MSc Integrated Urbanism & Sustainable Design (IUSD)
The Integrated Case Study Project Proposal: Hidden Gems, Revealed “Medan El-Gamea and Ezbet el-Muslimeen Area Cairo - Egypt 2019/2020
MSc Integrated Urbanism & Sustainable Design (IUSD)
Disclaimer ‘The Integrated Case Study - Informal Areas' Development Approaches in Egypt - Process & Roles’ is produced as a part of the Integrated Case Study (ICS) module.
© IUSD Masters Program, 2019 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form of by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of IUSD-ASU, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. All rights reserved
Contacts: MSc Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design www.iusd.uni-stuttgart.de Ain Shams University
Faculty of Engineering El Sarayat street 1, Abbassia, Cairo-Egypt Fax: 0020222728225 Email: iusd@eng.asu.edu.eg
Phase 4. Project Proposal Ezbet el-Muslimeen’s Hidden Gems, Revealed
Ishika Alim Pamela Gil-Salas Sara Zakareya
Ain Shams Teaching Staff Prof. Dr. Mohamed Salheen Assistant Prof. Mohammed Ezz Ain Shams Assisting Team Eng. Mohammed Fawzi Eng. Wesam El-Bardisy Special Thanks to the support of Associate Prof. Marwa Abdellatif
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction
IX
Project Description
IX
A Comprehensive Perspective IX Cascading effects
X
Defining the Scope
X
Project Design Identification of Actors
XI XI
Benefits and Responsibilities
XII
Business Model
XII
Project Implementation
XVI
Testing on Site: Children’s Walking Tour
XVI
Elements & Script of the tour
XVII
Reflection on the Proposal
XXXIII
Feedback
XXXIII
Future prospects & Project Sustainability
XXXIII
VII
Haytham Shokry “The Storyteller� introducing the purpose of the walk and presenting a brief history of the area. Credits: Ishika Alim VIII
Introduction The site of study, Ezbet el-Muslimeen is located close to Medan el-Gemea in the el-Busten area of Heliopolis. While Heliopolis itself is unique within the socio-spatially fragmented fabric of Cairo, the site is an interesting anomaly even within Heliopolis. It was primarily planned as the residential quarter for the workers of the Heliopolis Company. In its existence over the course of a century, it has transformed its identity several times but always safeguarding space and interests of a wide range of socio-economic groups.
Project Description A Comprehensive Perspective Furthermore, the area retawins unique architecture typologies from as early as 1900s during the Baron’s period. These, along with the economic and socio-cultural assets form the basis for the proposed project. Therefore, by exploring the area’s potentials the project seeks to reveal its hidden gems and collectively create a base for identity-formation. These hidden gems are defined as the built, socio-cultural and economic elements of the neighborhood which are distinct and are anchored to the rest of Heliopolis. It includes the following: Strengths: 1. Unique architectural typologies from different time periods 2. Ongoing projects to raise awareness about architectural heritage and restoration 3. Long time economic activities 4. Social mix of people from different regions within Egypt 5. Civic engagement through neighborhoodbased activation The project also brings together the various proposals under the umbrella of “exploring, revealing, and enhancing the uniqueness” of the area and therefore builds on the subsequent projects: Project Proposals: •
P01.Hidden Gems: Revealed
•
P02.From Food Scraps To Flourish Life
•
P03. Women’s Community Kitchen
•
P04. Enhancing Pedestrian Infrastructure
Figure 1. Project proposals and links between them IX
Cascading effects In order to understand the cascading effects of the various urban challenges in the area, an approach to systems thinking –based on the conceptual framework produced in “Phase 2: Analysis of the Physical Dimension– was taken in consideration. System thinking highlights a multi-scalar, multi-objective and multi-functional approach with cascading effects that act on a system. For that reason, the following challenges are considered simultaneously through-out the various proposals:
Challenges: Lack of acknowledgement and importance given to the architecture in the area The perception of area as an anomaly and thus distinct from rest of Heliopolis Poor maintenance and degradation of built structures and devalued socio-cultural elements Lack of long term sustenance of different projects Sectoral interests of stakeholders on topics such as heritage, public space and social engagement
Defining the Scope
Therefore, the proposal will build on the following aspects:
Defining Question:
1. The experimentations can enhance the physical or social dimensions of the neighborhood.
How to strengthen the existing potentials of Ezbet el-Muslimeen and position the area as a unique part of Heliopolis while sustaining the process over time?
