URBAN CONSERVATION PROJECTS OF CAIRO: A CRITIQUE OF THE LOCAL LITERATURE
Introduction
Historic Cairo is one of the major World Heritage sites; it embraces a massive amount of built heritage and rich traditional societies. Since the 1980s, Historic Cairo (HC) has undertaken many preservation efforts orchestrated by various organizations. However, the urban conservation process of HC has provided almost nothing in the way of critical assessment or objective examination, while consuming plenty of resources. The crux of this chapter is to observe and explore the local literature produced toward the urban conservation process of HC. Although the literature resources are limited to the last 35 years of local newspapers and relevant scientific magazines, the study attempts to highlight some vital and effective sources to help us understand a way out of the continuing dilemma of uncertainty toward the urban conservation of HC. However, the study will provide an overview of experiences of urban conservation and the different key players within the process of criticism. It is necessary to investigate the modes of criticism of local writers and experts forming the main argument of this study. Revealing different trends of criticism of urban conservation in HC through various critics’ feedback, this chapter classifies them into three categories: (a) critical commentary, (b) theoretical criticism for awareness, and (c) public criticism. This chapter highlights the essentiality for rigorous assessment rather than subjective criticism in order to introduce approaches based on post-operative and quantitative analyses toward reviewing the urban conservation interventions.
Urban conservation interventions within Historic Cairo
Historic Cairo consists of many urban quarters and displays a rich built heritage with distinctive architectural styles. Despite three managing authorities and several policies produced during the 1960s and 1970s to increase urban conservation, a precipitous decline in the condition of building stock occurred because of undirected and weak policies. Later, a remarkable change occurred in the national economic strategy, encouraging foreign expertise to interfere in the conservation process under the supervision of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). Most of the international missions focused on restoring monuments without developing the surrounding urban context. However, the immense number of monuments that were dispersed throughout the dense and complex urban fabric challenged the SCA. Opportunely, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized the potential of HC and declared it a World Heritage Site in 1980 to meet a tourism-led conservation challenge (UNESCO 1985). Clearly, this was the first initiative for an urban-scale development rather than preservation of individual historic buildings. In addition, further international agencies joined the horde via successful restoration projects. Policies displayed the narrow scope of decision-makers by focusing on the development of individual buildings rather than urban conservation. Thus, the ambiguous differentiation between preservation and conservation kept emerging in Historic Cairo.
Since 1995, the strategic objectives shifted toward proper conservation methods by introducing new managing agencies, such as the Historic Cairo Restoration Centre (HCRC) located at the citadel complex and the Architectural Heritage Preservation Committee, both of which report to the Prime Minister. These centres worked on designating built heritage and proposing development plans. Unfortunately, the HCRC suffered lack of implementation due to its inferiority compared to other government organizations. Despite these challenges, other urban conservation agencies developed several other quarters, such as the development of Darb Al Asfar, the rehabilitation of Darb Al Ahmar, and the establishment of Azhar Park (by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture), the development of the Coptic Quarter, and the upgrading of the Gamalia Quarter (with UNDP/USAID funds). Generally, historic quarters were losing their beauty and visual harmony and were eventually filled up with spontaneous unpleasant architecture that is short on style and identity. In 2003, the Ministry of Culture introduced the National Organization for Urban Harmony (NOUH) to promote beauty and harmony measures in deteriorated quarters. However, to complete the overall picture of involved stakeholders, some other key players need to be mentioned.
Critics and channels of criticism
There are various key players involved in the process of urban conservation, which according to Nakamura and Smallwood (1980) constitute four groups. The first group are the policy-makers; they formulate directives and indirectly monitor the implementation process with low interference. The second group are the formal implementers, which includes government agencies provided with legitimate and clear authority to carry out directives. The third group are the intermediaries, who assist in the implementation process. The last group of actors are generally the examiners, evaluators, or critics of the process and final product. Usually they are expert practitioners or academics aware of the field of conservation of historic quarters and their production is the focus of this study. This group tends to criticize and share their observations through the public local media, or by consultation reports, if required.
