Towards a Sustainable Preservation Approach To Egyptian Heritage Neighborhoods The case of Heliopolis Dissertation for the achievement of the Academic Grade Doctor of Engineering (Dr.-Ing.) at the Faculty of Spatial Planning, Technical University of Dortmund, Germany Presented by: Sara Moustafa Gouda M.Sc. in Urban Design September , 2015 Title page: Designed by author using the photos of the following sources: Photos of the Heliopolis Heritage Initiative Competition for Photography 2012, from top to bottom: ‘Way of life in Heliopolis’ by Ahmed Ahmed; Sherif Louis; and Mohamed Reda Morsi. I Towards a Sustainable Preservation Approach To Egyptian Heritage Neighborhoods The case of Heliopolis Dissertation for the achievement of the Academic Grade Doctor of Engineering (Dr.- Ing.) at the Faculty of Spatial Planning, Technical University of Dortmund, Germany Presented by: Sara Moustafa Gouda M.Sc. in Urban Design Supervisors: Univ. Prof’in Dip.-Ing. Christa Reicher Head of the Department of Urban Design and Land-use Planning at the Faculty of Spatial Planning at TU- Dortmund Univ.Prof. Dip.-Ing. Architect Ulli Meisel ILS Aachen, Honorary Professor in the Department and Institute of Housing and Design Basics at RWTH Aachen Examiner: Univ. Prof’in Dr. Soheir Zaki Hawas Architecture & Urban Design Professor at the Department of Architecture at the Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Egypt II Zum Nachhaltigen Erhaltungs-Ansatz Ägyptischer Denkmalquartiere Am Beispiel Heliopolis Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doctor-Ingenieur (Dr.-Ing.) an der Fakultät Raumplanung, Technische Universität Dortmund, Deutschland Vorgelegt von: Sara Moustafa Gouda M.Sc. in Urban Design Gutachter/innen: Univ. Prof’in Dip.-Ing. Christa Reicher Leiterin des Fachgebiets Städtebau, Stadtgestaltung und Bauleitplanung an der Fakultät Raumplanung der TU- Dortmund Univ.Prof. Dip.-Ing. Architekt Ulli Meisel ILS Aachen, Honorarprofessor an der RWTH Aachen Lehrstuhl und Institut für Wohnbau und Grundlagen des Entwerfens Prüferin: Univ. Prof’in Dr. Soheir Zaki Hawas Architektur und Städtebau Professorin am Fachgbiet Architektur an der Ingenieur Fakultät der Kairo Universität, Ägypten III Submitted By: Sara Gouda [email protected] Doctoral Committee: Head of Committee & Principle Supervisor: Univ.Prof’in Dip.-Ing. Christa Reicher Principle Supervisor: Univ.Prof. Dip.-Ing. Architect Ulli Meisel External Examiner: Univ. Prof’in Dr. Soheir Zaki Hawas Disputation Date: 14. September, 2015 All rights, including the rights of reproduction, distribution and the translation Dissertation, accepted by the Faculty of Spatial Planning, Urban Design, of the Technical University Dortmund, Germany IV DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, Sara Gouda declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and it has been generated by me as the result of my own original research. Where it is indebted to the work of others, acknowledgements have duly been made. Sara Gouda, Dortmund, September 14, 2015 V ACKNOWLEDGMENT At this point of finalizing my dissertation, I would like to thank all persons who supported and helped me until reaching this stage. This dissertation would not have been possible without the help of so many people. It was a result of a long journey that is still going on. I hereby want to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to my committee chair Prof’in Christa Reicher and Prof. Ulli Meisel for their continuous constructive follow up and regular fruitful discussions. I also owe a deep thanks to Prof. Dr. Soheir Zaki Hawas, from Egypt providing me ample time to discuss all needed issues. I also want to thank my father (RIP) who taught us that the real investment is in learning, offering us the best education possible in order to grow-up as competitive unique personalities. All my gratitude goes to you my father, who would have certainly wished to see this day coming as much as I wish his presence today. My gratitude goes also to my beloved mother and my brothers and sisters for their encouragement, Hossam, Dalia, Dina and Mohamed. Seven years ago I have shared my dreams of studying abroad with my fiancé at that time, Abdelhamid who believed in me and promised me support in every step I take. Seeing the dream coming true, no words are enough to express my gratitude to you and the kids, bearing all the hard time and stress throughout the previous years. Special thanks go to Prof. Eckhardt Gerber who introduced me to Prof. Reicher, strongly recommending me to her and encouraging me to carry out my PhD at the TU-Dortmund. I also want to thank the small circle of PhD peers; you were very helpful Lars Nieman, Jan Polivka, Mais Jafari and above all Ahmed El-Atrash for your useful conversations and comments. Last but not least, I want to thank all