2. The project emphasizes in the improvement of the quality of life for its residents and users, therefore it can help assess the evolving needs of the community.
Objectives & Measures : •
•
X
General Objective: To set forth Ezbet elMuslimeen’s uniqueness as an anchor for future development and position the neighborhood as an exceptional component of Heliopolis. Specific Objective: Initiate events that draw upon the existing potentials of Ezbet elMuslimeen; by acknowledging, promoting, and conserving them.
3. This process may aid in defining long-term perspectives for urban renewal and tackle the urban challenges faced over time. 4. Local actors are considered a main asset of the project. Consequently, it is important to strengthen the social structure within the community (social networks). 5. A robust social structure may aid in sustaining the project through time.
Project Design Identification of Actors This section aims to identify key stakeholders within the project that could give support and sustain the project through time. It comprises of: Key actors with expertise of the area 1.
Key actors with expertise of the area:
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Active Locals
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Local Institutions
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Private Entities
2. Key actors with expertise on children-led activities: - Volunteers - NGOs 3.
Governmental Organizations
Figure 2. Categorization and identification of actors
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Benefits and Responsibilities The benefits and responsibilities for the different types of actors are resumed as follows:
Business Model The following diagram is a detailed explanation to fund the project in its early stages. It also stresses the importance of the responsibilities for the different actors in the phases.
Figure 3. Financing the early stages of the project. Funding will be required for the above highlighted activities. Potential actors are highlighted in order to initiate defining and assigning responsibities. For cost estimates please refer to the Logical Framework Matrix. XII
Haj Khamis Roma welcoming the children to his home Credits: Ishika Alim XIII
XIV
Project Implementation
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Project Implementation The project is comprised of seven phases, each one targeting a particular aim: 1) Awareness, 2) Documentation, 3) Promotion, 4) Archive, 5) Assessment, 6) Conservation and, 7) Future Urban Anchors. The first three phases are linked to campaigns that will aid in laying foundations for restoration and preservation of important buildings and reprogramming of spaces. The ultimate aim is to create community engagement to enhance the quality of life within the area. The project considers that the future urban transformation of the site can be anchored around the “hidden gems” present in the neighborhood, which can play an important role in assessing the needs of the community.
Testing on Site: Children’s Walking Tour The testing on site will be held with a group of eight participants ages 9-13, members of the Heliopolis Association. The tour will highlight four main topics throughout the walk, to discover and reveal with the children Ezbet el-Muslimeen gems. Topics: a) A Journey through History: Revealing Stories, Architecture, and Cultural Gems In this part of the walk participants will be introduced with the rich architectural and sociocultural gems that the neighborhood posses. The tour will begin with the oldest church in the heart of Heliopolis, walk through its main spine Harun al-Rashid (Abbas Boulevard back then) till it reaches the neighborhood’s oldest market, Midan el-Gamea, and Gamal el-Din Al Afghani Mosque. Then participants will discover the 1910 Gallery house in the neighborhood with its with its unique courtyard style. A halt in one of the front yards with a local story-teller will familiarize them with the history and present situation of the neighborhood. b) The Present: Revealing the Local Economy, Crafts, Local Community, and Food This part of the walk tries to unveil and experience the vibrant local activities and economy that exists in the site in present. A walk through Riyadh XVI
Street exposing them to the small economy, through the narrowest alleys with private activities spilled out in the alley and to the vibrant mix of economic activities of Harun al-Rashid would be experienced. c) Educational: Revealing Environmental Awareness and Thematic Initiatives This part of the walk will aims to create environmental and social awareness regarding the neighborhood through introducing them with the initiatives that are taken by the IUSD Team. Such as the Community Compost Project, the Walk-ability Enhancing Project and the Women’s Kitchen Project. It will give them the ideas and initiatives that they can take in future to enhance the condition, to inspire them to put on their own initiatives in the future. d) The Future: Come
