Nicosia mayor Charalambos Prountzos informed that the capital now provides about 40 per cent of Cyprus’ total GDP, as he set out the city’s economic role and its planning priorities.
Speaking at a presentation hosted by the Rotary Club at Monte Parnasse restaurant, Prountzos said Nicosia has a population of about 300,000 and is the largest city in the country in terms of infrastructure and financial assets.
He said real estate development elsewhere on the island should not be confused with a business centre.
Tourism, on which other districts depend more heavily, is more exposed to climate change and regional developments, he said.
“Nicosia is an underrated capital,” he said, acknowledging that it is divided and geographically limited.
He said the municipality’s work is “more complex” than that of areas focused on the summer season.
He described the municipality’s role in the security arrangements for the EU Council presidency as a “huge endeavour” and said he remains in regular contact with Turkish Cypriot mayor Mehmet Harmanci in “trying to overcome the capital’s division”.
On migration, Prountzos said the city has about 80,000 immigrants, of whom 85 per cent are in work and 15 per cent are high earners, with such a profile differing dramatically from that of Limassol.
He said crime in the old town has fallen 81 per cent, which he called unprecedented, and that Cyprus needed a balance between economic opportunity and social cohesion.
On foreign investment, he said the municipality had sought to avoid the city becoming a real estate opportunity for investors, and had instead built a local startup ecosystem for Cypriot students, acknowledging that Cyprus now ranks 45th for startup opportunity.
The city hosts six centres of excellence, which draw on the universities with the aim of making Cyprus an innovation hub by 2030.
He said the University of Cyprus cost taxpayers €1.3 billion and was meant to integrate young people into new opportunities as well as educate them.
A further 120 medical students are now residing through the Kapodistrian campus in the old town.
On energy, Prountzos said desalination, on which Cyprus must rely, is highly energy intensive.
He said municipalities across Nicosia are pooling their supply through the energy committee to establish the first photovoltaic park, with 8.5 megawatts of capacity and four hours of storage.
Such an endeavour would provide the capital 78.4 per cent autonomy over its supply.
On green space, Prountzos said only Athens ranks worse for built-up areas lacking greenery, which he said puts Nicosia at risk of desertification.
He referred to the 3-30-300 guideline, which calls for three trees in view of every home, 30 per cent canopy cover and a green area within 300 metres.
He said the main problem was a shortage of water, which affects 80 per cent of 1,502 identified green areas.
Without greener streets, he said, “life in Nicosia would become unbearable in 20 years”.
He named water treatment from Mia Milia and autonomous parks that collect rainwater as possible solutions.
Prountzos also referred to Europa Nostra and said the municipality has identified some 2,000 additional buildings for protection, including modernist structures considered culturally significant.