Cultural Memories and Sense of Place in Historic Urban Landscapes: The Case of Masrah Al Salam, the Demolished Theatre Context in Alexandria, Egypt

Reena Tiwari,Fatmaelzahraa Hussein,John Stephens

doi:10.3390/land9080264

Reena Tiwari, Fatmaelzahraa Hussein + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/land9080264

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Journal: Land	Publication Date: Aug 7, 2020
Citations: 14	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Curtin University, Higher Institute of Engineering

Abstract

Historic urban landscapes (HULs) are composed of layers of history and memories that are embedded in physical monuments, buildings, and memorials. Physical built fabric stores both personal and cultural memory through long association with communities. Rapid changes due to demolition and redevelopment change the nature of these places and, in turn, affect these memory storages. This paper investigates whether historical city inhabitants consider cultural memories important when managing their HULs. It further explores the effectiveness of cultural memory in creating a sense of place and enhancing the quality of life for inhabitants. The context of the demolished theatre ‘Masrah Al Salam’ in Alexandria, Egypt, was studied after city inhabitants angrily protested the theatre’s removal, indicating a strong community attachment to this lost place. A qualitative methodological approach to this study was applied by conducting on-site, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews supplemented by comments gathered from the Facebook group ‘Alexandria’s Spirit’. The QSR NVivo12 program was used as a qualitative tool for data management, analysis, and mapping intangible elements contributing to an assembly of cultural memories of this place. The study demonstrated the importance of cultural memory associated with urban elements such as iconic heritage buildings that create a sense of place and enhance the identity of our urban environments.

Highlights

This paper investigates whether historical city inhabitants consider cultural memories important when managing their historic urban landscapes (HULs)
On-site interviewees and Facebook contributors emphasised the importance of a sense of 8place in HULs working as a palimpsest in remembering events in the context of the demolished Masrah Al data of further the relations between cultural memory, place attachment, identity, sense place, reveal and quality of life
This paper began by investigating the importance given to cultural memory by inhabitants of the HUL of the demolished Masrah Al Salam (Al Salam Theatre) in Alexandria, Egypt

Summary

Introduction

This paper investigates whether historical city inhabitants consider cultural memories important when managing their historic urban landscapes (HULs). It explores how cultural memory plays an effective role in creating a sense of place for enhancing each inhabitant’s quality of life. Urban settings and landscapes consist of layers of history and memories that are apparent in physical urban elements such as significant buildings, monuments, and public and governmental spaces [2]. The expansion of cities—as a result of increasing populations—requires rapid physical changes that destroy familiar urban features and elements, creating unfamiliar environments and causing gentrification and the destruction of memory and place identity [3].

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