Imagining the Times to
The aim is to reflect on the new infrastructure being built: “The Bridge”and the impact on the transformation of the neighborhood associated with other projects happening on the site. In this phase participants will be provided with a space for hosting activities like painting, drawings, having their own reflection and imagining the future of the neighborhood together. Kids Walking Tour: Description #El-Ezba Hidden Gems project is a pilot project that aims at revealing El-Ezba existing potentials, by acknowledging, promoting and conserving them. The goal of the action plan first phase is creating awareness towards El-Ezba hidden gems through conducting “Interactive Walking Tours” for different target groups. These groups could comprise of different profiles, such as tours focused on kids, families, scholars, tourists and students from different disciplines. The children walking tour was to be conducted as an on-site experimentation to measure the probability of the project and verify the preliminary action plan. An “interactive” tour indicates children and the local community’s active role in conducting the tour. The tour was compromised of:
1. An external storyteller “Haytham Shokry” who teaches the children about the history of the area, 2. Local storytellers who explain for the children the present local economy and social interactions 3. The IUSD teams explaining their different cultural, social, economic and environmental initiatives and on-site interventions. The children were also invited to interact, think and contemplate during the tour through writing down few descriptions of the different stops and after the tour through sketching and reflecting. They were provided with reflection sheets and asked to pick their favorite spots during the tour, sketch them and propose any changes or additions they would like to see in the future.
Figure 4. Map of the Children’s Walking Tour
Elements & Script of the tour Stop (1) Starting Point: Basilica Estimate Time 10 min History of Heliopolis.Present a historical overview of the area, to position the Aim neighborhood in the context of Heliopolis and make emphasison its history Storyteller: Haytham Shokry (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team XVII
Introduction: Get acquainted with each other and brief the children about the objective of the walk The task: Throughout this walk, you will get to know about the history of Heliopolis in general and Ezbet el-Muslimeen in particular. How it transformed through time to reach its present state. You will also get to see the future plan intended for it and as Egypt’s future coming generations, you will get to imagine the future you desire for the area in the contrary to any present constraints or changes. You will be asked at the end of the tour to provide a sketch with your favorite spot and what transformation in the future would you like to see happening there? Pictures are recommended. What’s the storyline? So we are now standing in Heliopolis, does anyone know what does the word “Heliopolis” mean? It means “City of the Sun” in Greek which was the name of a major city of ancient Egypt with a history spanning from the Old Kingdom to the Hellenistic period. The native Egyptian gods of Sun Atum and Ra whose principal cult was located in the City, known currently as Ain Shams district was interpreted by the Greeks to Helios, the God of Sun. Many centuries later, in the 20th century exactly, a modern suburb outside Cairo not very far, just 1.2 kilometers from the ancient city of Heliopolis was founded and named after the ancient city. “The oasis of Heliopolis” suburb was established in 1905 when a Belgian Baron called Empain came to Egypt and collaborated with BoghosNubar Pasha, son of the first Egyptian Prime Minister Nubar Pasha. Who is Baron Empain? Baron Empain, is a wellknown Egyptologist and prominent Belgian entrepreneur, arrived in Egypt in 1904, intending to rescue one of his Belgian wife’s development projects: the construction of a railway line linking Al-Matariyyah to Port Said. Despite losing the railway contract to the British, Empain stayed in Egypt. In 1905, Empain bought a large stretch of desert some distance to the northeast of Cairo downtown at a low price from the government with consent of the British administration and had the vision to build a new extension to old Cairo. The new city represented the first large-scale attempt to promote desert cities and its own architecture, XVIII
