Abstract

In this 1998 essay, Dr. Mona Serageldin responded to the Getty Conservation Institute’s “Agora Values and Benefits Inquiry,” by examining the challenges of preserving historic centers in societies experiencing fast-paced political, economic, or demographic change. Documents include the 1998 report, and a draft report with reference list. Additional contributing authors included Sameh Wahba.

Serageldin’s 1998 essay laid the grounded for the Institute’s ongoing directives from the late 1990s forward. Her research drew clear links between need to bolster urban populations during politically challenging periods, and the need to protect historic cultural and architectural districts during times of unpredictable change. This dual approach tried to navigate a cross disciplinary approach to solving these issues, offering in depth social and economic analyses. This perspective continues to be relevant in the present global environments, where the stressors of climate change and migratory upheaval necessitate complex planning to preserve valuable urban spaces.

Excerpt

[Excerpt: Mona Serageldin, Final Report, “Preserving the Historic Urban Fabric in a Context of Fast Paced Change,” p. 2]

“This essay looks at cultural heritage from the viewpoint of addressing the challenge of preserving historic centers in societies experiencing fast paced change. This situation is commonly encountered in newly independent states, countries undergoing economic restructuring and nations charting a course through difficult political transition. The cultural heritage contained in the historic cores of urban settlements is subjected to the interplay of two major forces:

1. The dynamics of development and transformation as they affect population movements and real estate markets.

2. The perceptual and practical links between people and their architectural and cultural
heritage.

“Rapid economic and institutional transformation subjects the built environment to varying degrees of strain which expose cultural heritage to risk. Concepts of preservation transferred from countries enjoying prolonged stability and growth often prove to be unaffordable and ineffective in preventing the onset of decay in historic cores. National development policies focused on economic issues do not adequately support conservation objectives and may even clash with them while the dynamics of real estate markets reinforce disparities in valuation between the old and the new. They create situations where the value of the land in accessible sites is depressed by the historic buildings standing on it because of their condition or use.”

“Appreciation of the built environment is partially conditioned by participation in the network of interlinked organizations underlying the social order: family and kin groups, ethnic, religious and political associations and even occupation and business interests. Rapid transformation causes strains and dislocations in these structures. Restructuring of production opens new fields and opportunities to acquire status and wealth independently of old systems. Reshaping the institutional and legal frameworks within which new and surviving organizations have to function creates new channels for upward mobility as well as new symbols of achievement and status. The mechanisms of self improvement and the experience of personal fulfillment are more or less profoundly altered.”
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Project Year:	1998
Project Type:	Cultural Heritage Essay
Geographic Regions:	Global / None Specified
Reports:	Preserving the Historic Urban Fabric: (Report, November 1998) Preserving the Historic Urban Fabric: (Draft Report with Reference List, November 1998)
Authors:	^{Mona Serageldin; Sameh Wahba;}
Sponsors:	_{Center for Urban Development Studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Design; Getty Conservation Institute}
Categories:	Historic Districts

ID:	1998_11_001

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7th Africities Conference, Johannesburg, South Africa, November 29th, 2015: Presentations, Case Studies, Workshop Documents

Related I2UD Projects

Tags

Project Year:	2015
Project Type:	Conference; Workshop
Geographic Regions:	Cairo, Egypt / Khartoum, Sudan / Johannesburg, South Africa
Reports:
	7th AFRICITIES CONFERENCE, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA. November 29th, 2015: Cairo Case Study (I2UD Presentation) “Regional Case Studies for the Africities Conference Report”: Cairo Case Study (Dr. Serageldin, October 2015) Africities Conference: Looking Back Looking Forward, Johannesburg,” (Philip Harrison) — Supporting Documents: Africities Conference: (Inception Report, July 2015) Africities Conference: 1st Writers Workshop (Schedule, July 2015) — Case Studies: Africities Conference: 1st Writers Workshop, Cairo Case Study (I2UD and Dr. Serageldin Presentation, July 2015) Africities Conference: 2nd Writers Workshop, Khartoum Case Study (I2UD and Dr. Serageldin Presentation, October 2015) Africities Conference: Cairo Case Study (I2UD Presentation, November 2015) Africities Conference: Khartoum Case Study (I2UD Presentation, November 2015)
Authors:	^{Mona Serageldin; François Vigier; Daniel Tsai; Barbara Summers; Dr. Tarek Waly; Maren Laren; Oriol Monfort; Philip Harrison; Dr. Mostafa Madbuli (Khartoum Minister of Housing, Utilities and New Communities); Dr. Laila Iskander (Khartoum Minister of Urban Regeneration and Informal Settlements); Dr. Khalid El-Adli (Governor of Giza); Dr. Ali Faramoui (Minister of Aqwaf Organizations); Dr. Assam El-Gassar (Director General of General Organization for Physical Planning); Dr. Sherif El Gohary (Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Manager of the Ministry of Urban Regeneration and Informal Settlements);}
Sponsors:	^{South African Cities Network (www.sacities.net), 7th Africities Conference 2015; UCLG Africa (United Cities and Local Governments of Africa);}
Categories:	Urban Planning

ID:	2015_07_001