The long‑running saga of Nicosia’s Makarios Avenue has entered a new phase. After years of closure for redevelopment and a brief reopening that gave pedestrians priority and restricted car traffic, the street now faces a full return to private vehicles. Authorities have pinned the emptying of the capital’s centre on the 650‑metre stretch, arguing that cars are the solution. The narrative unfolds against a backdrop of malls that have siphoned trade to the outskirts, sky‑high rents that make central living and business harder, and a city that now stretches to Dali and Kokkinotrimithia. Universities built outside the core have drawn young people toward the countryside, raising the question of why students, schoolchildren and office workers should spend half an hour commuting to Makarios for a coffee or a chain store that is minutes from home or work.
Friends of the Earth and Limassol Municipality co‑organised a discussion titled “Creating an inclusive city” as part of European Mobility Week 2026. Architect and University of Cyprus professor Socrates Stratis presented a student exercise that found a single shopping centre’s retail floor space equals roughly one and a half Makarios Avenues. With two large malls, Nicosia has effectively built three “Makarios Avenues” outside the centre, all competing with the original street. At the same event, Paris Nikolaou, lecturer and head of the Transport Engineering Laboratory at the Cyprus University of Technology, highlighted a telling factor: political culture. “I’ve had people in high places tell me that Cyprus’s problem is infrastructure, that it needs more roads, flyovers,” he said. “And this from the people who make the decisions!”
The debate forces a look at the politicians’ vision for Cyprus. If the goal is a landscape reminiscent of Qatar, China and Dubai – multi‑lane highways and gigantic malls – let that be stated openly. Drop the hypocritical pledges about micromobility, microclimates and sustainable development. Perhaps the solution to the emptying of the centre is simply to drain the city of people and fill the streets with cars, so the eye can gorge on traffic. Once Makarios is opened, why stop? Open Ledra Street, Onasagorou, run cars through Athalassa Park and Academy Park, and along the Pedieos. Ban e‑scooters, bicycles and pedestrians. Build more bridges, more lanes, more bypasses. The tongue‑in‑cheek warning comes from a well‑known transport phenomenon: induced demand. When road capacity rises, travel times fall at first, but easier driving creates extra car use and prompts yet more roads, until no space remains for anything else. If those fill up too, the logic goes, build more – even flying ones.
The conversation about Makarios is more than a local traffic dispute. It is a mirror reflecting broader choices about how Cyprus wants to live, move and shape its urban future.