known now as the Heliopolis style or Belle Epoch. Some say he named the city after Heliopolis due to his infatuation with Greek philosophy. Logic says due to its proximity to the ancient city of the Gods of the Sun. Who knows?! Heliopolis was designed as a “city of luxury and leisure”, with broad avenues and equipped with all conveniences and infrastructure: water, drains, electricity, hotel facilities, such as the Heliopolis Palace Hotel and Heliopolis House, and recreational amenities including a golf course, racetrack and park. In addition, there was housing offered in a range of innovative designs targeting specific social classes with detached villas, apartment buildings, tenement blocks with balcony access and workers’ quarters. Empain chose architects well-acquainted with the new European trends to build his city mainly French and English; however, Empain had declared; “I wish that the architecture will conform to the tradition of this country”. Architects have integrated many Arab details and ornament with the European driven architecture; represented in the plans in order to make it familiar for its residents. This made it a source of pride till today. Baron Empain’s own residence adopted a unique and different south Asian architectural style following the Cambodian temples designed by a French architect which reflects his exotic taste. The original plan of the initial project at 1906, was to establish two ‘oases’ connected by a broad avenue, the oasis nearest to Cairo would feature a grand hotel, palaces and villas for Cairo’s elite as well as foreigners who would prefer to live away from the capital’s congestion. The other oasis, more distant from Cairo,would be separated by desert from the first one but still connected by railway. It was planned for factories, low-income housing for indigenous Egyptians and workers to serve the first oasis and a mosque for them. The first oasis would host the investments and foreigners to generate the profit required to sustain the other supporting oasis which creates a mutual benefit and useful relations between both oases. After the difficulties generated by the 1907 financial crisis, all construction work had been concentrated on the first oasis and the second oasis was merged in design with the first one locating the labor, the workers and the mosque in the upper west side of the oasis. Where we are standing now is Heliopolis main square and landmark which hosted and still hosts the Roman Catholic Cathedral (basilica) and
where Baron Empain is actually buried. It has five avenues and streets coming out in a star form shape, with spacious gardens on each side.One transverse avenue leads to the Baron Palace from one side and to the hippodrome(horse race course, now the Merryland), Luna park and the stadium(now the Grenada complex) from the other side. The other Boulevard leads to the Palace hotel(now Etehadiya Palace) from one side and to the two opposite avenues on the other side. The first avenue is Othamn Ibn Affan street and the second one is San Stefano street (now Harun al-Rashid street) and Midan ElGamea which has the workers residence on the other side and hosts today the neighborhood’s biggest commercial center. This direction will be where we will make our tour for the day. To observe Heliopolis living quarters that once hosted its workers, government officials and labors who built the popular suburbs.
Start of the walking tour in the Basilica. Credits: Ishika Alim Walk Harun al-Rashid Estimate Time 10 min History and Transformations of Harun al-Rashid Street. The children will Aim learn about the history of this important artery within the site Storyteller: Haytham Shokry (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team What’s the storyline? Harun al-Rashid as a main street since Heliopolis has been an important axis that serves the neighborhood in particular, and Cairo in general. It was initially designed with the main tram line passing through it connecting it to the rest of Cairo. At Nasser’s era when the commercial activity increased substantially, the street was turned pedestrian and the tram was shifted to Othman Ibn Affan Street and later in Sadat era he kept the tram line in both streets. XIX
However, in Mubarak’s era with the increase of cars the tramways were neglected and abolished until the last tramline which is one of Heliopolis’s main heritage assets was removed in 2014. Now Streets are only full of cars, taxis and buses and no room for people to walk or cross the streets.
