IUSD 5th Intake Journal

IUSD Journal Working Manuscripts 2017

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IUSD Journal, Vol. 5 No.1 2017

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IUSD Journal, Vol. 5 No.1 2017

Table of Contents Places of post urban-conflict Responsive cohesion in the public life of urban planning and design Urban Landscape and Agricultural Urbanism Urban Planning and Design Urban Growth in Greater Cairo Rethinking Unbuilt spaces within neighborhoods in Muscat Collaborative Urban Practices in Greater Cairo

Source: Dominic Chavez, World Bank

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IUSD Journal, Vol. 5 No.1 2017

Places of post urban-conflict

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IUSD Journal, Vol. 5 No.1 2017

Stimulating Private Sector for Urban Settlement Redevelopment in Syria Case Study: Homs City Author: Bassel Alhaffar* Supervisor 1: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yehya Serag* University of Ain Shams* Supervisor 2: Prof. Dr. Astrid Ley* University of Stuttgart* Supervisor 3: Assoc. Prof. Emad Almasri* University of Damascus* Abstract Since the start of the Syrian conflict, an estimate of 75 billion Dollar is needed for physical reconstruction (World Bank, 2016). The paper investigates the importance of the private sector as a key stakeholder in peacebuilding and urban-economic, post-conflict redevelopment. The research methodology uses tools such as desktop research, analysis of international case studies, interviews with investors, and an intensive workshop. It investigates the needed mechanisms for the private sector to participate effectively in the redevelopment of urban settlements and the role of government and civil society in encouraging the private sector to work in such environment. This is done/carried out through identifying some post-conflict strategies, and testing them on a conflict-affected city in Syria.

The paper showcases lessons learnt from Lebanon and Somalia focusing on the role of the private sector in the urban settlements’ redevelopment and boosting the economy. Finally, it develops different scenarios for potential urban-economic redevelopment projects extrapolated from the research tools on the Homs city in Syria.

It concludes with a set of recommendations highlighting the needed efforts from the government, civil society, and private sector to sustain peace and boost the economy, how private sector participation can best serve all parties, and the required measures for any redevelopment process in a similar context.

Keywords: Private Sector; Post-Conflict; Urban Redevelopment; Urban Economy; PSD ; Post-conflict Scenarios; Private Sector Participation

Introduction

The post-conflict era is very complex and multidimensional (Vale and Campanella, 2005; Yarnal, 200

Lindell, 2013). Donors’ works are mainly directed toward relief work and restoring basic services such

schools, food, temporary shelter, health centers, and sanitation infrastructure to meet vulnerable peopl

needs (World Bank 1999) with a specific interest focusing on economic recovery for a special category people such as: IDP, women, and former fighters. (del Castillo 2008).

The conflict causes disruption to the functioning of a community or a society resulting in major widespre

human (people), economic, physical (buildings) or environmental losses and destructions. Thus, breachi

the natural balance exceeds the ability of the affected community/society to cope and concur these seve

changes using its own resources (Alexander, 2000; Dilley & Boudrea, 2001; UNDHA 2001; UNISDR, 200 Pelling, 2003; UNISDR, 2004; Vale and Campanella, 2005).

The private sector is a vital stakeholder in the economic, post-conflict development and peacebuildi

process. This is due to its contribution in creating jobs, circulating the economy, enhancing people’s lives, a providing revenues for a fragile state.

However, the private sector’s involvement in the post-conflict era is limited due to the type of interes

conditions, and incentives to participate (e.g. political and economic stability, economical profit, availabil

of essential infrastructure, lack of updated assessments on cities profiles, absence of investments maps, etc.

1.

Post-Conflict Status Quo and Strategies

Politically, conflicts are always a result of politics, and the state power after a conflict is fragile. It

represented in low security, legitimacy, and weak administration. Governments might not be widely accept

by post-conflict communities or have limited execution capability due to limited financial capabili

Moreover, basic infrastructure such as roads, energy, and communication are essential parts of post-w

recovery that the state might not be able to provide. Therefore, the participation of some private sectors limited as those services are essential.

The poor judicial power to solve political and social disputes also affects the nature of investments (UND 2008; Mac Sweeney, 2008).

Socially, there is clear evidence that disasters leave a social impact that leads to political unrest especially

the immediate aftermath. This period brings many troubles and increases opportunities for commun

conflicts (Bates and Peacock, 1993; and Bolin, 1982). Social fragmentation and high tension widely exi

after a conflict ends as many groups or individuals can’t participate with specific groups or individuals.

addition, a massive movement of people and psychological trauma from violent experiences may increase t

sensitivity of the situation (Barakat and Chard 2005, 177; CGAP 2004; Gasser et al 2004; Goovaerts et 2006; Gündüz and Klein 2008; Parnell 2001. in Mac Sweeney, 2008).

2.

Post-Conflict Conditions and Strategies

Condition for Private Sector Participation:

Many scholars mentioned key conditions for involved actors to have a successful transition from post-confl environment which involved:

1- absence of security which is a key challenge for the private sector (locally and internationally) as it affe

the revenues of projects; 2- the financial system which is another condition for a possible investment clima

3- physical infrastructure, power supply and transportation availability; 4- regulation framework and taxati

which are essential elements in post-conflict state; and 5- lack of powerful public institution which may cau

a drop in the legal system which affects land disputes and ownership identification. Therefore, investors a

unable to assess their capital and won’t risk losing them (Fita, 2004 & Addison McGillivray, 2004 in D Castello, 2008 and John, 2008).

Many parameters control when and where the private sector participates in the economic reconstructio

However, they function differently as some take the risk to start earlier than others. Those conditions can’t solved in one model for all. Thus, understanding the country’s and each city’s economic history is vital.

On the other hand, Curtis et al. (2010) listed eight main principles for private-sector development in confli affected environments as follows:

1- Flexibility. 2- The need for specific support. 3- Understanding the balance between short- and long-te

(missing word?). 4- Innovation. 5- Supporting local parties and businesses. 6- Realism. 7- Risk acceptance.

Coherence and coordination of international response.

Role of Government:

Government and its institutions face numerous challenges. However, the most critical ones are restoring th capabilities and professional administration including providing civil services. This can be realized

establishing political institutes, sufficient supervision mechanism, and financial control (Paris and Si 2007.; Fukuyama, 2004. In UNDP, 2008).

The provision of nation-building progress in recent peace agreements. By 2006, the election support (o

element of nation-building) crossed the 90% improvement, while constitutional design, transition government is close to 80%.

Figure 01 illustrates the key elements of any post-conflict governance strategy for reconstruction,

sustained

peace

and

development. This is only on a national level. However, the need to examine the regional and international factors is a must

to

achieve

a

comprehensive

understanding of causes and effects before working on the post-conflict era.

(Ernstorfer et al., 2007) Figure 1: Country’s vision for Peace-prosperity development and welfare for all – Source: Ernstorfer et al., 2007

On the other hand, Arch. Hallaj argued that the

reconstruction process will not be one-size-fits-all

cities due to many reasons, i.e. the percentage of

destruction, population, development percentage,

etc., as this will increase the contention between post-conflict communities.

Therefore, a more

balanced strategy focusing on a municipality level

that gives each what it needs would be more suitable (Hallaj, 2016).

Figure2: Sample matrix of efficient resources distribution according to need post-conflict

This argument was represented by him through/in Figure 2, showing an example of how some municipalit might be in need for resources more than housing, while other neighborhoods need more attention industrial activities than others.

Post-Conflict Physical Strategies

On one hand, ICOMOS (2005) mentioned some policies for cities with historic sites, which a reconstruction, renovation and restoration, conservation, and rehabilitation.

In all cases, however, it is important to create a strategic planning process that sets the general guidelines

the reconstruction process. However, priorities for each city must be considered individually following t general guidelines and distribute tasks among the local and international actors accordingly.

In general, local actors should have the primary responsibility and should play central roles throughout t reconstruction process (Stanley-Price, 2005 in Kassouha, 2014), otherwise, the sense of ownership won’t as strong as it should be to sustain peace.

Economical Strategies

Del Castello redefines post-conflict activities as economic reconstruction in a much broader sense. Thus

includes not only physical and basic infrastructure but also stabilization and formation of polici

establishing a microeconomic basis that requires market creation, activation of investments, and econom growth base (Del Castello, 2008).

Mac Sweeney illustrated two approaches for post-conflict strategies for boosting the economy – t interventionist Approach and the Investment Climate Approach (Mac Sweeney, 2008).

The interventionist approach, as Mac Sweeney describes, can be, on one hand, as direct interventions

various forms to increase the trade systems, and on the other hand, have the aim to benefit a smaller tar group with subsidized support (ibid and Peschka, 2011).

