an environmentally friendly Old City, for tourists,” says Amjad Alrez firmly. An architect with the Directorate of Old Damascus, Alrez is hopeful that by using the latest technologies, the Old City can become a cultural site on par with the most famous shopping districts in Europe. “This is the oldest city in the world,” he says proudly. “We want to preserve it, but with new technology. To make it convenient, so it’s fantastic to be in the old town.”

Zuheir al-Bunni, the Municipal Administration Modernization’s coordinator in the Old City, seconds this strategy. “We’ll give tourists more space to discover the city in a comfortable way,” he says. “Because those coming to such a small city are not interested in riding in a car for one and a half kilometers. You can discover it for yourself!”

But could the reduced flow of car traffic also reduce the flow of visitors, cutting into local profits? “On the contrary, there will be more people walking here,” the manager of a local restaurant exclaims. “Especially tourists.” The windows of his restaurant overlook Straight Street, and he complains that the streets, “are very narrow, and there are always traffic jams. So it’s a good law to pass.”

His response echoes that of many other business people in the Old City who are awaiting the change with a mixture of proud optimism and relief. “It will affect our business in a positive way,” says the manager of a hip nightspot near al-Qishle. “Because the area will be more accessible for everyone, and it will be more beautiful to walk around without cars, which will bring more tourists to the streets. So I’m with the car ban.”

Khaled, the manager of Qamar al-Sham, a restaurant near Bab Tuma, agrees. “We’re not afraid,” he says, “because we have parking outside [the city].” And, he adds, “anything that makes our guests happy, we want to do.”

The residents of the Old City are also happy to finally – hopefully – be able to park near their own houses. Currently, one older resident says, “most people park outside [the Old City]. Because we have many restaurants, and all their customers want to park here also. There’s much too much traffic Thursday through Sunday. So it’s a good idea,” he concludes, “to give priority to the residents, because many of them have been living here for fifty or sixty years.”

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