Harun al-Rashid Street. Credits: Ishika Alim Stop (2) Midan el Gamea Estimate Time 3 min History Midan El Gamea. The children will learn about Jamal Al-Din AlAim Afghani and how was this square was used versus how it is used now Storyteller: Haytham Shokry (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team What’s the storyline? The area here is known as Midan el Gamea which reflects the importance of this square and has always been an important commercial node and landmark for the street. The square overlooks the oldest mosque in Heliopolis which was before standing here alone with no buildings around it and only markets till the number of people coming to Heliopolis started to increase and fill up the whole neighborhood and streets with apartment buildings and extensions were added as you can see. The name of the mosque is Jamal Al-Din AlAfghani. Who is Jamal Al-Din Al-Afghani? He is a Midan El Gamea Mosque. Credits: Ishika Alim XX
very loved and praised political activist and Islamic ideologist who travelled throughout the Muslim world during the late 19th century and hence the mosque was named after him. Walk Harun al-Rashid Estimate Time 5 min Harun al-Rashid Local Economy. What were the commercial activities back Aim then and what are the main commercial activities now Storyteller: Haytham Shokry (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team What’s the storyline? Harun al-RashidStreet as mentioned before has been mainly used for commercial purposes. It had many handcrafts and later factories at Nasser’s era and workshops. People used to work in glass, wood and import appliances like televisions. Most of these handmade industries were relocated to Al-Herafeyeen area especially car mechanics at Mubarak’s era. They are now replaced mainly by lighting shops, furniture and cafes. They have an outdoor creative display which always attracts passerby. Harun Street is also famous with its jewelry shops which brought many residents from Al-Husseineya, fruits and vegetables from the outdoor market, as well as a new service of peeled, cut and cleaned vegetables sold along the pavements by women. The internal streets we will walk through now have different economies with more informal identity like construction materials, paint, mirrors, carpenters and more food carts and street vendors. Don’t forget to watch the different varieties of commercial activities.
Walk Damahour Street Estimate Time 5 min Aim Why is it called Ezbet al-Muslimeen? Storyteller: Haytham Shokry (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team What’s the storyline?
Damahour Street. Credits: Ishika Alim
The area we are entering now is very popular withinHeliopolis, its known for its special character. People here come from different ethnicities and backgrounds from Aswan and other cities in Upper Egypt and live with their native cultures and traditions together happily. The name of this neighborhood is called Ezbetal-Muslimeen. Why is it called like this? XXI
One of the most logical stories for this name is that this neighborhood (in contrats of the rest of Heliopolis, which was inhabited mainly by foreigners) was mainly inhabited by Egyptians and Muslims which where in charge of mainting the mosque. Stop (3) Gallery House Estimate Time 5 min Who lives here now?Contrast history of the old inhabitants –British soldiers– Aim with the current residents in the typology Storyteller: Haytham Shokry (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team What’s the storyline? This block is one of the oldest residences of the neighborhood, built in 1910 and is considered as an important architectural heritage. It has a very unique design featuring a shared common courtyard extending through the full length of the building where people used to gather and meet and at the backyards of each unit is a private garden for personal use. This typology of courtyard buildings is not very common even in Cairo nowadays providing residents with the very few open green spaces in this densely built neighborhood. This
Gallery House. Credits: Ishika Alim XXII
building was used as accommodation for the British soldiers during the British hegemony. Now it has only Egyptians. Most of the ground floor open spaces were subdivided and rented individually as storehouses. The roof of the newly built storage rooms is extensively used by the kids, elderly and residents of the building. It did not just turn into a place for relaxing and interacting with other residents but also transformed into a small play- ground for the kids during evening time.
Stop (4) Garden House Estimate Time 13 min Who lives here now and how do people interact? Highlight the historic value Aim of the block (architectural value) and the importance of Ezbet al-Muslimeen for its residents (social value). Q&A to Haj Khamis Storyteller: Haj Khamis Roma (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team Presentation Who is Haj Khamis? How long has he been living here? And what does he do? What’s the storyline? Who owns the block? Who lives here in the block and in el-Ezba? How do people live and interact in el- Ezba? Open questions to Haj Khamis.
