Cairo Case Pavilion

Date: 2011.09.24 | Category: UBPA Display (Central) | Tags: ADAA,AKTC,al-Azhar Park,Egypt,historic buildings,monuments,socio-economic development,UBPA case,UBPA Display

Cairo Case Pavilion

Theme: “An Integrated Model for Revitalization of Historical Cities”

The project is an example of a socio-economic development project that is combined with physical upgrading, and that is responsive to community needs. Such a project sets a successful model worthy of replication, not only in Egypt, but throughout the developing world. It is innovative in terms of its perspective of urban development as it focuses on improving the lives of under-privileged local communities, through partnerships between the public and private sector, while preserving and upgrading the living environment. The fact that the project has developed a system for building upon local cultural assets means that such a system is replicable in different contexts. Already, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), building upon the experience of this project in Cairo, has started replicating it in Syria, India, Pakistan, and Tanzania.

In 1984, following a seminar on the urban problems of Cairo and given the scarcity of public green space in Cairo (a resident’s share of greenery comes to be a foot print) the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), decided to give a gift to the city in the form of a park. In selectinga site, the Aga Khan chose the one with the strongest link to the historic city of Cairo – an eighty acre dumpsite at the eastern edge of the historic city, adjacent Al-Darb Al-Ahmar (ADAA) one of Cairo’s highest neighborhoods in population density.

AKTC saw that the value of the historic city lay in the combination of its historic buildings and monuments, and its closely knit community with a strong sense of pride and identity and long history of craft and artisan traditions. With the effective support of the Cairo Governorate and the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, AKTC embarked on a comprehensive revitalization project which can be summarized into three main sectors: first, the transformation of the former dumpsite into a park (al-Azhar Park); second the restoration and subsequent re-use of the area’s historic monuments, and, third, the initiation of a integrated programme of social, and economic development, to improve the living standards of the local community, and by building its capacity, ensure that such efforts would be sustainable.

In order to encourage community ownership of the project, local residence was given nepotism in being employed as staff and the project offices were located inside the neighborhood to enhance integration.

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An artistic rendition of the Cairo Case Pavilion (expo2010.cn)

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An artistic rendition of the Cairo exhibition area (expo2010.cn)

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An artistic rendition of the Cairo exhibition area (expo2010.cn)

Send this picture as an ecard

An artistic rendition of the Cairo exhibition area (expo2010.cn)

Send this picture as an ecard

An artistic rendition of the Cairo exhibition area (expo2010.cn)

Originally posted 2010-09-14 00:30:15.

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