Examples for this approach are various: 1- market linkages and value chains; 2- business aggregation suppo and 3- access to job and vocational training opportunities and microfinance.

On the other hand, the investment climate approach focuses on creating a sustainable investment climate

international, regional, and local investors. This climate should encourage investors equally to engage

different and complex economic activities. It promotes economic improvement in a more holistic way inste of direct assistance for specific groups (Mac Sweeney, 2008). This approach could include:

1- legal framework and regulations; 2- empowering financial institutions; 3- macroeconomic frameworks;

infrastructure reconstruction; 5- trade policies reformation; 6- encouraging FDI; and 7- regulating dono country policy.

Usually in the post-conflict era, governments use privatization to lift the burden from its weak institutio and cut budget expenses to a more inspired and responsive private sector (Starr, 1989).

Many post-conflict governments look up for foreign direct investments as a solution for econom

deprivation. However, the need to benefit from those investments by prioritizing the quality over the quant

is vital. It is accepted when it has a greater impact on the host economy in the essence of creating jobs a transferring knowledge, technology, and experience (Turner, Aginam and Popovski, 2008).

At the macro level, it is expected to result in a better management for economic resources that are allocat

according to market preferences more than actual planning. Moreover, it can improve the fiscal position

the government by lifting the burden on it through reducing subsidies as well as increased tax payment w profit increases (Adam et al., 1992 in ibid).

3.

Why Redevelopment?

Recovery: The recovery process is more complex and multidimensional. It is defined as the process wh

includes rebuilding, restoration and reshaping the physical environment, social functions, emotional we

being, economic goals, and natural environment (Smith and Wenger 2006 in Quarantelli; Yarnal, 200 Lindell, 2013).

Reconstruction: (Höckel, 2007) defines reconstruction in a more holistic way by including social relatio and economic rehabilitation to the state-building as the necessary step to achieve all listed goals.

An associate professor of architectural and urban history, Emily Makaš, states that “Reconstruction is oft used as an umbrella term referring to the general rebuilding of societies and cities in the broadest sense: as

inclusive process encompassing the reestablishment of political institutions, economic networks, civil socie and infrastructure” (Makaš 2007 in Kassouha, 2014).

Sometimes, the term “reconstruction” refers to the physical rebuilding process of the destroyed and damag

sites. In other contexts, reconstruction is referred to as the recreation of an architectural site that no long exists (ibid).

Redevelopment: As much as the term looks like reconstruction and recovery, the need to think of post-confl

redevelopment as a base for post-conflict strategies is essential, taking “advantage” of the devastati destruction occurred to benefit from such a catastrophic situation for a better future.

The term “urban redevelopment” comes from “urban development” which is a multidimension

interdisciplinary process generally used to describe the implementation of a new desirable process of chan

seeking improvements. It attempts to develop deteriorated areas either by restoring a previous urb

condition or changing it according to the need for respective stakeholders to improve the different sectors

health, security, physical, social, economic, and cultural development for it. It involved national and lo

governments, landlords, interested investors, and affected communities to participate in the process and c

be initiated publicly or privately (G. Bellù, 2011; Charles D. Baker, E. Polito and Kornegay, n.d.; King, 20 World bank, 2017).

4.

Case Study of Homs City:

To come up with primary scenarios for redevelopment projects in Homs city and then to be validated

ground later, an intensive workshop was conducted under the supervision of Prof. Yehya Serag aiming

come up with multidisciplinary approaches to boost the economy in the city of Homs. The workshop is part

the methodology to apply the outcomes from the literature review and lessons learnt from case studies. It also an exploration for possible interventions on the short and long term for Homs city.

“Scenarios for Post-Conflict Redevelopment in Homs City”i aimed to investigate the previous and curre

potentials the city can rely on to encourage the private sector to invest in local projects to boost the econom

wheel and help redevelop the city. The scenarios tackle different redevelopment schemes at different post-w periods.

1.

Scenario 01 (Long-term/Large number of returnees) The

proposal

government,

motivates owners,

the

and

loca

privat

investors to repeat the BCD model wit

a more participatory approach, coverin

cultural, social, and economic aspects

It aims to redevelop the central part o

Homs to create a cultural, sociable, an

entertaining part that contains loca

markets and hotels to boost the heart o

Homs and increase green spaces within

with more focus on its culture, touristic and historic values.

Figure 3: Redevelopment of Homs neighborhoods - – Source: Author

It suggests a slight increase in the buildings’ height in the uninhabitable (due to destruction), i.e. inform

settlements, to make it profitable for investors, and maintain the characteristics of the streets and ma monuments (Figure 32).

2.

Scenario 02 (Short-term and low numbers of returnees)

According to the current level of urban

functioning map presented by the UN

Habitat’s Homs city profiling, some

areas in the south, south east, and west

(Figure

partially

31)

are

damaged,

heavily

though

or

still

functioning. The scenario proposes to accommodate residential

returnees

areas

in

temporarily

those

and

redevelops the craft school and some

workshops in the northern industrial

zone (to equip returnees with a craft

aiming to start generating an income).

In this way and with the existing of the Figure4: Securing local economic cycle and accommodating returnees – Source: Author current

UNDP efforts to reconstruct In this way and with the existing of the current UNDP efforts to reconstruct theinold in the they city cent the old Souk theSouk city centre will they will be able to find a market for their products. be able to find a market for their

Redeveloping the city took place by reusing the existing functioning and semi-functioning structures products. accommodate returnees and operate in small industries to circulate the economy. one of Redevelopment the Moreover, city by reusing thet

suggested development plots (prior 2011) has been used to establish a crafts school to support thosesemiwith existing functioning and

prior knowledge. This will require some administrative effortsfunctioning to register the structures temporarily occup to apartments and fund to start with the handcraft institute. (Figure 4)accommodate returnees and operate

in small industries to circulate the 3.

Scenario 03 (Mid-term/ Low number of returnees)

economy. Moreover, the use of one of Food availability is one of the key aspects displaced people look at the when suggested deciding to return.

Homs isplots kno development for its fertilized soil and food industry. However, after six years of conflict, are heav (prior 2011)agricultural to establish lands a crafts school damaged and food industry is at its lowest productivity.

to support those with no prior This scenario combines the two challenges together – the lack of human resourcesThis and will the need to redevel knowledge. require some

agricultural lands – with a proposal to support returnees to start their business in agriculture. administrative efforts to register the

temporarily occupied apartments and

fund to start with handcraft institute.

The proposal suggests redeveloping t

agricultural lands surrounding the city an

urban farming within the city with suppo

from international organizations. Thus, secure source of income and food would

available for the city’s residence and w

help start food factories again (Figure 34).

The reasons behind this proposal are t

increase of food prices (50% to 80% of family’s

income)

and

the

cut

governmental subsidies for primary fo items.

Figure 5: Food availability and industry – Source: Author

4.

Scenario 04 (Short-term/ Any number of returnees) The scenario is an attempt to close the social gap between the city’s different classes

by

redeveloping

a

previously

suggested development plot between the city center and new urban extension in the west to a socio-cultural path that is available for all social classes. Moreover, the proposal includes a train station on the road between Damascus and Aleppo that will increase tourism which the city can attract

firstly,

from

old

religious

monuments and secondly, from a postconflict sightseeing to the most heavily Figure 6: Social coherent and tourism proposal – Source: Author

damaged areas in the city permanently or for a certain period, which will have revenues to redevelop t neighborhoods later (Figure 6).

A comparative assessment for the scenarios, taking into consideration time span, number of returnees, a

cost, is elaborated in Figure 7 to highlight the crucial importance to identify when, to whom, and what to pl in a post-conflict situation (Figure 7).

- Counting for local potentials is

crucial

in

post-conflict

communities.

- Post-conflict strategies should

count even for the development of

the

city

and

its

projects

can

surroundings.

-

Different

stimulate

different

private

sectors.

- Some projects will require larger

investments,

while

others can be implemented locally.

- All means to stimulate the

private sector is important, though

in it

post-conflict

Figure7 : Comparative assessment for post-conflict scenarios – Source : Author

situations,

should

Conclusion

monitored and coordinated.

be

Governments are burdened with the establishment of representable institutions, basic services, and financ

system which can no longer can be fulfilled alone, especially with a fragile state. Although such elements a

essential conditions to encourage the private sector to participate, some private sectors can work with l conditions fulfilled.

The role of the government, however, is to rebuild its institutions (administrative, executive, and legislati and support the establishment of an effective financial system first, therefore, help in establishing appropriate investment climate.