Garden House. Credits: Ishika Alim XXIII
Stop (5) Women's Community Kitchen Project Estimate Time 5 min Setting up of a model for repurposing the neglected spaces to serve the local Aim of the Project community Presenter: ICS Team (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team Presentation The Women’s Community Kitchen Project is a pilot project from the IUSD team. This project aims at women financial independence as well as recreational needs. The project started off with identifying the capacities of the women in the neighborhood and aims to build on their existing capacities for financial solvency. The testing phase was done bringing together the interested women to use their cooking skills to prepare half cooked meals and sell them. This micro entrepreneurship does not only focus on supporting women of the neighborhood in socio-economic aspects but also focuses on repurposing and enhancing the neglected spaces to support recreational needs of women in the neighborhood. Activities Participants will stop and take halt for a while and have refreshment bought from the women’s kitchen. Later, an IUSD project representative will explain their project and their objectives.
Women’s Community Kitchen Project. Credits: Ishika Alim Stop-Walk (6) Riyadh Street Estimate Time 5 min Familiarize the participants with the local life and the community living Aim there Storyteller: Haytham Shokry (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team What’s the storyline? What makes a neighborhood interesting and vibrant? The more diverse and mix use the neighborhood is, the more stories and layer it has to offer. Ezbet el-Muslemin offers such diverse range of environment in such dense area.The rich amalgamation of economic activities and cultural diversity makes this neighborhood even more interesting and vibrant. For an example, the street we are standing now is XXIV
very important since it offers different services which you do not get to experience in the new cities in Cairo. Riyadh Street acts as an importance axis because of the mixed small economy, services and activities. You will find the services needed for daily life in this street and this makes living more convenient for the residents of this neighborhood. The existing poultry shops, vegetable vendors, the narrowest alley merging with the main street in a right angle makes the street more interesting. Moreover, very important socio-cultural aspect of this street is the amalgamation of people from different community living in harmony for years. It is also interesting to see how each of the community reflect part of their culture through their space and the use of the space. While walking through the street you can meet and greet the Nubians sitting in their mastabas, you will see the light shops and would know how the Syrians are adding to the economy, you will see streets named
Riyadh Street. Credits: Ishika Alim after different places such as Edfu, Aswan Street, Abusimble Street, Alexandria etc. It is like a small manifestation of Egypt itself in a smaller scale. These are the manifestations of different layers reflecting diverse range of ommunities living in such close proximity.
Stop (7) Senior House: Dar el-Safa Estimate Time 3 min Aim Create a space to bridge two different age groups Storyteller: Haytham Shokry (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team What’s the storyline? This is a very calm and quite home for the senior citizens. There is a nice courtyard inside. You can see there are some kindergartens and schools in a very close proximity of the home. Maybe you can think about some ideas how we can bring these two age groups together in future. Stop (8) Recycling Kiosk Estimate Time 3 min The children will learn about the environment and encourage them to take Aim initiatives in a personal level in the future Presenter: Mina Atef (internal) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team Presentation Environmental issues such as waste management and water logging are very common all-around Egypt. Ezbet el-Muslemin is not an exception to this. But, having a clean, nice and livable neighbor is a prerequisite for a better life. Even though the neighborhood lacks proper waste management system which results into environmental issues, something interesting is also happening around the corner. Do you want to know what? There is a big recycling kiosk in the neighborhood, and we will be visiting the place. Here we will get to know how they collect the materials, how the separation is done and how they are being XXV
recycled. It is indeed a very important node of the neighborhood in terms of sustainable initiatives and such models should be multiplied in other neighborhoods to promote environmental awareness. Maybe also you can start little by little by changing daily habits such as reduce the use of plastic, separating the garbage according to organic wastes, plastic and metals etc. Mina Atef, one of the employees of Recycling Kiosk. Credits: Ishika Alim the recycling kiosk will take over and tell you about more about what they do. Walk Abou Bakr El-Sedeek Street Estimate Time 5 min Aim Reflect on future projects taking place near the neighborhood Storyteller: Haytham Shokry (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team What’s the storyline? As we have seen, known and experienced the history and the present socio-economic situation of the neighborhood, we will now move forward to the future! On our way we will see how the recycling kiosk initiative have positively influenced the residents to recycle and reuse. The reflection can be seen and notices in the little efforts to make their space a little green using recycling material. Like this front area of this broker’s house. They are reusing tires for sitting, ice-cream boxes forplanting and many more. Although, these are very small-scale initiatives on personal level but if everyone starts from personal level it can become a collective action and the entire neighborhood can change! From here we will be moving to the future projects that are going around and can potentially change the future of this neighborhood. Soon you will get to see the new bridge projects. This project XXVI
not only replaced the heritage tram line that used to be an iconic aspect of Heliopolis but also replaced all the greenery and trees that used to adorn the street. Needless to say, the construction of new bridges and streets are connecting different parts of Cairo, but it is happening at the cost of environmental degradation. This car-based planning process is neglecting the human scale and environmental sustainability which needs to be reconsidered.
