“The creation of the 30-hectare (74-acre) Al-Azhar park, undertaken in the historic district of Cairo by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, is proving to be a catalyst for urban renewal in one of the most congested cities in the world.”

“The project was intended to test the premise that there is an alternative to traditional remedies to the decline of historic neighbourhoods. These usually involved isolating monuments by the forced removal of people in surrounding neighbourhoods or accepting a laissez-faire approach that allowed commercial developers to set the priorities of a neighbourhood. In either case, residents were displaced.”



This is certainly an interesting approach to preservation and revitalization.  Cairo is a dirty city with a population of approximately 17 million, thus making open space a much-needed commodity.  It’s no secret that parks substantially increase the desirability of a location and raise quality of life for the city’s inhabitants.  Imagine New York without Central Park as a major urban respite.  What’s really interesting about this project is that it was developed on the grounds of a 500-year-old garbage dump.  Talk about Brownfield redevelopment. 

“Besides the restoration of several historical monuments in the adjacent Darb Al Ahmar community, the Al Azhar park project also includes social programs for this poor, overpopulated neighborhood, with dilapidated houses and tiny dirt alleys – former havens for drug dealers. These social programs, with additional funding from outside sources, include employment training and healthcare services.

Project organizers see such community programs as essential to success. “We can’t do physical development – the park, the wall, monument restoration – unless we involve the people,” says Hany Attalla, the Darb Al Ahmar project manager. “Social development offers [this project] a better chance of sustainability.”

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