The private sector’s participation is unpredictable as each investor assesses the situation different

Nevertheless, previous case studies show the capability of the private sector to provide essential services su

as accommodation, transportation, and trade if it's profitable. However, an effective monitoring system avoid monopolization is needed.

Civil society can help in establishing an investment, enabling the environment through local interventions a response to local needs and available resources.

Various urban, post-conflict strategies can be adopted according to the context and post-conflict assessme

i.e. redevelopment of damaged plots, or new lands to solve pre- and post-conflict challenges and help bo the economy.

Homs city has an essential location and urban composition that attracts the private sector for redevelopme several recommendations can be considered in such context: -

The relocation strategy can be a radical but an important solution, for the short and long term pla

to accommodate returnees until the city recovers, though a consideration of the pre-/post-confl socio-economic factors during the planning process is vital for the success of the relocation plan.

-

For historical and cultural neighborhoods, a rehabilitation and restoration strategy should be adopt to preserve its cultural heritage values; on the other hand, informal neighborhoods can redeveloped in partnership with real-estate investors.

-

The privatization of services and redevelopment projects can be a helpful strategy in post-confl

redevelopment only with governmental coordination, a participation approach, and effect economic plan.

-

Local economy can empower the post-conflict redevelopment of Homs city, in the early stages af

the conflict, capitalizing on its previous economic history such as agriculture, local handcrafts, fo

industries, and tourism, which can help enable a thriving investment environment for more investo to be encouraged to participate.

Undoubtable, the post-conflict process is very complex and needs to be contextualized for each cit

resources to stimulate more investments locally, regionally, and internationally. However, to sustain pea

it’s crucial to support developing an integrated economic plan, with the participation of the civil socie private sector, and governmental institutions.

Endnotes:

i The workshop was held at Future University of Egypt for two days with the assistance of the st and participation of 25 students from different countries and undergraduate academic levels. It w complementary to the course “Urban Upgrading.” However, many students outside the cour showed interest in participation.

References -

Cover Photo Creidit: Oğuzhan Cin Del Castillo, G. (2008). Rebuilding War-Torn States. 1st ed. Oxford: OUP Oxford, 2008.

Ernstorfer, A., Mekolo, A., Resta, V. and osenblum-Kuma, G. (2007). Governance Strategies for Post Conf Reconstruction, Sustainable Peace and Development. United Nations Public Administration Network, pp.4-9.

-

Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj 2016, video, MSc IUSD, 2 June, viewed 5 June 20 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLU6LwbH_pE>.

Höckel, K. (2007). Beyond Beirut: why reconstruction in Lebanon did not contribute to state-making and stabil London: Crisis States Research Centre

-

John, J. (2008). Conceptualising the Cause and Consequences of Failed States: A Critical Review of The Literatu [online] The London School of Economics and Politics. DESTIN Development Studies Institute

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Kassouh, S. (2014). Towards a strategy for regaining cultural identity in the urban reconstruction of the war-ravaged c centre of Homs, Syria. MSc. IUSD, Ain Sham University.

-

King, R. (2013). What does good urban development mean to you? | TheCityFix. [online] TheCityFix. Available http://thecityfix.com/blog/what-does-good-urban-development-mean-to-you-robin-king/ [Accessed 1 Mar. 2017].

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Lindell M., (2013). Recovery and reconstruction after disaster, Texas, USA: Texas A&M University, College Station.

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Mac Sweeney, N. 2008. “Private Sector Development in Post-Conflict Countries” Cambridge, UK: The Donor Commit for Enterprise Development.

-

Starr, P. (1989). The Meaning of Privatization. [online] Princeton.edu.

Available https://www.princeton.edu/~starr/articles/articles80-89/Starr-MeaningPrivatization-88.htm [Accessed 23 Mar. 2017

-

Turner, N., Aginam, O. and Popovski, V. (2008). Post-Confl ict Countries and Foreign Investment. London: Uni Nations University

-

United Nations Development Programme, Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR). 2008. Crisis Prevent and Recovery Report, Post-Conflict Economic Recovery Enabling Local Ingenuity.

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United Nation Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2004. “Living with risk: a global review of disaster reduction initiativ

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Vale, L. J., & Campanella, T. J. (2005). The resilient city: how modern cities recover from disaster. New York, Oxfo University Press.

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“The Importance of Planning Syria’s Eventual Reconstruction” available http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2016/05/24/the-importance-of-planning-syria-s-eventual-reconstruction [Accessed: 15 Jan 2017]

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Yarnal, B. (2007). Vulnerability and all that jazz: Addressing vulnerability in New Orleans after Hurricane Katri Technology in Society. ELSEVIER. P:29, 249-255.

Alternative Housing Solutions to Integrate Refugees into Hosting Communities Case Study: Jordan Affordable Housing Programme

By Khaled Elmansi Assoc. Prof. Yehya Serag,Associate Professor of Regional, planning Ain Shams University Prof. Dr. Astrid Ley, Professor of International Urbanism, University of Stuttgart Prof. Mohamed El Sioufi, Professor of Urban Planning, Chalmers University One of the highly affected countries by the Syrian Crisis is Jordan, which hosts about 655,000 Syrians (UNHCR, 2016). The majority of Syrians live in non-camp settings, which leads to a high competition on the affordable housing with the vulnerable and low-income Jordanians which resulted in conflicts between Syrians and Jordanians (Asfour, 2017). Therefore, Jordan initiated response plans to develop solutions for the affected sectors on different levels. The studied case “Jordan Affordable Housing Programme” is an important part of the resilience component of the recent response plan. The case represents efforts to link the humanitarian aids to the challenge of an affordable housing shortage. The research attempted to address the case through two main phases: building a theoretical background about the main topics relevant to the research, then, conducting interviews with experts to illustrate the main themes related to establishing the program.

The research focused on the initiation process of the program with its many activities, trying to illustrate how such a program can be structured.

Introduction The research focuses on the problems of urban refugees as they face survival challenges in their daily lives because of being in a competition with the vulnerable and low-income groups of the hosting community (UNHCR, 2017). Moreover, they are

vulnerable to be detained and arrested, and they live under the fear of being forced to return to their countries, besides their weak access to the basic services (Ali, 2017).

Recently, there has been a paradigm shift concerning the way that hosting communities should deal with refugees’ challenges. UNHCR started its policy to seek new alternatives to camps, believing that refugees should be seen as an opportunity, not a burden. Furthermore, more rights should be applied to them to achieve self-reliance (UNHCR, 2014).

Therefore, hosting countries should not only work on contingency and emergency plans, but should also try to integrate refugees into national and local development plans that hold great impacts for refugees and hosting communities (UNHCR, 2014). The research scope is directed to illustrating the importance of considering refugees (especially urban refugees) in the national and local plans.

1. Problem Statement Jordan is an interesting case in terms of hosting refugees as it is one of the most attracting countries for refugees in its region, starting with Palestinians until the current Syrian refugees’ waves. The recent Syrian Crisis strongly and immediately affected Jordan as it provided about 1,266 million Syrians a refuge (only 655,833 are registered) (MOPIC, 2017). Therefore, the total cost of hosting refugees until 2016 reached US$ 8.6 billion, which

is

about

16%

of

Jordan’s

national

budget

since

2013

(MOPIC,

2017).

Housing is one of the most affected sectors as most of the refugees are settling in urban and rural areas (about 78.4%). Due to this, they compete with locals on the available affordable housing units (MOPIC, 2017).

Moreover, housing was reported as the most stressing need for Syrian refugees in Jordan (CARE, 2014). To elaborate more, many Syrians, who found housing units, suffer from living in sub­standard shelters and informal settlements (MOPIC, 2017). Furthermore, 87% of Syrian refugees are in debt, 25% are considered severely shelter-vulnerable,

and

50%

are

high

shelter-vulnerable

(UNHCR,

2015).

Also, the competition with low-income Jordanians raised the average of the prices and increased the tensions between both, which is not in favor of any of them and also complicates the whole situation for the local and national

governments

(Asfour,

2017).

Nevertheless, there was already a shortage of affordable housing in Jordan that reached 3,400 annual units for the last seven years before the Syrian crisis (MOPIC, 2017). This issue was accompanied by national efforts and plans that tried to increase the affordable housing stock, but it wasn’t successful (Ababsa, 2012).

Therefore, the Syrian crisis strongly illustrates the need for new affordable housing modalities that can help refugees and vulnerable Jordanians to get access to adequate housing which requires linking humanitarian aid to the national development plans in the housing sector (Ababsa, 2012).