Critics tend to distinguish the objectives of the urban conservation schemes and final outcome via a series of criticism channels. Simply, they provide critical insights of the developing programmes from a professional perspective. Critics operate in a free environment, where any feedback is potentially useful. Therefore, it is vital to highlight their literature to clarify their up-to-date and flexible reflections toward the urban conservation interventions. Critics discuss how the interventions can be improved to achieve their goal, exploit the types and levels of resources, and express the projects’ outcomes toward target populations. All these questions may be difficult for other key players to tackle, yet they are accomplished through the literature of critics.
FIGURE 11.1 Examples of Egyptian architecture magazine covers – Alam El-Benaa (left) and Medina Magazine (right)
Source: author.
Local channels of criticism
Written media or literature is the tool for data collection, since it provides a wide range of contributions in the field of research. Generally, written media helps in producing the means of communication between the critics and readers with an emphasis on current projects. Written documents are based on authorship and access. First, authorship refers to the originality of the materials. Second, access refers to the availability of the documents to most people. Therefore, the study relies on sources that fulfil both conditions. The primary sources are derived from public newspapers and other text sources, such as scientific magazines. During the last four decades, there were few scientific magazines related to architecture and urbanism in Egypt, yet the study will highlight two in addition to the public newspapers, as shown in Figure 11.1.
Magazine 1: Alam El-Benaa
Alam El-Benaa (AB) magazine started publishing in the 1980s, offering research studies and various criticism articles. The Centre for Planning and Architectural Studies published AB monthly and in a bilingual format. The magazine led enormous research efforts in investigating the present and future of architecture and urbanism in Arab cities. Running for 20 years through 2000, AB covered various topics, scientific articles, field research, and in-depth interviews by both academics and professionals. Throughout its tenure, AB published more than 40 articles related to the preservation of monuments and conservation of historic quarters. In addition, for five years the magazine established a section acknowledging the historic monuments from an archaeological perspective.
Magazine 2: Medina
In 1998, 18 years after the first AB issue, Medina Magazine (MM) produced its first issue; it had a new modern look with promising vision. The magazine was founded by a group of academics, designers, and artists related to the fields of architecture and urban design. This magazine presented various articles about culture and the built environment; it contested aspects of design, decoration, structural work, and student activities. With a wide spectrum, its ambition was to reach the markets of the surrounding nations in the Middle East, encouraging a focus on the surrounding cities, and again with English and Arabic languages. During ten years of publishing, MM produced a large number of articles concentrating on conservation efforts and revitalization.
Therefore, both magazines and public newspapers during this period shaped the backbone for most of the literature surveyed during this study. The samples of articles selected were chosen according to their topic and keywords. It was a great challenge to gather and analyse the literature produced over the last 40 years into a concise explanatory research framework to criticize previous critical research work. The study managed to categorize different trends of criticism in that time toward the conservation of Historic Cairo.
Trends of criticism in the local literature
Critical commentary by professionals
Critical commentary deals with the present efforts and activities in the field of conservation; it covers evaluation by interpreting single projects. This mode of criticism reveals the current practices with reference to historical events. AB articles mostly deliver this criticism methodology and focus on preservation of monuments efforts. The main theme article (1983, issue no. 31: pp. 8–14) explored the methods of restoring monuments during the early restoration missions in 1972, with special interest in emerging techniques of protection from deterioration. This article kept referring to the monuments’ spatial configuration and their relativity to historical events when constructed. However, this is not the only study that followed the same mode of criticism. Al Attar and Fawzi (1984, issue no. 50: pp. 10–11) presented research discussing the types of restoration within the Sabil of Om Abbas, tying their argument to the historical value of built heritage as a driver for restoration. This mode of critical literature continued throughout the magazine publications until the early issues of the 1990s.
On the other hand, MM had other modes of criticism but with little ‘critical commentary’. For instance, Nasser Rabat (2000, issue no. 13: 48), in ‘Restoration Projects Critiqued’, criticized the overall preservation efforts by drawing attention to the details of restoration procedures, and by utilizing criticism as a judgemental approach. In fact, at the time MM started publishing, the interest was focused on the methods of urban conservation rather than singular built heritage preservation, yet without scientific criteria for assessment. In contrast, AB pursued the same method of criticism and produced a special section called ‘Archaeological Review’ (‘Alam Al Athar’) that interpreted the current restoration projects based on historic briefings. The editors of this section were SCA staff members, explicitly expressing that criticism focused on their method of preservation.
