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UNIVERSITIES AND THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS AN AUC-AUB CONVERSATION TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PREFACE PART I: AUC TAHRIR CAMPUS CASE INTRODUCTION THEME 3: THE EXTERNAL CONTEXT: LEGAL AND URBAN I. The AUC and Neighborhood Overview 6 MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS AUC Fact Sheet 3.1 Urban Management Framework 20 Location Context 3.2 Legislative Framework 20 Historical Context 3.3 Real Estate Market Influences 20 Significance 3.4 Downtown – a Cultural Hub 21 II. Research Methodology 7 3.5 Conclusion 22 Neighborhood Limits Background Research Workshop Design: Data Collection and Analysis PART II: AUC NEW CAIRO CASE INTRODUCTION 24 III. The AUC and Neighborhood Overview THEME 1: RATIONALE FOR NEIGHBORHOOD ENGAGEMENT AUC Fact Sheet 1.1 AUC’s Challenges and Opportunities 9 Location Context Accessibility and Securitization of Downtown Historical Context AUC: A Cultural Hub in Tahrir Square Significance 1.2 Neighborhood’s Challenges and Opportunities 9 IX. Research Methodology 25 Neighborhood Stakeholders Profile Neighborhood Limits Challenges and Opportunities 10 Background Research 1.3 Neighborhood Expectations from AUC 10 Workshop Design: Data Collection and Analysis 1.4 Conclusion THEME 1: RATIONALE FOR NEIGHBORHOOD ENGAGEMENT THEME 2: THE EDGE: PHYSICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC 4.1 AUC’s Challenges and Opportunities 26 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CAMPUS AND NEIGHBORHOOD AUC Stakeholders Identification 2.1 AUC Campus Site 11 AUC Stakeholders’ Needs 2.2 Neighborhood Physical Profile 11 4.2 Neighborhood’s Challenges and Opportunities 27 Overview Neighborhood Stakeholders Profile Usage and Typologies Challenges and Opportunities Mobility 4.3 Neighborhood Expectations from AUC 27 2.3 Activities in the Neighborhood 16 4.4 Conclusion 27 AUC Community Other Neighborhood Users 2.4 Conclusion 19 i THEME 2: THE EDGE: PHYSICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PART III: AUC STRATEGIC VISION RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CAMPUS AND NEIGHBORHOOD 5.1 AUC Campus Site 28 THEME 4: INGREDIENTS FOR A UNIVERSITY ANCHOR STRATEGY 5.2 Neighborhood Physical Profile 28 7.1 Understanding of a Successful Anchor Strategy 40 Overview 7.2 Commitment by the University 41 Usage and Typologies AUC Civic Engagement History Townscape and Streetscape AUC Commitment to Civil Engagement Mobility 7.3 AUC Neighborhood Initiative 41 Proposed Institutional Set-up 5.3 Activities in the Neighborhood 36 Stakeholders Engagement Strategy AUC Community Potential Interventions and Partnerships Other Neighborhood Users 7.4 Conclusion 43 5.4 Conclusion 37 THEME 3: THE EXTERNAL CONTEXT: LEGAL AND LOOKING TO THE NEXT 10 YEARS 44 URBAN MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS REFERENCES 45 6.1 Urban Management Framework 38 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 46 6.2 Legislative Framework 38 6.3 Real Estate Market Influences 38 6.4 Downtown – a Cultural Hub 38 6.5 Conclusion 38 ii PREFACE The AUC has a long tradition of civic engagement through a variety of programs, however in the wake of the Arab uprisings many institutions – including the AUC – started asking how they can contribute to the wider social good beyond their distinctive mission to educate the next generation of citizens. The question is not just about meaningful engagement but how an urban university might play a potentially transformative role in its neighborhood and city. The establishment of a Neighborhood Initiative presented an opportunity for the AUC to reflect on place-based strategies that might combine elements of civic engagement and anchor strategies relevant to the region at this moment in time, in both its Tahrir and New Cairo campuses, with their diverse potentials and challenges. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report presents the main results of preparatory work conducted The information presented in this report is based on two levels of • Theme 1: Rationale For Neighborhood Engagement over the past six months to support the American University in Cairo research that aimed to deepen the understanding of the place and • Theme 2: The Edge: Physical, Social And Economic (AUC) launch of its “neighborhood initiative” (NI) and to inform people within AUC neighborhoods in downtown and New Cairo. Relationships Between Campus And Neighborhood AUC-AUB dialogue on the interaction between universities and their The first level involved conducting background research that • Theme 3: The External Context: Legal And Urban Management neighborhoods. This will be discussed through the “Universities covered the urban management and legal framework governing the Frameworks and their Neighborhoods: an AUC-AUB Conversation” symposium neighbourhood and any interaction with the AUC. The second level to be held in November 2015. The aim of this symposium