2. Methodology The research used qualitative approaches to reach the mentioned objectives earlier. Therefore, research was conducted through building an understanding for the affordable housing modalities and trends, and urban refugees’ housing (integrated housing), besides understanding how these trends are applied in different related

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IUSD Journal, Vol. 5 No.1 2017

practices. Using this knowledge, the case study was examined, starting with extracting data about housing policies and hosting refugees in Jordan. Therefore, the research was narrowed down to focus on the chosen case study which is a recently initiated housing program: Jordan Affordable Housing Programme (JAH Programme).

3. Case Study Selection The selected case is the national housing program “Jordan Affordable Housing Programme” initiated by UNHabitat in November 2014 (UN-Habitat, 2016). The program is planned to be established through two phases.

So far, only the first one has been accomplished. JAH Programme provides an optimized solution to provide affordable housing for both Jordanians and refugees on the long-term. It depends on the market mechanism and the engagement of the stakeholders to achieve resilience in the housing sector on the long run. This case was found relevant, as it depended on studying the housing market and the coordination between different stakeholders. Moreover, it tries to link the humanitarian efforts to the development plans. Furthermore, JAH Programme has a national importance and was included in the Jordan Response Plan 2017-2019 as the main component in the resilience response of the housing sector (MOPIC, 2017).

3.1. Data Collection Methods Quantitative Data The following statistics are used to illustrate facts like the housing situation, the humanitarian aids’ figures and vulnerability, and the needs of Syrian refugees in Jordan. This data was mainly extracted from published reports by UNHCR, UN-Habitat, Reach, CARE, and the Jordan Response Platform.

Qualitative Data

-

Literature about affordable housing, hosting refugees, and Jordan’s housing history was collected from different sources such as books, previous research papers and journals, and published reports and policies from the World Bank. Information and data about the JAH Programme was mainly accessible through the final report and final evaluation of the first phase of the program. These documents were reached, thanks to the UN-Habitat team in Jordan.

Semi-structured Interviews (via Skype) with experts who are involved in the planning and instigation of the program. The total interviews accomplished were three: Two with the UN-Habitat organization (JAH Programme Expert in Jordan, and The ROAS Director), and one with the Senior Director of Housing Policies in the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDC) in Jordan, who is also part of the Advisory Committee of the JAH Programme.

-

Short telephone interviews that aimed to generally understand the point of view of the

-

interviewee about the JAH Programme. Two interviews were conducted, one with the chair of the Jordan Housing Developers Association (JHDA), the second was with the chair of the Jordanian Construction Contractors Association (JCCA).

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IUSD Journal, Vol. 5 No.1 2017

Figure 1. Research Methodology Source: Author.

4. Research Limitation Unavailability of field research finance Although the field research documents were successfully submitted, the available financial support wasn’t enough to conduct the 10-day research trip. Therefore, the research depended mainly on the input of the experts’ interviews.

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IUSD Journal, Vol. 5 No.1 2017

Unavailability of interviewees Two of the three planned interviews didn’t take place because of personal reasons of the interviewee.

This was somehow compensated by having Phase I Evaluation Report by independent international and national evaluators.

5. Structure of the Thesis Figure 2. Research Structure Source: Author.

6. Conceptual Model After finalizing the research on affordable and urban refugees’ housing in terms of standards and reference cases, a conceptual model was reached to be used as analytical guidance for the case study (Figure 3). This shows how the research benefited from the theoretical background to prepare interview question and to build criteria to reflect on the case of JAH Programme.

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IUSD Journal, Vol. 5 No.1 2017

Figure 3. Conceptual Model Source: Author.

7. Key Findings 1. The research presented different reference cases for affordable housing and refugee housing programs and projects from different contexts, which shows the role of the instigator and other actors and the lessons learned from each of them. This study is used to enhance the examination and reflection on the selected case study.

Moreover, it provides an updated background about the two main topics related to the research.

Important outcomes of the affordable housing part: -

Linking the program to the relevant international housing approach (i.e. Enabling Approach)

-

Defining the affordability concept in the context of the program

-

The role of public-private partnerships in providing affordable housing

Important outcomes of the refugee housing part: -

Illustrating the UNHCR’s recent policy on alternative camps and how it can lead to achieving resilience for the hosting community.

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-

Importance of housing in achieving the integration of refugees into the host community.

-

Standards of housing refugees in urban areas and relevant recent examples.

2. Analyzing the case of “Jordan Affordable Housing” in terms of activities and actors, as a representing case for building resilience and providing long-term solutions for refugees and vulnerable Jordanians.

-

This analysis can be generally presented through the produced stakeholder analysis (Figure 4), timeline (Figure 5) and the mapping of program activities (Figure 6).

-

Moreover, a critical study was conducted to illustrate the difference between the Jordan affordable housing programme and the programs initiated by the government in Jordan in terms of:

system, financial structure, units’ areas, location, scale of invited developers, refugees’ stake (consideration) in the planning process, and the variety of involved stakeholders. The study shows how the program’s concept is developed to fulfill the market requirements.

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Figure 4. Stakeholder Analysis

Figure 5. Program’s Timeline

Source: Author.

Source: Author.

Figure 6. Linkages Between Program Activities Source: Author.

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3. Moreover, the research reflects on the analyzed case (JAH Programme) as an affordable housing intervention, as a refugee shelter intervention and as an intervention to achieve resilience for a refugee host country (Figure 7).

Figure 7. Reflection on the JAH Programme Source: Author.

4. Finally, the research tries to provide possible recommendations for the JAH Programme so that it can work as guidance for similar future programs.

The main recommendations presented through the final chapter are: -

Merging the program as a special part of the national housing policy with special codes can limit the bureaucracy that hinders its progress.

-

Continue to initiate public campaigns to keep stakeholders engaged and to increase the outreach about the concept of the program on the national scale.

-

The role of the JAH entity is important, and there is no other capacitated actor to perform the planned tasks.

-

Market research should be developed to provide the developers with clear information about the demand, and how to reach low-income groups.

-

If the program reached its aimed goal of building thousands of units annually, there must be plans to develop the infrastructure and services in the densified areas.

-

There should be workshops and events linked to the JAH Entity to provide Syrians with information about the work permits and job openings in their region.

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Conclusion The program is still under establishment. However, the reached results are so far promising as there are many developers and households that are willing to participate. Although many challenges are foreseen and changes can happen in the second phase depending on the negotiations with the donors and decision makers, the program offered an approach that can be followed by other countries in the region who face affordable housing shortages. Other solutions should be encouraged to increase the affordable housing stock, such as encouraging housing cooperatives or applying policy reforms.

Concepts that can lead to a resilient city should be encouraged in the national and local development plans, specially under the current conditions of global challenges like forced migration and climate change. This chapter concludes this research by presenting a reflection on the JAH Programme, and the used methodology. It proposes recommendation for the JAH Programme and possible further research.

References ABABSA, M. 2012. Public Policies toward Informal Settlements in Jordan (1965–2009). Popular Housing and Urban Land Tenure in the Middle East: Case Studies from Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, 259-82.

ALI, S. B. 2017. URBAN REFUGEES | Raising the voice of the invisible [Online]. Available: http://urban-refugees.org/.

CARE 2014. Lives Unseen: Urban Syrian Refugees and Jordanian Host Communities, Three Years into the Syria Crisis.

Amman, Jordan.

MOPIC 2017. The Jordan Response Plan For The Syria Crisis 2017-2019.

UN-HABITAT 2016. Final Evaluation of the UN-Habitat Jordan Affordable Housing Programme, Phase 1. 75.

UNHCR 2014. UNHCR Policy on Alternatives to Camps.

UNHCR 2015. Inter-Agency, Baseline Report, Vulnerability Assessment Framework.

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Image Source: Author

Mapping Places of Memory in Post-Conflict Cities A Study on Placing Memory Phenomenon in Beirut

By Zuhar Aljundi Supervisors -

Prof. Abeer Elshater (Ain Shams University) Prof. Wolf Reuter (Stuttgart University)

Post-conflict cities face significant social challenges beyond the physical reconstruction of their built environment. The violent recent past leaves traces of memory in both of the cities’ landscape and their emotionally charged societies. Beirut is an example of a city that is still currently dealing with the social and physical imprints of the 1975-1990 civil war. The thesis’s focus is to map the spatial transformations triggered by the societies’ memories of conflict. The research structure is first to extract several

theoretical notions concerning memory within space. Afterwards, build on the found concepts with multiple international case studies through city-wide investigations along with exploring specific architectural case studies. Consequently, the resulting typologies and learned lessons from the best architectural practice will aid the description and assessment of the phenomenon of placing memories in Beirut. The research concludes that Beirut city is currently witnessing a paradigm shift in the urban practices of future projects in favor of the spatial expressions of the memories of war. However, in the present day, the city is filled with neglected scars since the war times. Also, there is an unused potential of its scars which would aid placing memories for all social groups in Beirut.

