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“Master Plan for the Revitalization of the Older Urban Fabric,” Preservation in the Old City of Al Qusair, Egypt, 2000

Abstract

In 2000, the Center for Urban Development Studies (CUDS) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design produced a planning program that encouraged both economic urban development and historic district revitalization for the preservation of the Old City of Al Qusair, Egypt.

The revitalization program focused on the recently restored major Ottoman fort, archeological excavations of Pharaonic settlements, and tourism development along the Red Sea coast. The CUDS survey emphasized the benefits of a revitalization plan to enact an “operational strategy for the revitalization of Qusair’s old urban fabric” and to “ensure its integration within the official master plan for Qusair commissioned by the Governor.”

Documents include a Full Report, Questionnaire, Suggested Urban Regulations and Building Code, Intervention List, Action Plan Write Up, and a Statistical analysis.



[Excerpt: The Full Report, The Old City of Qusair]

“The Old City of Qusair is an integral component of the whole city…Between the planned extension and the existing city, uncontrolled expansion is occurring primarily along the main roads. This informal and rather chaotic urbanization is bound to have a negative impact on the environment of both the Old and New Qusair. These settlements house families who lived previously in the older neighborhoods and should be included in future development and upgrading plans at the city scale.”

The documentation and analysis involved “three fundamental determinants of change and transformation of the historic urban fabric”:

1. A thorough understanding of tenure patterns and development dynamics in the city as they affect the historic center.

2. The documentation of economic and socio-cultural changes and their impact on lifestyles, on housing, and commercial activity in the different zones of the study area.

3. The identification of factors prompting property owners, shopkeepers, and households to invest in the improvement of their buildings, shops and dwellings.

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Project Year:2000
Project Type:Master Plan
Geographic Regions:Al Qusair, Egypt
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin; François Vigier; Tarek Waly
Sponsors:Wallenberg Foundations
Categories:Historic Districts
  
ID:2000_00_002

Related I2UD Projects

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