Soapbox: Urban soul By Mohsen Zahran The great Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen once said, "show me your city, and I will tell you what the true cultural aims of its population are." He could teach us a thing or two. A few months ago Egypt's Higher Constitutional Court revoked a former decision that banned the demolition of historic buildings. As a result, owners began knocking down old buildings so as to sell the empty plots to the highest bidder. Suddenly alerted to the consequences, the government attempted to call a halt to the destruction by hastily inserting preservation clauses into the unified building law. The Cairo governor also set up committees to list buildings of cultural and artistic value. Perhaps other governors can do the same before it is too late. Alexandria has already lost dozens of its historic buildings. How sad this is, for this is a city that deserves to be an open museum in itself, a city recognised for its past role as a beacon of civilisation. A few years ago, Alexandria recreated the legendary Bibliotheca Alexandrina in an attempt to reclaim its past. It did so with the help of friends and nations around the world who wanted to help rebuild its extraordinary heritage. Yet while we build with one hand, we demolish with the other. Can't we do something about the buildings that speak not only for our history, but for the history of the entire region? We should protect our historic heritage, and we should do so even at the expense of material gains for the owners. If need be, let us compensate them. We have the money to do so. We could earmark part of the oil or Suez Canal revenues and use them to buy or rent historic buildings. We must not let our history turn to rubble in front of our eyes. This week's Soapbox speaker is a professor of planning at Alexandria University.