Intervention in Abou Bakr El-Sedeek Street. Credits: Ishika Alim Stop (9) Bridge on Abou Bakr El-Sedeek Street Estimate Time 2 min Demonstrate to the children how Cairo is becoming a car based city and how Aim it is impacting the urban fabric to later reflect on the matter Storyteller: Haytham Shokry (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team What’s the storyline? When cities around the world are promoting and advocating for walkable, pedestrian friendly, green cities, Cairo has speed up it’s pace to build more and more concrete roads for ‘cars’. As a result new developments and settlements, as well as the old neighborhoods like Heliopolis, are losing walk-ability. This approach can be seen in the near distance where the new bridge project has been done. Historically, there used to be the tram line which now has been replaced by a wide concrete street and in addition to that, two bridges have been introduced in the area for cars only. Howis this going to affect the life and the urban fabric of the neighborhood is an important question to ask. We need to think how this will bring more flow of cars and how this will affect the urban tissue and the lives of the people living here. On another note, the construction of this bridge has created some negative space under it. Given the high density and lack of open spaces in the neighborhood, we can also think how this space under the bridge can serve the community as open Bridge on Abou Bakr El-Sedeek Street. Credits: Ishika Alim XXVII
public space. Just like the project ‘El Sawy Cultural Wheel’ in Zamalek. Maybe similar interventions can be done here as well to somehow meet the needs of public spaces in the neighborhood. Stop (10) Community Compost Estimate Time 4 min Aim Create awareness about treating organic waste and making compost Presenter: ICS Team (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team Presentation Now that we have seen the developing projects around the neighborhood, we will resume our walk to the site. In this part of the walk we will explore the initiatives that are taking place inside the neighborhood. We will walk through the largest vegetable market of the neighborhood.Here we will also see how the initiative is taken to separate the organic waste that the market produces and we will also see how this waste can be treated and turned into something useful, compost. Walk Vegetable Market in Al Kahf-Sohag Street Estimate Time 3 min Aim Explain some of the important economic activities present on the site Storyteller: Haytham Shokry (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team
Community Compost. Credits: Ishika Alim XXVIII
Vegetable Market in Al Kahf-Sohag Street. Credits: Ishika Alim What’s the storyline? This is an important economy of the neighborhood.As you can see it draws various layers of clientele from not just the neighborhood but also from around. They have fresh vegetables and that too in a very reasonable price. You can see both men and women selling veggies in here and the market is quite active. Stop (11) Project: Enhancing Walk-ability Estimate Time 3 min Participants will be encouraged to walk as a means to move in the city to Aim ensure safer street environment. To create awareness regarding roadway design and the dominance of cars Presenter: ICS Team (external) People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team Presentation The most important aspects old heritage town was the sense of scale and the walk-ability. The scale of the neighborhood is perfect for accessing it on foot. Also the station and modes of transportation are quite in an easy reach of distance. Yet, people have difficulties accessing these places due to the poor traffic management and the haphazard parking all around. Moreover, due to the poor condition of the walkway, congested nodes and lack of crossings does not make the walking journey very pleasant. The pedestrian flow in the neighborhood is remarkable compared to the new settlements in Cairo. Despite this fact the pedestrian facility is not properly implemented in the area to make it more pedestrian friendly. The aim of this project to work on a sample area to test how small intervention can change the pedestrian experience. XXIX
The testing aimed at enhancing the pedestrian facilities by incorporating proper crossing, street furniture etc. This initiative was taken to create awareness about the importance of walk-ability and encourage people more in this regards. Do you want to know how we can facilitate to enhance
walk-ability? Soon, we will be seeing an initiative done by the students to enhance the walk-ability of the neighborhood. This is a pilot project to see how things will work and later of it can be adapted and multiplied. Project representative will explain their project and show you guys around.