Theoretical criticism for awareness by professionals
Theoretical criticism is a form of critical interpretation based on a methodology and scientific knowledge rather than individual views or reflections. Theoretical criticism is different than critical commentary, which was the previous trend, because it succeeded in addressing other factors, such as socio-economic, technological, and ideological issues. In fact, due to the strong connection between criticism and theory, criticism that is more pragmatic was raised, especially within the articles of MM. A large number of articles presented within MM had a problem-solving orientation. May Ibrashy (2000, issue no. 12) discussed the challenges of living cemeteries and the possibilities of resolving them via projecting tourism activities. Another attempt was by Ismail Serageldin (2000, issue no. 13) when he proposed new strategies and methodologies for restoring Historic Cairo. Here, it should be noted that both articles relied on theory for unravelling the contemporary challenges, yet without a scientific empirical examination. On the other hand, there were a few samples of theoretical criticism within AB magazine. For instance, the chief editor Abdel Baky Ibrahim (1981, issue no. 7) mentioned in an editorial the notion of revitalization from a theoretical perspective in order to solve the dilemma of developing Historic Cairo. This important article was published at a time when the government was in the conceptual and planning phases of developing Historic Cairo. Nevertheless, the term ‘revitalization’ was never mentioned in any of the proposed plans or enforced policies. Another theory-based article with high significance was ‘Rehabilitation with Public Participation’ (Said 1999, issue no. 216: pp. 4–7), which acknowledged public participation in the conservation process, again with no official response or change in the conservation approaches to Historic Cairo.
Nevertheless, both magazines utilized more ‘theoretical criticism’ when each published a special issue related to the conservation of Historic Cairo (issue no. 7 of AB in 1981 and the May issue of MM in 2000). Both had a rich list of topics, including field investigations, overview of case studies, historical representations, and future visions as concluding articles. Furthermore, both issues had a degree of theory-based interpretations.
Public criticism by non-professionals
The final trend of criticism in Cairene local literature is ‘public criticism’, where the critics make their judgements in the public sphere or in the public media. Accordingly, newspapers and magazines are convenient channels for disseminating their criticisms. However, newspapers constituted the lion’s share of this trend, usually via interviews organized by newspaper journalists. For instance, Ramadan (1998) in Gomhuria newspaper stated:
When Abdallah El Attar, Chief of the Islamic Antiquities, was interviewed concerning the restoration efforts in Historic Cairo, he confessed clearly that he knew very little about these monuments or the places they are located at. Plus, most what he knew was how the restorations took place, what are the materials used, and the amounts needed.
In addition, when Al Attar was questioned about the number of monuments he supervised, he was unable to quote a figure. The journalist concluded by criticizing the chief’s professionalism and knowledge.
Commonly, this mode of criticism focuses on single topics under a magnifying lens. Another case at Ahram newspaper (2004) referred to the administrative conflicts between the Ministry of Endowments and SCA in the conservation efforts, due to challenges of ownership and control over built heritage. Both authorities perform development according to their interest and without considering the other’s rights and vision.
On the other hand, public criticism has been used to countenance and cheer the government’s efforts in conserving Historic Cairo. Most public criticism has emphasized the developments as safeguarding monuments and promoting beautification in general with positive feedback to satisfy the political regime. In addition, the public media were very conservative due to the regime control, which used to filter and change the reports to suit their interest. They obviously had less interest in other aspects of urban conservation, such as enhancing the socio-economic dimension of local communities. However, when two young journalists published reportage (Zein El Din and Yassin 2009) on the present state of the SCA/UNDP project in Gamalia, they expressed the dissatisfaction of local communities with the urban conservation intervention due to its neglect of the people. This was the only case where nationally funded projects were criticized negatively in public media and it was not repeated until after the regime change in 2011.