Keywords: Memory, Memorialisation, Memoryscape, Architecture, Beirut.

Introduction Major transformations happen in cities after emerging from large conflicting events. These events leave traces of memory in both cities’ landscapes and their emotionally charged societies. Understanding such transformations will aid the study of war effects on post-conflict societies. Therefore, to conduct a study on a postconflict context such as Beirut, which went through a civil war in its recent history, is vital for such reflection. The chosen scope of these transformations is “memory”. Memory is a present object influenced by the past. Therefore, mapping memories of conflict in cities in its material and immaterial forms is the focus of the paper.

1. On Concepts Farlex (2012) gives a description of the terms Memory as “[the] recollection of that which was earlier experienced or learned.” Based on this definition, Memory, therefore, is a present object produced by human perception, influenced by their told or lived past. In other words, Memory is the commemorative acts of restoring and retrieving information from the past to the present. These actions that bring memory to life is found in various forms, for example, monuments, museums, performative rituals, and within the media (e.g. movies and documentaries) as well as in literature (e.g. novels, personal biographies, etc.).

However, the fragility of the memory as a subjective object that can be altered or forgotten and separates the study of memory as a psychological field from the study of classical history as an objective science (Schramm et al, 2009).

However, this separation was challenged by Halbwach’s notion of “Collective Memory” where memory can fortify itself through social interaction and sharing stories of the past among social groups (Schramm et al, 2009).

Depending on Halbwach’s works, scholars usually differentiate between Collective Memory and Subjective Memory. The latter is confined to a more private framework but Collective Memory may take place in the public sphere (Höfels, 2013).

This paper focuses on “post-conflict cities” where a community has recently emerged from a conflict toward a new social and spatial order. This is where the coined term “City Scars” is used to define the latter. Scars are analogical to the physical urban deforms and spatial changes that are

inflicted

on

post-conflict

cities.

Although the concept of memory happens in time, adding the (-scape) as in “Landscape of Memory” would

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emphasis on the memory’s spatiality. Here where the term “Urban Memoryscape” emerges (Ullberg, 2013). This concept has been increasingly used in the last decade by authors, workshops, conferences, and research units (CRIC.UK, 2013; Roux, 2015; Schramm et al, 2009; Yoneyama, 1999). To use the term of Urban Memoryscape as a unit of analysis is to examine the means by which collective memory is inscribed and contested in urban space (Roux, 2015). Although memory can take many symbolic forms, not necessarily a physical one, as in documentaries and books, urban memoryscapes makes the strongest support of collective memory. One social study found out that when exploring the past, people put more trust in learning about it in urban memoryscapes (e.g. visiting battlefields or museums) than books and documentaries. Therefore, rhetorically, urban memoryscapes are far from being shadowed by media forms (Dickinson et al, 2010). Here, we can deduce that the relation of memory and place is a dependent one, as memory is caught up in-between oblivion and remembrance, thus anchoring memory in space is a form of preservation.

Places of Memory is a concept established by Pierre Nora in his series of books of Les Lieux de mémoire between 1984 and 1994. Where collective memory is expressed joining both memories’ material and immaterial forms (e.g. commemorative events inside a memorial). What underlines this concept is “the will to remember” (Montaño, 2008). Without that will, urban memoryscapes will only function as historical sites and not as Places of Memory.

“Placing Memory,” therefore, is a temporary action that people do to place their memory within “Space” (urban memoryscape) which, in return, would turn into a “Place.”

In other words, Urban Memoryscape is a spatial unit that showcases the collective memory of society such as in museums and memorial sites. They are, in turn, part of the overall City Scars left by the conflicts. These sites may become Places of Memory when society or individuals indeed use them to re-establish the past in the present.

Mapping these concepts, as in both locating and analyzing them in reality, is the core theme of this research that strives to understand memory spatially. The following figures further illustrate the relations in-between of these concepts as well as add examples of their spatial forms in reality:

Figure 1: Relations between the defined theoretical notions.

Source: Author

2. The Social Benefits of Constructing Urban Memoryscape

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The most acknowledged post-conflict social gains of the spatial production of memory pointed toward the need to build a collective identity which can happen by preserving important national events. This link was evident within the international case studies, for example, the place of public burial for the victims of mass violence in Heidefriehof in Dresden shape the yearly culture practices, thus becoming part of the identity of Dresden city and its inhabitants. Additionally, some architects, through their designs of urban memoryscapes, tackled other needs for post-conflict societies, for example, the need for closure, healing, and restorative justice. An example is the design methodology employed by the Mass Architects for their design of the Memorial of Victims of Lynching in the US. Furthermore, the potential use of urban memoryscape can accompany other functions such as an educational tool to make awareness on the effects of conflict. An example is the focus of placing memory in Berlin. This kind of uses might become a cornerstone on long-term social benefits, tackling issues of post-conflict social reconstruction and reconciliation. Furthermore, One of the immediate spatial gain for the city when producing a space that reflects its history is the endorsement of the sense of place in that location where “a pause” can happen, hence strengthening place attachment, or in other words, the feeling of belonging to that place, by its inhabitants.

3. Methods of Placing Memory in Post-Conflict Cities Urban Memoryscapes as “Spaces of Memory” and City Scars have the potential to turn into “Places of Memory” when the individuals or societies indeed place the memories in these spaces. The study of this spatial phenomenon done in both Berlin and Dresden illuminated the process of placing memory. There are three methods for societal memory placing found in the two studied German cities which are: Public Remembrance, Political Demonstrations, and Raising Awareness.

Public Remembrance: It is a social practice that takes place when a large group gathers in the public space to honor a collective memory. Public Remembrance usually occurs within designed urban memoryscapes. Therefore, when a stakeholder exercises a will to implement an urban memoryscape project, targeted groups that share the same understanding of past events are compelled to use it as a place of memory. The February 13th commemoration of events that takes place in Dresden is an example of public remembrance practice.

Political Demonstrations: When placing a time-related fragile object such as memory within space, it helps the preservation and usage of that part of the past in the present. Therefore, the essence of the relating space to memory is a practical one that preserves notable events as well as shapes the present debates related to them. An example of that is Dresden’s commemoration practices.

Awareness Raising: Some designed urban memoryscapes such as museums incorporate presentation and educational tools to learn about the past, whether by providing tourist guides or through an artefacts’ info pallet within an exhibition. This function keeps the memory alive by passing it to the coming generations.

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Figure 2: The used methods to turn city scars and urban memoryscape into places of memory in both Dresden and Berlin.

Source: the present author

4. Recommendations for Designing Urban Memoryscapes The chosen focus of the architectural scale aided the understanding of the relation between space, culture practice of remembrance, and memory. The analysis of important urban memoryscapes such as famous reconstructed landmarks, memorial competition winners, or cities with a strong culture of remembrance seems to be the best practices in this sphere. The six architectural scale case studies are: •

Frauenkirche, Dresden

•

Heidefriedhod Memorial, Dresden

•

Memorial & Museum of 9/11, New York, US

•

Memorial of Victims of Violence in Mexico

•

Recovered “Stari Most Bridge” in Mostar

•

The Memorial to Peace and Justice. Alabama, US

There are indeed lessons learned as an architect which can be categorised according to recommendations on architectural

abstract/form,

function,

and

implementation

as

the

followings:

Recommendations on Abstract: Leave Traces for Reflection: Within the debate between the complete recovery of a heritage site (as in the Stari Most Bridge) or leaving traces of the violent past (as in the Frauenkirche, Dresden), the author leans toward the latter as it is better for educational and reflective reasons, especially for the generations who did not witness the conflict.

Accessible Concept for Society: Take into consideration the accessibility of symbolic metaphors because in architectural design, they are usually elitist (i.e. only understood by other architects/or people with artistic background). A good symbolic gesture is simple and direct; writing a poem on the painful memory in

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Heidefriedhof are examples of such direct metaphors. Although they only allow one reading of the event. However, it could be considered a success if it keeps the conversation on the history of the site alive with passing generations regardless of their background.

Convey Emotions Through Atmosphere: The general mood of the place, what is referred to as the atmosphere, is one for the strongest tools of spatial configuration that the designers can employ to enact and convey certain emotions through manipulating spatial qualities from light, material, scale, sounds etc. Therefore, it is one of the tools to communicate memories as emotional objects. Leaving metallic faces on the ground of the Jewish Museum provides the atmosphere that communicates the memories of those who lived through such events.

