DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

Interdisciplinary approach for the management and conservation of UNESCO World Heritage Site of Historic Cairo. Application to Al-Ashraf Street.

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Description

Egypt is very rich with archaeological sites. These sites contribute significantly to the tourism industry which is one of the main income sources for the Egyptian economy. However, the management and conservation of these sites is a challenging task due to the ever-increasing threats such as population growth, urbanization, pollution, natural hazards, among others. These threats result in the gradual deterioration of these sites, and hence results in significant economic losses. Interdisciplinary management is fundamental to the conservation of these sites, particularly when dealing with large areas such as Historic Cairo which contains more than 600 listed historical structures. Unfortunately, however, Historic Cairo suffers from the following: 1) deterioration of its historical structures at an alarming rate; 2) poor site management; 3) disempowerment of local communities, thus depriving them of their role as main stakeholders and beneficiaries of heritage; 4) deteriorated infrastructure resulting in decrease in quality of life and hampering socio-economic growth; 5) rising of groundwater level inside historical structures; 6) absence of plans for waste management; 7) poor security and safeguard of heritage sites resulting in trespassing on historical structures by misuse, demolition, wrong restorations, illegal construction activities, and so forth; 8) lack of studies related to structural assessment, safety evaluation and health monitoring of its historical structures; and finally 9) absence of plans for adaptive re-use of historical structures after restoration. All these problems are epitomized in Al-Ashraf street and its historical structures which makes it an ideal choice for the application of this study. The street is about 600m long starting near to Al-Sayeda Nafisa square and ending at the intersection with Ahmed Ibn Tolon street. It contains 8 historical structures dating back mainly to the Fatimid (969-1171) and Mamluk (1250-1517) periods and constructed primarily from stone and brick masonry; among them are the Domes of Al-Ashraf Khalil, Fatma Khatun and Shajar Al-Durr. In specific, the two domes of Al-Ashraf Khalil and Fatma Khatun are suffering from a series problems that may lead to their total loss if no action plans would be taken to conserve them. The research proposed in this project will be highly complementary to previous studies carried out for the conservation of Historic Cairo. In 2010, the URHC (Urban Regeneration of Historic Cairo) (urhcproject.org) was launched by the UNESCO-WHC to assist the Egyptian government in the management of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Historic Cairo. The URHC project, which was completed in 2014, was concerned with the whole of Historic Cairo. Its wide and overarching scale therefore did not enable detailed studies such as those related to groundwater studies, structural aspects, health monitoring and specific conservation plans, which are all dealt with in this proposal, to be addressed. In contrast, aspects such crafts, violations after the revolution of 25 January 2011, housing rehabilitations, are not given primary focus in this proposal. The proposed research will however make direct use of the findings and recommendations of the URHC study, particularly in terms of using GIS as a management tool, conducting surveys on the local population, and addressing the problem of waste management. Importantly, focusing on only one street within Historic Cairo will enable detailed conservation and intervention methodologies which incorporate disaggregated structural, groundwater, waste management and community-specific solutions to be developed.

Objectives

The Newton Fund builds research and innovation partnerships with developing countries across the world to promote the economic development and social welfare of the partner countries.

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Location

The country, countries or regions that benefit from this Programme.

Egypt

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