Enhancing Walk-ability Project. Credits: Ishika Alim Stop (12) Reflection Time Estimate Time 30 min The main aim is to collect data from the inputof the participants and Aim understand their perception of the neighborhood Moderator: IUSD team People Responsible Supervisors: Librarian Coordination: IUSD team What’s the storyline?
Activities
After the walking tour and giving out refreshments, the idea is to get to know a little about the past history, the present activities and initiatives we would like to invite reflections from the participants about how they visualize the future of the neighborhood. Each of the participants will be handed over a paper to draw, sketch or paint how they visualize the neighborhood after the trip.
Drawing, painting or sketching, any media the kids find comfortable. Also later on initiating a discussion about what they have drawn and what they have seen and what they learned from the tour and how they can adapt some of the small initiatives in their daily lives.
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Reflection Time. Credits: Ishika Alim XXXI
Workshop & Feedback. Credits: Ishika Alim XXXII
Reflection on the Proposal The children’s tour was a trial for the project’s viability that would later include different target groups and sequential actions. It was meant to be the kick-off for the first milestone of the first phase and its implementation proved sustainability of the idea where people from the local community collaborated voluntarily and played their vital roles in the tour, kids were totally engaged and stayed for the whole tour as well as the different partners were satisfied with the results. However, this is only the first step towards a very long term goal where the children’s production should be documented to be displayed and promoted in a public exhibition. These archived outputs should be communicated later with different stakeholders to promotes these gems and use them as an anchor for future development. The children’s output was partially useful as one can easily understand their perceptions through the written texts in the provided maps but their sketching was after a long tour where they can just indicate impressions but not propose changes or future scenarios as hoped. Hence, we are not sure how much can their output be used. Maybe in future attempts, the tour should be shorter and divided into different days with one-stop where the children can take their time thinking of, proposing and drawing the study area. Also when the tours are conducted for different user groups eg. Students, tourists, architects…etc. the outputs will be integrated with different participant ages and backgrounds. Then the outputs will be more integrated and useful for documentation and promotion.
Feedback From the Participants: The participants were more than satisfied and happy as they completed the whole tour with
the reflection enthusiastically. They had all their needs catered for from variety of visual aspects, engaging storytelling, needed halts and snacks as well as some interactive reflections and activities. From the Stakeholders The stakeholders were also very content as everything was properly organized, safe and planned. No problems or incidents happened during the tour.
Future prospects & Project Sustainability During the preparation phase, the team contacted different NGOs and associations. From them the Heliopolis association, Hadi Badi Children, Yo7ka Anna, Hadouta Book Club and different experts in the field of children Arabic literature, storytelling and illustrations as well as tour experts explaining our tour objective and implementation and asking for guidelines for conducting the tour. The different initiatives were very welcoming with the idea and wanted to take part. They also proposed some future collaborations and project pilots. The Hadi Badi Founder Hend Adel proposed creating later a child-friendly map for Heliopolis like the one they created for downtown and also proposed creating a book or a booklet with the children’s sketches describing Heliopolis through the eyes of children and it can also be used as a coloring book. The outcomes were even more holistic and farreaching than expected. It would not only benefit the neighborhood’s local community promoting their identity as a local, diverse and heritage area in the heart of Heliopolis but also the local and external participating children who learned during the educational process of the tour and gained a sense of community and interaction which will extend to their neighborhoods.
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Š IUSD Masters Program 2014 Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permissssion in writing from the publisher.