Citizen Participation in Historic Cairo (CPHC)
Some detailed studies were conducted for the Conservation Plan of the area. In this part of the report, analysis of the historic urban fabric will be discussed. From the outcomes of the field survey, classes for buildings and open spaces as well as categories of interventions will be detailed. Furthermore, the outcomes and recommendations from the monument, crafts and waste management studies will be mentioned. 3.1 Historic Urban Fabric - Buildings: The data collected and analysed made it possible to identify two sets of values used for a building’s classification: the heritage values (building focus) and the contextual value (relation with the environment). o Regarding heritage values, two parameters have been taken into account; the architectural class 3, and the listing status 4. o Regarding contextual values, three parameters have been taken into account; the alignment of the building front with the street line, the building’s integrity 5, and the relationship between the building and its context 6. i. Classes of buildings 7: The classification of buildings is a fundamental step towards assigning defined protection measures and controls on the buildings’ activities, based on each building’s value. The classification undertaken was based on the outcomes of a detailed field survey and took into consideration the aforementioned set of values and the building footprint. 8 This led to the identification of 48 building sub-classes. These sub-classes, although different in their particular combinations of values, can be grouped into 6 macro classes, each corresponding to buildings of equivalent heritage interest that can be subject to similar types of interventions.
Areas/ Classes of buildings Class 1 – Very High Class 2- High Class 3 - Fair Class 4 - Ordinary Class 5 - Inconsistent Class 6 – Unbuilt
Number 26/ 1566 27/ 1566 195/ 1566 841/ 1566 394/ 1566 83/ 1566
% 1.66% 1.72% 12.45% 53.70% 25.15% 5.30%
The architectural class is the overall assessment provided by the survey form for buildings. It is a crossappraisal of typology, construction techniques, and representativeness of historic era or cultural group. 4 The listing status has management and preservation implications as defined by law. 5 Expressed through the modifications that have occurred to the overall building. 6 Being a cultural or visual landmark, and being in contrast, or not, to the urban setting. 7 This part is based on the Urban Regeneration for Historic Cairo Project, second report of activities 2012 – 2014. WHC/UNESCO. P.30 -47. 8 To create a comprehensive classification, the set of values were analyzed in relation to the building footprint status: built, partial ruin, under transformation, under construction, makeshift, total ruin, unbuilt. 3
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