Recommendations on Function: Space for Individual Memory or Collective Memory: The space allocated for commemorating collective memory, as in the Foundation Hall in the 9/11 museum, should have a different shape and size than the one commemorating individuals’ memory. Here, the Memorial for the Victims of Violence in Mexico provides a good example for the latter.

Time for Remembrance: The activation of memoryscapes as places of memory should have an open time for the ease of public access as well as an active practice of remembrance that keeps the memory alive with passing generations as in reserving a commemorative day for a certain memory.

Respect the Memory: This is an important lesson, especially when the site for commemorating a trauma is allocated in the same burial place of the victims as in the example of a gift shop of 9/11 museum in the US. Therefore, commercial uses or WCs, for instance, should be correctly placed. The same can be said on the surrounding functions of the urban memoryscapes as the context also should be part of consideration in making an appropriate urban memoryscape.

Endorse educational and reflective uses: Urban memoryscape can be designed to accommodate other uses besides the remembrance ones. An example is informing individuals of the history of conflict and its effects. This kind of functions can be easily integrated into the design of museums’ exhibitions on the conflict memory.

Recommendations on Implementation: A part of a process: Make the design and the management of the urban memoryscape a part of an ongoing process of reconciliation or identifying victims, or uncovering the historic truth.

Involve relevant stakeholders: Engage the society in the formation of the urban memoryscape when it is possible, whether in providing elements within the project as in the museum’s collection of the victims’ personal belongings or by using a participatory design methodology to make the targeted group part of the development of the project similar to the example of the memorial of victims of lynching in the US.

5. Placing Memory in Beirut To study the effects of war on the memorialization process of post-conflict urban life, Lebanon presents a critical case study within this area of inquiry since it had a 15 years conflict in between 1975-1990. The analysis of Beirut’s urban memoryscape phenomenon is on two levels: the first is the City Scale for understanding the overall urban

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memoryscape phenomena. On the other hand, to assess placing conflict memory in specific cases, the author will conduct an analysis on the architecture level. The paper will start first with a summarised background on dealing with memory in post-conflict Beirut 5.1 Case Study Background In the aftermath in the early 1990s, there was a silent state on communicating the memory of the war and the efforts focused on dealing with the recovery of the chaos of the civil war. A law of general amnesty was passed in the social formula of “la ghaleb wa la maghloub/There is no victor nor vanquished” (Haugbølle, 2002). The official justification was that all Lebanese were equally guilty and deserving of forgiveness to continue with their lives.

This situation has left the memory of the war unresolved as Haugbølle (2002) puts it: “Perhaps it would be better to just let the memories rest in peace along with the 150,000 dead and 17,000 missing” (Haugbølle, 2002:6).

This state of silence was broken by the civil society who went out to initiate a discussion on the legacy of the war years. An emergence of memory initiatives aimed at confronting this culture of forgetfulness by recovering local histories and communal narratives. These commemorative acts can be found non-spatially on the web, literature, and media (Haugbølle, 2002). There exists an online platform that mapped initiatives addressing the conflict since 1990 within a project called “the civil society knowledge centre” by an NGO “Lebanon Support” in collaboration with forumZFD. There are many initiatives concerning truth and reconciliation which does fall under civil war memory. Some highlighted events are UMAM Documentation and Research which address the memory of the war as well as Act for disappeared, which works in clarifying the fate of missing persons during the war. More are found within their platform at civilsociety-centre.org (2017).

Therefore, on the social level, the number of NGOs working on the topic of civil war memory, which re-establishes the existence of unmet needs of post-conflict residents of Beirut, is abundant. The following section is going to look into the state of remains on the city and the methods the society in Beirut uses to place the memory of the civil war within them on the city scale.

5.2 City Scale Study By following some prominent events of the civil war, the mapping stage found eight urban memoryscape typologies that have a close connotation with the war.

The typologies of Beirut’s Scars are: 1.

Battle Scars: The many neglected sites of battles spread around the green line are rich with scars that survived until today as a witness of war times

2. Traces of division: The division of the city is more mental through referring to east and west districts as well as physical in the form of war marks in neighbourhoods adjacent to the Green Line. Some Surveyees who lived through the war mentioned the used crossroads in-between the two districts during war times as an urban memoryscape although the areas are completely rehabilitated (e.g. the museum area) 3. The contrast between the old and the new: This can be perceived mostly while moving within the city inbetween the rehabilitated and the neglected areas.

4. Abandoned buildings: This is a newly added urban memoryscape mentioned from the surveyees.

Abandoned buildings since war times contribute in remembering the effects of the war within these places.

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As for the designed urban memoryscapes within Scars of Beirut, they are: 5. Memorial: Sabra and Shatila Memorial is the only found example in Beirut.

6. Recovered Building: The current project of Beit Beirut museum that has an architectural concept of keeping reminders of the destruction.

7.

Public Art: The deployment of Bus al-Rummaneh is considered from this category as well as the highlighting of battle scars on some buildings also found within Beirut.

8. (Future) Museum Exhibitions: There is yet no current museum decay to the memory of the war. However, the mapping found two plans for the museum’s exhibition that is related to the war: “the Beit Beirut Museum and the Beirut City Museum.” If these exhibitions are implemented, they are going to become a part of the city’s post-conflict urban memoryscapes Most urban memoryscapes are characterized by their neglect (battle scars) or an act by a part of the civil society (Sabra and Shatila Memorial and Bus al-Rummaneh). There is also an imposed amnesia or lack of interest in keeping memoirs on the war within the reconstruction narratives of the leading private-sector stakeholders “Solidare.” Meanwhile, the found social methods to place memory on the city level happen through “Public Remembrance, Political Demonstrations, and Educations.” All of these processes do take place in Beirut as in the following: •

Public Remembrance in Beirut by placing the memory of the war. It only happens through the civil society organisations as in the “Remember and not repeat” campaign and the yearly commemoration usually happens within sectarian divisions as an example for the September 16th Sabra and Shatila commemoration for the massacre day of Palestinian.

•

Political Demonstrations: This is the most common way to place memory as there is an amount of unresolved issues from the days of the civil war that still come out within campaigns and demonstration.

The example of demonstration of the PLO after Sabra and Shatila commemoration event and the campaigns for the disappeared persons are two examples that still occur in the present.

•

Awareness Raising: Placing the memory of the war through raising awareness is found to be very recent (within the current year 2017). The project of “Sites of Commemoration: Towards a Better Understanding of the Past” tackled the subject of providing education on the civil war. It provided a substitute way to teach history in schools. Also, presenting the civil war is going to be a part of future exhibitions of Beirut City Museum and Beit Beirut.

Therefore, placing memory in Beirut often happens on the societal level, not necessarily within specific urban memoryscapes. However, to investigate whether the design of the chosen urban memoryscapes cases in Beirut aids placing memory within them or not, an analysis on the architectural level of Sabra and Shatila Memorial and Beit Beirut (future) Museum, as two predominant urban memoryscapes of the civil war, will take place in the following section.

5.3 Architectural Scale Study

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As discovered from the City Scale analysis, there are only two main sites designated to the memory of the civil war in Beirut. The cases are: Sabra and Shatila Memorial and Beit Beirut Museum. Following on the learned lessons for designing urban memoryscape, the Author is going to assess both of these cases as follows.

By comparing the two cases, Sabra and Shatila Memorial lacks in most aspects for placing memory but the Beit Beirut Museum almost meets the abstract and the functions’ needs but is also lacking in its implementation and being part of bigger post-conflict social reconstruction processes. However, the author can predict, through the case of the future project of Beit Beirut, a future paradigm change in dealing with scars of the city, moving from mass demolition and neglecting toward highlighting, symbolising, or preservation.

Category

Abstract

Criteria

Traces of the past can be perceived

Sub-Criteria

Staging or leaving scars Symbolic communication

Accessible concept for society

Understandable by all

Sabra & Shatila

Beit Beirut

Memorial

Museum

NO

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

NO

YES

NO

N/A

YES

N/A

YES

YES

YES

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

backgrounds Design the atmosphere

Existence of spatial qualities that conveys emotions

Function

Provide time for the memory

For individual memory For collective memory

Provide time for the memory

Open hours for the public Staging a commemorative day

Place appropriate or respectful functions Endorse educational and reflective uses Impleme-

Part of a process

Working on providing a sense of closure for healing

ntation

Aids transitional justice processes Involve relevant stakeholders

Participatory strategies for planning and design

Table 1: Applying « placing conflict-memory assessment table » on architectural cases in Beirut Source: Author

5.4 Conclusion on Beirut’s Case Several generalisations extracted from the thesis concludes in the case of Beirut: firstly, the absence of a common event for placing memory. Furthermore, the current urban memoryscapes of Beirut do not fulfil most needed postconflict social benefits for placing memory which is the need for closure, healing, or restorative justice. There is, for example, no centralised place for commemorating the Lebanese civil war victims (murdered or disappeared).

