WOCMES
Barcelona 2010
Revitalization& Rehabilitation
Mid. historical centers
Autonoma University
ABSTRACT
The heritage cities in Egypt suffer from the destruction of its heritage soul. This is due to two main reasons; the first being the erection of haphazard settlements in historic areas that totally ignore the preservation of any heritage structure and are far removed from any standard of urban design. The second reason is the illegal architectural additions in and around the archaeological sites that destroyed the unique spirit of such sites and the cultural value intended from visiting such sites.
Alexandria is one of the most famous Heritage cities in the world. It was founded around a small pharaonic town (331 BC) by Alexander the Great. It remained Egypt's capital for nearly a thousand years, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641 AD when a new capital was founded at Fustat (Fustat was later absorbed into Cairo).
The urban fabric of Alexandria contains many heritage land marks such as "Pompey's Pillar" which is one of the best-known ancient monuments still standing in Alexandria today, " Alexandria's catacombs" which are known as Kom Al-Soqqafa, and the " Romanic theater "……etc.
All the archaeological sites suffer from haphazard settlements and unorganized urban fabric surround.
In this paper we are presenting a survey of facts and studies behind the haphazard settlements which the archaeological sites suffer from and highlighting the problems that the urban fabric of Alexandria suffers from in its heritage cities and their causes in order to set a framework for a sustainable plan to the development of the urban areas around the archaeological sites for the benefit of the inhabitants of these areas and the preservation of the heritage value. The paper is concluded by suggesting a methodology for the decision makers to set concurrent processes that must occur through urban preservation and contemporary innovative designs for the surrounding areas of the archeological sites to preserve the soul of the urban palimpsest.
Key words: preservation, haphazard settlements, archaeological sites, urban palimpsest, contemporary.
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