reGREENeration of Historic Cairo. Hara al-Nabawiya and Bayt Madkour in al-Darb Al-Ahmar

Abstract

In historical contexts like Cairo with rapid informal growth, the role of open spaces as Haras or courtyards are no longer seen as components of a very particular ecological system or centres of social encounters. The demand for housing and the relative cost-benefit has unleashed vast and illegal densification in height within neglected and dilapidated urban areas, where any available space represents an opportunity for investments and to accommodate the immediate needs. The research explores the on-going disfiguration in the al-Darb al-Ahmar of Historic Cairo, and investigates the results along with the current international calls for the respect of the integrity of the environmental and socio-economic characteristics of tangible and intangible heritage in the World Heritage Site. The objective is to profit from the remaining courtyards of historic buildings and Haras spaces in Historic Cairo to propose urban strategies that would restore such historic attributes, reformulate an ecologically passive urban fabric and generate means for community development. This proactive approach is hopefully a necessary step for stopping the demolition, deterioration, and obsolescence of districts of high historical values.