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Secondly, the number of NGOs working on the topic of civil war memory is abundant. It re-establishes the existence of unmet needs of post-conflict residents of Beirut as well as the neglect of the governmental support.

The current state of building urban memoryscape leans toward demolitions or neglect. However, some work in progress urban memoryscapes predicts a future paradigm shift in these practices, from neglect toward preservation. The Beit Beirut initiative in 2008 is one example of such response. However, the assessment of the design of the chosen urban memoryscapes also emphasized on this lack of acknowledgement as both analysed cases seem to be lacking in meeting this need which would be a part of a process toward social healing.

Conclusion The research drew connections between seemingly far disciplines interweaving a social interest with a spatial one.

Within this paper, the author found that “Memory and Space” have a relation where the practice of remembrance shapes the allocated space and vice versa. Further readings on international case studies provided the understanding of the importance of placing remembrance practices adequately. Although memory is not an equal to history and it is a subjective object shaped by the society that could be different than the historical truth.

However, allocating space for memory within cities have many social uses such as raising awareness, public remembrance, and allowing public debates and demonstrations on the past. The process of constructing urban memoryscapes, according to the found recommendations, requires highly empathic designers with the target group and insightful planners on the background of the project to steer the formation of the urban memoryscape and allow both individuals and groups to create Places of Memory.

References CRIC.UK (2013): Identity and conflict. Cultural heritage and the Re-construction of Identities after Conflict (CRIC) Research Project. CRIC Final Report. European Commission. United Kingdom. Available online at http://cordis.europa.eu/result/rcn/55191_en.html, checked on 12/29/2016.

Dickinson, G.; Blair, C.; Ott, B. L. (2010): Places of Public Memory: The Rhetoric of Museums and Memorials: University of Alabama Press. Available online at https://books.google.de/books?id=BN5IV8RZ2jQC, checked on 2/26/2017. en.oxforddictionaries.com: scar - definition of scar in English | Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford Dictionaries. Available online at https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/scar, checked on 4/25/2017.

Farlex (2012): Memory (psychology). Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary. Available online at http://medicaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Memory+(psychology), checked on 2/24/2017. forumzfd.org (2017): “This was an area of everyone, not just of one side”. An interview with the editor of the satirical magazine ad-Dabbour and landlord of forumZFD in Beirut. Available online at http://lebanon.forumzfd.org/en/news/interview-joseph-moukarzel, checked on 5/1/2017.

Haugbølle, Sune (2002): Looking the beast in the eye. Collective Memory of The Civil War in Lebanon.

Höfels, Sophie (2013): Erinnerungskultur, was ist das eigentlich? Available online at https://lumberlin2013.jimdo.com/erinnerungskultur/erinnerungskultur-was-ist-das-eigentlich/, checked on 2/8/2017.

Montaño, Eugenia (2008): Places of memory: Is the concept applicable to the analysis of memorial struggles? The case of Uruguay and its recent past 4, pp. 87–109. checked on 02/16/2017.

Roux, Naomi (2015): The Mellon Fellowship Programme in Cities and Humanities 2014-2015. Urban Memoryscapes. LSF Cities. Available online at https://lsecities.net/objects/research-projects/urban-memoryscapes, checked on 12/29/2016.

Schramm, Katharina; Argenti, Nicolas (2009): Remembering Violence. Anthropological Perspectives on Intergenerational Transmission. Available online at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287043758, checked on 12/29/2016.

Ullberg, Susann (2013): Watermarks. Urban flooding and memoryscape in Argentina / Susann Ullberg (CRISMART, 16503856, volume 40).

Yoneyama, Lisa (1999): Hiroshima Traces. Time, Space, and the Dialectics of Memory. US: University of California Press.

Available online at www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ppfc8.9, checked on 12/29/2016.

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Responsive cohesion in the public life of urban planning and design

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Urban Interventions in Response to the Presence of Refugees

The Case of Syrian Refugees in 6th October City, Greater Cairo Region Salma Abdelrahman Supervisor 1 Prof. Dr. Mohamed Salheen, professor of integrated planning and design. Ain Shams University Supervisor 2 Prof. Dr. Astrid Ley, professor of international urbanism. University of Stuttgart Supervisor 3 Prof. Dr. Mohamed El-Sioufi, professor of urban planning. Chalmers University As urban settlements increasingly become migration destinations for refugees, an alternative approach to ‘humanitarian aid’ is currently evident in the diverse urban interventions by humanitarian aid agencies and other actors. This study draws on urban planning, social and refugee discourses in an initial attempt to explore the role of urban, spatial interventions as a response to the presence of Syrian refugees in the city of Cairo, Egypt where refugees do not settle in camps but among the local population. Due to the lack of formal integration policies in Egypt, the response is left to local actors, NGOs and UNHCR to help refugees cope with existing local challenges (such as the quality and inefficiency of public service provision). Two urban approaches that respond to the refugee influx have been recognized. These have been translated into interventions on the level of

basic urban services. One approach, initiated by UNHCR, attempts to enhance locally available public services for both host community and refugees and the other initiated by the local Syrian/Egyptian community supports refugees by acting independently or parallel to government service provision. An evaluation of four cases studies was carried out in order to examine the perceptions and benefits of the interventions on the target group(s) and the significance of the two approaches within the local context.

Keywords: Syrian Refugees. Urban. Greater Cairo Region. Humanitarian aid. UNHCR. Communityinitiated. Evaluation. Public Services. Development Introduction Seeking refuge is an act that always occurs in the context of a threat or danger to an individual or group. This threat could be caused by war, political or religious persecution, past or ongoing, that forces one to seek refuge away from one’s current location in search for safety. The number of displaced persons is said to be at its highest since WWII. The conflict in Syria alone has left over 5 million people displaced all over the world1. Despite the focus of the media regarding the Syrian crisis has largely been on Europe and western countries, higher numbers of those who fled currently reside in urban areas of neighboring, developing countries. Such a rapid influx of people can put cities and the services2 they provide under pressure and could become a stressor in itself (Kirbyshire et al., 2017). Urban areas “face a range of shocks (acute, intensive, sudden events) and stresses (extensive, chronic or cyclical challenges), which can affect economic prosperity, competitiveness, livelihoods and well-being” (ibid).

Although Egypt does not share a border with Syria, a significant number of Syrians have settled in its cities among the local population, i.e not in camps. At the start of the crisis, until 2013, the concept of charity in Egypt had “dominated the scene”(see Arous, 2013) but several years have passed since then and it is no longer an ‘emergency’ situation. The study questions whether there has been an appropriate response to the refugees’, relatively settled, presence in the city. Interventions are being initiated by UNHCR and other actors in the society as a direct result of high numbers of Syrians in the city. The study aims to gain an understanding of the significance of these interventions and add to the limited research available on the effectiveness of different approaches responding to the refugee crisis in the urban context. To realize the objectives of the research, the following exploratory and descriptive questions have been considered.

What role have urban interventions played in responding to the presence of refugees in the city?

What are the relevant local and international policies and approaches towards refugee issues?

Why the need to intervene? Who responds?

What is the significance of the interventions on the community, target group and users? Who benefits?

This study intends to serve as a basis for the discussion concerning further interventions that support refugees in the local context.

Methodology In order to answer these questions, the paper starts with a literature review and a contextual analysis to presents the identified challenges and existing approaches that have responded to the influx of Syrian refugees in Egypt. This is followed by an evaluation of 4 case studies in the City of 6th October 1 Both internally and externally

2 Services include food, transport, water, housing, education, health and emergency services.

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which are evaluated according to a set of basic criteria; relevance (R), efficiency(Ey), effectiveness(Et), sustainability(S), impact(I)3.

The picture can't be displayed.

Figure 1 : data collection methods : author A qualitative approach was considered for this study. Data collected relies onSource primary data through

fieldwork in addition to a desktop review of literature on urban and refugee studies and a review of accessible reports (published and internal).

A policy review Cities are increasingly becoming migration destinatons for refugees. They offer more freedom of movement and in some countries, access to better services as well as solidarity between groups of refugees (Kobia and Cranfield, 2009; Haysom, 2013). Also contributing to increasing numbers of urban refugees is “the lack of capacity and the inefficiency of the humanitarian community to afford the costs of camps and the fear of host governments of big concentrations of refugees” (Misselwitz cited in Arous 2013).

