Urban Transformation of Khedive’s Cairo: A Study of Urban and Society Changes in One of the Oldest Districts in Monarchic Cairo

Abstract

In recent years, the Arab world, especially Egypt have witnessed several political transitions, and that experienced its influence on several attributes in the Egyptian community. Several changes were clear in several fields; the social life, the media, and the culture of the Egyptian society. Thus, those transitions had their own reflections on the use of entire spaces, which made the place interchangeable with the culture of the contemporary community, who had various needs and requirements. The Research illustrates these political transitions in a certain community and the reflection of those evolutions on the culture of the inhabitants and therefore on the entire use of space. Therefore, the research monitors one of the maven spaces in Cairo which lived from the age of the monarchic era till the present time, and was influenced by the revolutions, and the variables occurred to the community. Consequently, the main objectives of the research are, monitoring and tracking changes in the structure and characteristics of communities (community and individuals, urban and cultural context, urban production) in some of the oldest urban ranges in Cairo. moreover, illustrating the social, cultural, political and economic changes and their reflection on the physical and non-physical aspects, like the social and cultural aspects, throughout the twentieth century in general and in recent decades (and even the current situation) in particular. The chosen case study space is the Falaky space near Abdeen Palace in the heart of the monarchic Cairo, which is named by Egyptians “West El Balad”. The space is analyzed and the changes are monitored to find conclusions.