A comprehensive plan to revive and restore the old markets of Aleppo

Aleppo (ST) : For the first time since the liberation of the city of Aleppo and its surroundings from terrorism, representatives of the city’s residents met to discuss ways to restore life to the markets of their old city, which the war forced to close during the past years as a result of the destruction and vandalism that affected them.

The move that brought together historians, experts, specialists and parliamentarians from Aleppo, merchants, industrialists, artisans, civil associations, representatives of the relevant official institutions, international organizations and agencies and microfinance institutions, was organized by Aleppo Governorate and the Syrian Trust for Development as a comprehensive workshop in the old city to discuss the strategy of reviving the old Aleppo markets and its entrances and restoring life to them.

The three-day workshop discusses in detail the organizational framework for reviving the old city and all its entrances, aspects related to housing and social development in those markets, how to preserve buildings, the issue of traffic and transportation in them, and aspects related to economic development and infrastructure rehabilitation according to standards of restoration and reconstruction, which together constitute a controlled strategy that guarantees access to a complete revival of the Aleppo markets.

The first day of the workshop discussed a detailed document that includes the organizational framework for reviving the Straight Street and all its entrances in the old city of Aleppo, in addition to how to preserve the old and archaeological buildings and rehabilitate the infrastructure according to the standards of restoration and reconstruction.

Hussein Diyab, Governor of Aleppo, stressed in his speech that the old city cannot recover without the rich participation of the entire Aleppo community. Work must be distinguished by the efforts that are united to build the country with great hope and sincerely to restore and rehabilitate the old markets of Aleppo as it is a clear historical and cultural heritage.

In a statement to news reporter, Eng. Tamim Qasmo, head of the Technical Committee in Old Aleppo, pointed out that the detailed document included in the workshop discusses the foundations for developing the building control system and setting a strategy for intervention and restoration of the Straight Street axis, which is the heart of the old city of Aleppo, in addition to working on studying the geographical location of the areas of Old  Aleppo.

Dr. Eng. Sakhr Olabi, Director of Aleppo Antiquities, explained the importance of this workshop in introducing people to the efforts that were made during the last phase to restore the ancient city of Aleppo, stressing the need for the people of Aleppo to share their opinions and discussions about the restoration of archaeological areas and to discuss the difficulties and obstacles that stand in the way of restoration work.

In turn, Jean Magamez, director of Aleppo Governorate for the Syrian Trust for Development, indicated that the document discussed today aims to revive the Straight Street from Bab Antakya to Souk al-Zarb with the entrances, as this street is the main artery of the old city of Aleppo, pointing to the role of the Syrian Trust that works through dialogue and surveys.