the people who provided me with information or Data useful for the study thanking Ahmed Mansour, Choukri Asmar and Michel Hanna of the Heliopolis Heritage Initiative (HHI) for sharing their dreams about Heliopolis. Sara Gouda Dortmund, September 14, 2015 VI In memory of my father may his soul RIP AbdelHamid, Omar, Adam & Mom my beloved ones VII ABSTRACT The Egyptian neighborhoods of the 19th and early 20th century are heritage neighborhoods that have introduced new urban patterns, planning concepts and architectural styles that have a unique character and value worth preservation. These neighborhoods are currently facing different types of encroachments that form a pressure (P) on their state (S) resulting into negative impacts (I) adversely affecting its various qualities. These impacts (I) stimulate responses (R) seeking solutions for a better state (S1). In the late 90’s in Egypt there was a political interest in 19th and early 20th century neighborhoods which resulted in carrying out several studies on these neighborhoods also called recent heritage. Ten case studies were chosen in Cairo including Heliopolis. The study on Heliopolis came up with recommendations mainly focusing on heritage and urban oriented guidelines yet missing economic, social and environmental considerations. These aspects should be by now put into account when dealing with recent heritage neighborhoods. Sustainability as a broad concept encompasses these aspects. Adapting a sustainability approach for heritage neighborhood preservation, would enhance its performance by respecting the different qualities such as the urban, social, and economic ones beside the environmental and cultural. The research at hand tries to fill the knowledge gap in the field of sustainability within existing neighborhoods through the reconciliation between both sustainability and preservation in a way that suits the Egyptian context. The conceptual framework of the research at hand adopts the DPSIR-framework developed by European Environmental Agency and extends it into a DPSIR(1,2,3)-SS aiming to better identify the fragmented problem within the chosen case study of Heliopolis breaking it down into its different elements. The aim of this research focuses mainly on three issues; 1) to define the sustainable state (SS) criteria within the recent heritage neighborhoods, 2) to determine the state (S) of the case study of Heliopolis, and 3) to investigate and recommend suitable responses (R) aiming to enhance the state of the neighborhood. In order to do so, the research carries out a mixed-method approach based on a single case study using qualitative and quantitative data. In order to know the sustainable state (SS) qualities; a criteria-based catalogue was initially formed from existing literature, determining the important sustainability and preservation principles. This template forms the ground for a semi-structured expert interview based on a questionnaire which asks experts about the importance and the applicability of each criterion. After analyzing the interviews the research will be able to come up with a preliminary sustainable state (SS) catalogue that will be partially tested on Heliopolis assessing its state (S). Furthermore, possible intervention measures and strategies are proposed for the three responses (R) HHI, NOUH and the governmental decision makers within Heliopolis. The extensive analysis of the respondents’ answers has shown that the proposed localized sustainable state catalogue could be a legitimate approach for recent heritage neighborhoods. As a conclusion, this study has revealed that the HHI as a grassroots has a big role as a response (R) on protecting the heritage and spreading community awareness on the neighborhood scale. The NOUH is a nucleus for a much stronger entity that would be capable of firmly preserving the heritage neighborhoods with distinctive value. Environmental aspects are important for sustainable preservation in Egypt, but there are no enough instruments that encourage energy-efficient approaches in addition to the absence of a political readiness. The catalogue could serve as a guide for assessing heritage neighborhoods which can be utilized by relevant response-bodies. The asked experts agreed on importance of most of the sustainability criteria; however their preferences could vary as seen with NOUH and HHI. Finally, the research findings suggest recommendations addressing the different responses (R) towards a sustainable state for the Egyptian heritage neighborhoods. Keywords: 19th and early 20th century Egyptian neighborhoods, recent heritage, sustainable preservation, criteria-based sustainability, DPSIR-framework VIII ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Ägyptische Quartiere des 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhunderts