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Place Making As An Approach To Revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS) : A Case Study On Rod El Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo
Place Making As An Approach To Revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS) : A Case Study On Rod El Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo
Place Making As An Approach To Revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS) : A Case Study On Rod El Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo
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H O S T E D BY
Alexandria University
a
Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Al-Shatby, Alexandria, Egypt
b
Faculty of Architectural Engineering, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon
KEYWORDS Abstract In recent decades, urban renewal policies and continuous economic demand have caused
Neglected Urban Open the urban fabric of cities to become disorganized and detached, thus creating socially and econom-
Spaces; ically inefficient spaces. These spaces are increasing, unoccupied, and purposeless, although they
Leftover space; have so many potentials in terms of location, size, and history. They are military sites, vacant plots,
Place-making; industrial sites, deteriorated waterfronts, leftover space, oversized streets, and socially inefficient
Revitalization & successful green spaces. All of the aforementioned spaces are called ‘‘Neglected Urban Open Spaces” (NUOS).
spaces This paper places emphasis on using a place-making approach to revitalize the NUOS, particularly
‘‘Leftover Space (LS)”. Such revitalization shall be accomplished through following the principles
and forms of Place-Making, which proved that the integration of more than one form of place-
making can achieve intertwined multiple social, economic, and environmental benefits. Besides, it
highlighted that each section of place-making criteria does not have an equal interconnectedness
with the main objective of Place-making, which is to ‘‘create successful spaces”. Thus, this result
is considered as a methodological way to be generalized on the whole Egyptian community to
develop NUOS particularly ‘‘Leftover Space, no matter how different the properties, characteris-
tics, and circumstances of its population were. Finally, to demonstrate the validity of this approach,
the paper applies it to Rod El Farag Flyover in Egypt, Cairo, Shoubra district as a case study of
Leftover Space.
Ó 2019 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
1. Introduction
any measurement [15] Thus they either lack the sense of bal-
ance, well-being, cues of environment, or lose their memories
and meanings [16] On the ground, this terminology includes
‘‘leftover spaces, highways voids, vacant land, deteriorated
waterfront, sunken plazas, and vast parking lots”. On the
sociability level, they include parks, streets, and public green
spaces, which no longer serve as a social place for the commu-
nity [15,17]. Recent inclinations seek to exploit and develop
such unused spaces to serve the best interest of the public
realm, through the direct involvement of the community,
whereas public engagement is the key to the success of any pro-
ject. One of the successful development mechanisms is ‘‘Place-
making (PL)”, which could convert these urban voids to strong
elements within the urban fabric, rather than using them for
dumping debris and encroachments. This renovation trend
isn’t a new concept, where it is drawn from the Place Theory,
which aims to understand the places within their urban context
to add identity and image to the city. Thus this paper investi-
gates Place-making as an approach to develop NUOS specifi- Fig. 1 Shows the role of place-making in creating new social
cally leftover space (LS) existing next, along, or beneath bonds. Source: [11].
mobility elements like highways and railways [14] in harmony
with the needs of the community. It also addresses the interre-
lationships between the four sections of Place-making’s crite- defining the method of handling the problems, which lead to
ria: ‘‘Access & linkages, Image & Comfort, Uses & creating deteriorated places within cities. So this stage implies
Activities, and Sociability” through analyzing this LS and two policies: Urban Design by Place-Making Approach and
defining the most challenging barrier, along with shedding Cultural Heritage Conservation for the tangible and intangible
light on the key factors to overcome this barrier. Afterward, aspects of both community and buildings [4], using four tech-
it explores the relationship between each section of place- niques ‘‘Conservation, Rehabilitation, Restoration, and Recon-
making’s criteria and the main objective of the PL process. struction” [12]. The two previous stages are followed by the
This paper follows a methodology that encompasses several processes of Implementation and Financing [3]. The compre-
inquiry approaches, which are illustrated as follows: hensive development can integrate these two policies together
It reviews the literature on a place-making approach based to gain many advantages such as conserving heritage and cul-
on its ability to achieve urban development and the need for ture, providing job opportunities, and improving life quality
the Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS) for development. [6,5] based on the scale and objectives of these projects.
The paper uses the findings of a questionnaire as a part of Urban design has made it possible to achieve urban trans-
the analytical study of the research. This questionnaire is care- formation in many cities by adopting a place-making approach
fully developed to capture the perceptions of local stakeholders [4], which is the focus of the study. Whereas Place-making has
towards the Leftover Space of Rod El Farag Flyover in Shou- proved its aptitude for renovating existing spaces or creating
bra - Cairo. The questionnaire consists of two parts: the first newly livable, and meaningful places that offer various activi-
part was designed to evaluate the impact of highway construc- ties, through creative design and landscaping [11]. This tech-
tion on the surrounding environment in terms of ‘‘movement, nique depends on a fundamental principle ‘‘Community is the
safety, accessibility, pollution, and privacy”. The second was expert” to promote the social involvement in all of the devel-
designed to measure the four sections of PL’s criteria, which opment planning stages ‘‘Discovery, Planning, Design, Man-
are Access & linkages, Image & Comfort, Uses & Activities, agement, and Programming”. Additionally, this technique
and Sociability” to investigate the required improvements to relies on observing the environment and questioning the sur-
be made to this Leftover Space. rounding people to explore their demands and needs [8,9].
Through this participatory planning, inhabitants can gain
many skills concerning communication, representation, man-
2. Place making as an approach to be adopted for urban
agement, and problem-solving to understand their setting in
revitalization of NUOS (Galdini, 2016) and [6]
a better way and modify the public realm to meet their needs
(Govender, 2015). Such participation shall form social bonds
Conceptually, the term of Urban Revitalization refers to the among individuals towards a particular place ‘‘Place
improvement of the livability of any urban area by improving attachment, place identity, and place dependence” Fig. 1 [11].
the quality of the environment in parallel with respecting the Thus the designed places shall have a strong emotional connec-
socio-cultural aspects and features of the area [5]. Urban Revi- tion and value for the people [7].
talization is a multi-dimensional program, which can deal with Each city faces some urban challenges, such as lack of pub-
three axes ‘‘Place, Community, and Organizations or Rules” lic space within the urban context, and lack of public spaces
[2] in order to restructure the physical, cultural, social, and planning due to considering these spaces as areas within the
economic aspects of the deprived areas and spaces [6]. Urban commercial malls and private buildings. Further challenges
Revitalization can be achieved through four stages; Scoping, such as lack of participation & poor design can be encountered
Planning, Implementation, and Financing. Scoping includes per- owing to the lack of an integrated program that includes differ-
forming detailed analysis, while the Planning process aims at ent stakeholders [10]. Thus Place-making program has a trans-
Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS) 3
Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
4 N.S. Abd El Gawad et al.
Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS) 5
Fig. 7 Shows LS, which is divided into two parts with different
scales. Source: Google- Earth modified by the author-2019.
Sociability
Fig. 6 Shows The surrounding accessibility’s forms ‘‘streets,
paths, mobility’s elements” and traffic speed. Source: Urban
The last section is ‘‘Sociability”, which refers to the social
Planning Authority- modified by the author-2019.
life of people, who belong to different categories in terms of
Comfort & image age, gender, and class, to instill a strong sense of place and
attachment among them towards their community. Firstly,
The criterion of Comfort & Image concerns with the sense of the leftover space is considered as an abandoned space, spe-
comfort in terms of safety, cleanliness, the availability of seats cially the second part of it (promenade). This promenade failed
within, and surrounds the leftover space of Rod El Farag, to bring people closer to the Nile, whether in groups or indi-
besides the typology of the surrounding environment to leave vidually, because of the solid fences that hinder establishing
a good impression within users’ minds [9]. The leftover space visual connection between the people and the waterfront as
‘‘LS” is divided into two parts with different scales, with a total in Fig. 8. By observation, it was found that the dominant gen-
area of 8 acres, as in Fig. 7. The first part includes an unplanned der around the perimeter of the leftover space is mostly males.
waterfront promenade populated by homeless people. The other Then the presence of women and children start to increase
part is a vacant space overlooking a waterfront and used as a around the residential area. As for the surrounding environ-
warehouse for the remains of Abu El Ella Bridge, under the ment, the typology of the prevailing activity, a namely com-
supervision of the ‘‘Armed Forces‘‘. This LS suffers from lack mercial activity that represented by vendors, shops, and
of maintenance, and cleanliness, besides there are no seats malls- could give people the opportunity to interact together
within it as a whole. As for the surrounding buildings, they are and introduce themselves to others.
in a deteriorated state, in specific, Souq Al Balah w Al-Ghelal Indeed Shourba district had a variety of social classes over
(Dates and Crops Market), which is used as stores, and serve the time. In the past, the population structure of this district
as the district’s commercial zone (Urban Planning Authority). included different classes ranging from royal families to aristo-
cratic class members, who had a strong sense of place and
Uses & activities attachment towards their community. Nowadays almost all res-
idents are workers, displaced peasants, and wealth holders, who
It depends on how often do people of both genders and all are concerned with sharing the economic structure of ‘‘private-
ages tend to participate in activities within this LS, either indi- business owners” rather than enhancing the sense of place and
vidually or in groups [9]. Initially, the first part of the LS is an attachment. So, private business owners represent 70.2% and
unplanned waterfront promenade that lost its social role as an 35.2% of the population of the two selected neighborhoods
entertainment space because of the poor design and the lack of ‘‘El Sahel & Rod El Farag”, as per (Urban Planning Authority).
landscape facilities that alienate people to use it; as in Fig. 8.
The second part of this promenade is used as parking lots 3.2. Interviews analysis
for public transport. Generally, this promenade is used only
as a transportation platform for the public, with not so many As an integral part of the analytical studies, a field study-
frequent users. As for the second part of the LS ‘‘vacant including survey interviews and questionnaires with the
space”, it doesn’t have any active current activity or use, where residents.
it’s only used as a store as stated in the previous point. More-
over, by observing the layout of vacant space, there are some Access & linkage
light poles and some spots of green spaces with different trees,
as in Fig. 8. On the other hand, this part of the LS ‘‘vacant In the past, the first part of the LS ‘‘vacant space” could be
space” is surrounded by passive green open spaces, and boat accessed through the stairs of the promenade, located beside
marina and the surrounding buildings mostly have residential the gate before its closure, as in Fig. 8. Nowadays, this part
and commercial activities. of the LS is closed and access is forbidden. As for the pedes-
Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
6 N.S. Abd El Gawad et al.
Fig. 8 Shows some shots of the leftover space of Rod El Farag flyover ‘‘taken by the author’s camera-2019”.
trian movement, it is not safe enough because of the traffic this leftover space has no effective social use, and turning into
congestion due to the movement of vehicles and popular trans- a vacant space without users, as in Fig. 8. In addition, the lack
portation ‘‘Tok-Tok”. There are insufficient pedestrian side- of comfort leads to a low density of walkability activity in the
walks and pavements around LS. Consequently, crossing the first part of the LS (promenade). On the other hand, this left-
parallel streets to reach the LS, the promenade in specific, over space has a large area of non-used space, which qualifies it
exposes the pedestrians to danger. Besides, people can’t iden- to be a part of the public realm through converting it to be a
tify the approach of LS’s location from theses streets. On the new vital livable social space, capable of restoring the relation-
other hand, almost all of the residential streets have a strong ship between the individuals and the great Nile. Thus to make
connection with the streets parallel to the LS to facilitate this LS lively, there is a need to add activities, and programs
access to it as in Fig. 6. for all age groups throughout the day, and weekends.
Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS) 7
Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
8 N.S. Abd El Gawad et al.
Table 1 Shows the ratios of the answers of the questionnaire (The author by SPSS program-2019).
Questions No Yes Not Mean Std Strength
sure Deviation of
Opinion
Impact of Are you satisfied with the current condition of the LS? 74.2% 17.8% 7.9% 2.02 1.256 Disagree
High way Did the bridge create many NUOS in the urban fabric of the 38.6% 46.5% 14.9% 3.08 1.442 Agree
district?
Did the negative effect of the space under the bridge overpower the 22.8% 58.4% 18.8% 3.47 1.237 Agree
positive effect?
Sections of Comfort Is the LS safe for people, and passers while crossing it? 71.3% 21.8% 6.9% 2.10 1.325 Disagree
PL’s criteria & Image Is there any scheduled cleaning and/or maintenance 60.4% 18.8% 20.8% 2.27 1.273 Disagree
process done at the site from time to time?
Are the dimensions of the LS and its surrounding 33.7% 61.4% 5.0% 3.52 1.466 Agree
environment convenient for you?
Access Can you reach the LS from the surrounding squares? 21.8% 62.8% 15.8% 3.55 1.212 Agree
&Linkages Can you use a variety of transportation means ‘‘train, 34.7% 52.5% 12.9% 3.24 1.3222 Almost
Bus, Metro” to reach LS?
Is it difficult to recognize the LS from the main road? 45.5% 16.8% 37.6% 3.0 1.713 Almost
Uses & Is there a lack of ‘‘commercial, social, cultural, 24.8% 60.4% 14.9% 3.50 1.285 Agree
Activities recreational services‘‘ within the surrounding
environment?
Do you like to mix activities at the same time? 46.5% 34.5% 9.9% 2.86 1.496 Almost
Does the location of the LS affect your choice of the 29.7% 63.3% 6.9% 3.51 1.368 Agree
activity?
Sociability Will renovating the LS restore\increase your feeling of 35.6% 57.4% 6.9% 3.18 1.598 Almost
attachment?
Can the renovation of the LS achieve social interaction 31.7% 90.2% 9.9% 3.297 1.473 Almost
and create new friends?
Do you mind participating in the decision making 45.5% 37.6% 16.8% 1.713 0.739 Almost
process?
Construction
Activity
Cultural Activity
Economic
Activity
Social Activity
Recreational
Activity
0 1 2 3 4
Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS) 9
Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
10 N.S. Abd El Gawad et al.
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Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
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