Tahrir Square

Tahrir Square, Cairo. google mapsTahrir Square, not a square, rather a traffic island.   To the north the Egypt Museum, to the east and south what appears to be large international hotels – the Intercontinental and such.  To the northeast, a large empty industrial lot.  Al Tahrir, the road leading to and from the west, becomes the Kasr Al Nile bridge crossing over the Corniche and then the Nile. 
This doesn't appear to be the traditional centre of the city, a formal square tightly surrounded by buildings of state, rather this is much more open, part of a parkway system of roads in the hotel district. 

Just wanted to know where it was all happening in urban pattern terms.