everal hundred yards of a prime section in Blue Area, Islamabad, are getting a new pavement with tough tiles. The place is going to be a new Capital Street with food and shopping areas.

The Capital Development Authority has started work to transform this section of Islamabad’s Blue Area into a pedestrian zone, featuring food outlets, art and craft, walking paths and digital installations, initially using Rs 240 million.

The area will be free of motor vehicles, allowing citizens to stroll, dine and shop in a pedestrian-only environment. The street is located near a newly constructed multi-storey parking plaza with a capacity of around nearly 1,000 vehicles. There will be around 800 metres of walk and shop passage.

The CDA plan will begin a new chapter in Islamabad’s urban development. This will be a modern and state-of-the-art food and walking street, a CDA official says, adding, “Electric carts will be available to support elderly visitors and children.”

The official hopes that the pilot project will be completed by the end of the year. “Our aim is to develop a modern cultural and entertainment corridor. If this goes well, we’ll replicate the project in other commercial areas of the city,” he says.

Currently, Islamabad has only one dedicated food street, the Melody Food Park. It has long struggled to attract visitors, mainly due to scarce parking, and is losing its charm due to cleanliness issues. The Azerbaijan government recently sponsored its beautification and maintenance. Work has been going on for several months, say shopkeepers from Melody.

The Melody Food Park was set up in G-6 Sector in 2003. Popular for a while, the park later lost its appeal due to factors like poor cleanliness and food hygiene.

Residents of the area and traders in the affected zone have mixed feelings.

Muhammad Bilal, a trader having a shop in the area, is concerned about his business. “Our business will be seriously affected. People will find no parking here,” he complains. “Nobody comes to the area after parking cars that far away. We’ll be out of business if this goes on,” he says.

The CDA has started work to transform this section of Islamabad’s Blue Area into a pedestrian zone, featuring food outlets, art and craft, walking paths and digital installations with an initial cost of Rs 240 million.

“This food street has nothing to do with the ordinary people, traders and their business. We have been in this plaza for several years. The businesses in the Blue Area are under serious threat,” he concludes.

Another trader, Laeeq Akhtar, says the place is not suitable for food tourism because it is a “purely commercial area, located far from residential areas.”

“I doubt that it will work out,” he says, “May be the officials wanted to mint money from the parking plaza and make it a success.”

Resident Tanveer Ahmed hopes that the food in the street will be reasonably priced so that common people can also enjoy a visit.

“The food street idea is good. We should encourage such projects. It will hopefully create some jobs and new businesses. One can question the location but we need such things in Islamabad.”

“It may have been better to revive the Melody Food Street first. Renovation work at the street has been going on for two years, at least. It has lost its charm and visitors,” says Faisal Moeen, a waiter in the Melody Food Street.

As part of transformation of the city’s prime area, Muhammad Ali Randhawa, the CDA chairman, says the facades of buildings in the Blue Area would also be improved. “The upgraded buildings and new shopfronts will add to the aesthetic appeal of the area,” he says.

“Apart from the Blue Area pedestrian street, the CDA also plans to develop a food and walking street near Shakarparian, adjacent to the Art and Craft Village, featuring restaurants, art workshops, an expo hall and recreational spaces,” the CDA official told TNS.

The author is a staff reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].