is to raise produced a set of data that was collected through field work (two The report concludes with Part III that places the AUC-NI within the awareness in Egypt on urban universities and their roles in their AUC Campus in Context workshops in August and October 2015) wider AUC strategic vision for the coming decade in developing neighborhoods and the city, and to hold focused discussions on the that included urban patterns and stakeholders mapping. The urban a place-based, comprehensive, and institutionally-embedded AUC and American University in Beirut (AUB) cases. It will strive to patterns mapping surveyed typologies of land uses, activities and framework for its anchor strategy approach that engages with recommend specific next steps for the AUC’s Tahrir Square and New their locations, and mobility and traffic patterns. The stakeholders the University’s neighboring community. This section includes the Cairo campuses and the AUB’s Ras Beirut campus. mapping and analysis included taking stock of existing neighbors fourth analytical theme: as well as visitors to the area and users of spaces and services. • Theme 4: Ingredients For A University Anchor Strategy The AUC-NI adopts a place-based strategic approach that focuses on physical and environmental improvements, combined with a The report documents all these efforts and is organized in three Acknowledgement is due to the Neighborhood Initiative at the AUB civic engagement approach (the social development side) and an parts, with two parts focusing on each AUC campus: Tahrir Square for its cooperation and financial support of the preparatory work of anchor strategy (the economic development side). In this sense the and New Cairo. Each of these two parts covers three themes that the AUC-NI through a Ford Foundation grant. Also, acknowledging AUC, similar to its sister AUB, is striving to promote sustainable organizes the presentation of the results of the preparatory work: the effort of a dedicated research team that worked under the development inside and around its campuses in a manner that supervision and guidance of three AUC faculty members. Last, supports the creation/preservation of a just, livable, and diverse but not least acknowledging the initiative and effort of the AUC neighborhood. President, Lisa Anderson. iii PART I AUC TAHRIR CAMPUS CASE INTRODUCTION Part I of this report provides a contextual understanding of AUC Tahrir Square campus to inform the discussion during the “Universities and their Neighborhoods: An AUC-AUB Conversation” symposium. I. THE AUC AND NEIGHBORHOOD OVERVIEW AUC Fact Sheet Location Context The American University in Cairo (AUC) was established in 1919, and has become one of For 88 years the AUC campus was in the heart of downtown Cairo, Tahrir Square. Despite the leading universities in Africa and the Middle East. AUC currently offers 36 Bachelor’s the deteriorating condition of the buildings in downtown and low residential occupancy rate degrees, 44 Masters’ degrees, and two doctoral degrees in applied sciences and in downtown that has dropped 60% over the past 50 years (2006 census figures compared engineering, in addition to various graduate diplomas, and 13 multi-disciplinary research to 1960 occuancy) (IIUD and Zakaria, 2011), it remains a central and vibrant area in Cairo centers. The diversity of programs offered by the AUC and its esteemed position in the region frequented by thousands on a daily basis for shopping at the affordable retail outlets and attracts an increasing student population, reaching 6,880 undergraduate and graduate social gathering at local coffee shops, not to mention the numerous cinema theatres, art students (Fall 2014), with an operating budget of almost $162 million (2014-2015) and an galleries and performance spaces. endowment value of $595 million (2013-2014). The AUC’s continuing education program was established in 1950, which currently serves over 17,000 students annually in non- credit-courses and contracted training programs (DAIR, 2015). Since, the main academic activities moved to the New Cairo campus, the Tahrir Square campus has been primarily Historic Context functioning through the School of Continuing Education (SCE) and other cultural events. Downtown Cairo, also known as Khedival Cairo was developed by Khedive Ismail in the late 1880s to showcase a modern view of Egypt to the world leaders invited to the grand opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Downtown did not become a cosmopolitan center of commerce and entertainment until the 1930s-1940s with the influx of foreigners to Egypt (Raymond, 2001). The socioeconomic dynamic in downtown witnessed numerous changes tied to political changes, such as the establishment of the Republic in 1952, the withdrawal of foreigners from Egypt, and the “open door” (Infitah) economic policies in the 1970s. 6 Political Significance of Location 1 Egyptian Museum of Antiquitites 1 2

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