On the other hand, MM was more elaborate toward the discipline of urban conservation in Historic Cairo. There were a few articles that had both positive and negative criticism. Some focused on specific projects, such as ‘Al Darb Al Asfar: Limited Restoration to Wider Conservation’ (Abada 2000, issue no. 13). Others had a broader perspective, such as ‘Gentrification in Medieval Cairo?’ (Hammond and Kassem 2000, issue no. 13). Both articles were very informative and objective by encouraging other future interventions. In addition, both emphasized the drawbacks for future avoidance, even though this demonstrates a significant difference in the freedom of publishing between public newspapers and privately owned magazines.
Urban conservation of Historic Cairo necessitates further assessment approaches
This chapter started by revealing the history of urban conservation in Historic Cairo and the roles of key players, specifically critics. In general, it is necessary to criticize the efforts of conservation, yet it is significant that almost none of the articles investigated the experience through a post-operative methodology. Despite the massive local literature produced through newspapers and scientific magazines, no empirical methodology with definite examination criteria was implemented to evaluate any of the interventions of urban conservation. Urban conservation in Egypt is still heeding philosophical criticism based on intellectual knowledge and background. However, because there are enormous funds available to preserve and conserve, the time has come to apply new assessment methods of evaluation toward the urban interventions at historic sites. Personally, I believe that future critical literature should follow objective criticism rather than multi-coloured subjective interpretations. This is in order to develop more efficient and effective development methodologies. For instance, there are several methods that may be utilized to evaluate the urban conservation interventions, such as the ‘Policy, Plan and Programme Evaluation’, which determines the intervention’s effectiveness and efficiency, focuses on the implementation of objectives, and monitors the resources used across objectives and strategies. Cost-effectiveness assessments or cost-benefit analyses assess the cost of allocated resources against goals achieved. Another assessment approach is the ‘Goals Achievement Matrix’ that evaluates the merits of two or more approaches to a problem or objective. This provides an assessment of alternative approaches that reduce personal or political bias in the implementation process. There are various approaches that assess the interventions of developing Historic Cairo. Such objective approaches will give space to add other substantial factors within the assessment approach rather than philosophical or theoretical judgements. Therefore, critics may be required to change their evaluation techniques towards more pragmatic and systematic approaches in investigating the performance of urban conservation. Unlike architecture and art that may accept criticism from purely aesthetic viewpoints, judging urban conservation is more complicated and complex, especially in a context of physical suffering and social pain which exists within Historic Cairo.
References
Abada, G. (2000) ‘Al Darb Al Asfar: Limited Restoration to Wider Conservation’. Medina Magazine 13: 58–61.
Ahram (2004) ‘Islamic Monuments under Assault’. Ahram newspaper, 5 August.
Alam El-Benaa (1983) ‘Restoration of Islamic Monuments in Cairo’. Alam El-Benaa magazine 31: 8–14.
Al Attar, A. and M. Fawzi (1984) ‘Water Fountain of Khedive Ismail – Om Abbas’. Alam El-Benaa magazine 50: 10–11.
Hammond, A. and M. Kassem (2000) ‘Gentrification in Medieval Cairo?’ Medina Magazine 13: 64–7.
Ibrahim, A. (1981) ‘Participation of Planners and Architects in the Preservation of Built Heritage’. Alam El-Benaa magazine 7: 5.
Ibrashy, M. (2000) ‘Of the Living: Cairo’s Al-Qarafa’. Medina Magazine 12: 42–6.
Nakamura, R. T. and F. Smallwood (1980) The Politics of Policy Implementation. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Rabbat, N. (2000) ‘Restoration Projects Critiqued’. Medina Magazine 13: 48.
Ramadan, A. (1998) ‘By a Presidential Decree: Cairo returns to its Fatimid Origins’. Al Gomhuria newspaper, issue no. 1041, 21 January.
Said, S. Z. (1999) ‘Rehabilitation with People Participation’. Alam El-Benaa magazine 216: 4–7.
Serageldin, I. (2000) ‘Organizing Conservation: A Proposal for Restoring Historic Cairo’. Medina Magazine 13: 38–42.
UNESCO (1985) The Conservation of the Old City of Cairo. Paris: UNESCO Publications.
Zein El Din, M. and Y. Yassin (2009) ‘20 Million Pounds for Muizz Street’s Development. Merchants: Before the Development was Prosperous’. Al Gomhuria newspaper (Arabic source translated into English by the author), 4 October, p. 7.