But there are many challenges facing developing countries as refugee hosts such as security and protecton of refugees, rising tensions between the host community and newly arriving inhabitants, competition over employment opportunities and a higher demand on existing, often inadequate, public services. Traditional camps like those set up by UNHCR have facilitated the provision of protection and assistance and in many situations have offered an “effective short-term response to avoid overwhelming existing services” in host areas (World bank, 2016) but the flow of physical assets and humanitarian aid is neither predictable nor certain on the long-term. As a response to the reality that more than 50% of refugees live in urban areas, UNHCR have adapted their policies since 1997 to represent a shift from away from containment approaches (i.e. camps) and mere financial assistance and a refocus on ways refugees could establish sustainable livelihoods through self reliance when possible4. In this way, UNHCR “has sought to simultaneously lower expectations about what UNHCR 3 These are the basic criteria suggested by OECD/DAC and revised by ALNAP to evaluate development and humanitarian proects.

4 Within the last decade, UNHCR revised this policy and published 2 policies in 2009 and 2014 which emphasize the importance of partnerships with local public and private sector actors.

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can accomplish on its own” (UNHCR, 2009) while increasing responsibility for refugees on host governments and local actors. The direction which policies are taking, although not new, offers an alternative to humanitarian aid which is typically understood in terms of short term provision to a more developmental approach (that benefits both host community and refugees). The question is, do projects and programs reflect these policies ? And how effective are they ?

In regards to local policy on refugee assistance, due to a lack of domestic legislation relating to refugees and asylum-seekers (Jureidini, 2010), UNHCR is responsible for refugee status determination and protection and “is mandated to provide, on a non-political and humanitarian basis, international protection to refugees and to seek permanent solutions for them” (UNHCR). Furthermore, Egypt is labelled a transit country for refugees (See Roman, 2006; Pitea, 2010; Zohry, 2012). The Syrian case controversially indicates that thousands purposely sought refuge in Egypt. There are businessmen and those who could find economic security (AL ARABIYA, 2012; Shahine, 2016) and others who came and remained out of despair. What they both have in common is that the length of their stay is uncertain. The assumption that migrants are temporarily settled in host states does not account for, “several million refugees and migrants who find themselves lingering in transit states, often for decades”(Hoeffler, 2012). Moreover, “as ‘traditional’ migrant-receiving states like those in Europe and North America have found new means of fortifying their borders, countries that migrants and refugees once passed through en route to other locations are becoming destination countries” (Norman, 2015).

Since the impact of such a conflict is global, a form of burden sharing between north and south states has resulted over the last years in, what Cuéllar refers to as, “the grand compromise”. UNHCR serves as a means for northern donor states to financially help host governments in the south and thereby keeping refugees from becoming a burden on their own societies (Cuéllar cited in Kagan, 2011). No government of a low-income country is prepared to contract loans or reallocate its previous development funds to programs designed for, or required because of, large numbers of refugees on their land (UNHCR Standing Committee, 1997). Therefore, the international community is expected to help compensate for the costs incurred in providing asylum for refugees.

A contextual analysis In 2012-2013, 26.3% of Egyptians (around 22 million people) lived below the national poverty line, compared with 25.2% two years before. The average Egyptian citizen is often faced with the challenge of acess to education, employment and basic needs and correlates to the difficulties developing countries have in providing basic services (MOE, 2014; Soliman, 2016). Furthermore, social and educational disparities are evident between rich and poor particularly in access to healthcare and education where, for example, “well-off classes access private and foreign education, while the poorer classes access formal public education (MOE, 2014).

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3.1 The assistance of Syrian refugees in Egypt "As tensions rise, isolation becomes an unfortunate coping mechanism for displaced populations” (Guay, 2015) Although the period up to 2013 in Egypt was marked with hospitality and support by UNHCR, INGOs, new local organisations as well as regular citizens towards Syrians, it declined with the social and political disorder of the events on 30th June 2013. Although the Government of Egypt (GoE) grants them access to public education and healthcare since 2012, security concerns forced the authorities to restrict entry visas and residence papers (see Shahine, 2016 ; Kingsley, 2013). Additionally, the shortage in funds and decreased sense of safety, among other reasons, posed challenges for many Syrian refugees. In general, assistance is mostly left to the UN agencies and NGOs. The strategy of UNHCR, UNICEF and partners is “to support government services to cope with the increased demand” (UNICEF, 2013).

Based on a quick scan of current issues facing Egytian society with a focus on post arrival of Syrians, it is noticed that core issues relate to service provision and stem from existing problems that pre-date the arrival of Syrians. More fieldwork is necessary to establish which of these (or others) are actual drivers of tension on the local or neighborhood level.

Structural issues Socio-economic issues (Predating the Syrian crisis) 1.

High levels of poverty& 4.

Adaptation : Syrians live in high unemployment. closed communities. Do 2.

Privatized housing not mingle enough with market and rising rents 6. others."often (no rent control). introverted"..."feel 3.

Poor quality public 7. unaccepted by Egyptians services (overcrowded 8. who perceive them to be classrooms, elements of occupying their land.” discrimination and 9.

5.

Unwelcome marriage harassment, lack of proposals "Syrian women maintenance, and feel offended, and Syrian limited, untrained human men are angry” resources) Table 1: Issues facing Syrian refugees in Egypt 2013-present.

Source: developed by author based on multiple sources

Proximate issues ‘Core issues’

Access, affordability and quality of Housing Access to employment Access and quality of public services Other so-called destabilising factors

3.2 The city of 6th October It is observable in satellite cities like 6th October (figure 2) that refugees can provide a new cultural identity to parts of the city and stimulate urban and economic development5.

3.2.1 Interventions in 6th October city Two urban approaches that respond to the refugee influx have been recognized; each claiming to protect and meet the needs of refugees in the city.

1. An approach that supports refugees by enhancing locally available public services.

2. An approach that supports refugees by acting independently or parallel to public services.

Approach 1 UNHCR initiated UNHCR has stated that their “approach in urban settings will be community based” and they will “ensure that the services it provides to urban refugees bring benefits to other citydwellers, especially the neediest sections of Figure 2 : Conceptual map of 6th October city. the population and those who live in closest Source : developed by author based on multiple proximity to refugees” (ibid). An example is sources their ‘Community Support Projects’ which are meant to reduce increasing xenophobia towards Syrians and rising tensions between them and host society. As a multilateral organization, UNHCR depends on voluntary contributions by several donor states. Projects are implemented depending on available funds and priorities set by these donors.

Approach 2 Community initiated

It has been observed by Arous that since 2013 emerging CBO’s have changed the landscape of humanitarian aid within the urban refugee regime in Cairo and that some Syrians have started establishing their “own relief and community development self-organized entities as part of their “community”-making processes” and remains the case today.

Discussions with local foundations and intitiatives have revealed that the lack of strong, unified coordination efforts between the different actors working in humanitarian aid is an issue. Several NGOs are currently collaborating together to establish a connected database for more organized service delivery and avoid duplication of efforts.

5 6th October city is an industrial, satellite city that lacks any particular architectural or cultural identity (See DCmappers website). It

hosts Iraqi refugees, rural migrants from Fayoum and according to Arous, also hosts the highest numbers of Syrian migrants (2013). Due to the prominent presence of Syrians, with their cafes and shops, in 6th October city, El Hossary are which acts as a central hub of the city, has started to develop a new identity. It is commonly referred to nowadays as ‘little Damascus’(Kingsley, 2013; El-Gundy, 2016; Primo, 2016).

Figure 3 : Spatial interventions identified in 6th October Figure 3 illustrates all the interventions in 6th October city that have been initiated as a result of the city presence of Syrian refugees and whose location could be identified by the researcher (therefore, Source : developed by author should not be considered an exhaustive list). Most of those identified as community-initiated interventions are oriented towards providing education and are locally referred to as ‘Syrian schools’.

Plans are under way for a clinic, by Syria El-gad foundation, and follows a pilot project by them currently in Obour city. A lot of the schools are profit-oriented and charge higher fees in comparison to public schools. An exception to that is the education center by Fard foundation. The high number of parallel practices mapped indicates that services, particularly educational, poses an immediate and urgent need for Syrian refugees.

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Selected case studies

Key findings 1. Although it is observable that the presence of refugees in a city like 6th October has its many economic and cultural benefits, with existing high unemployment, illiteracy and poverty rates in Egypt, the sudden presence of high numbers of disadvantaged refugees escalates the demand on already insufficient, poorly subsidized and low quality public services especially in important domains of education and healthcare.

2. A shift from a humanitarian to a development approach is deemed necessary to cope with increasing displacement and limited resources, however the engaged actors remain humanitarian actors with limited development capacities. They still have tight annual fiscal years that are emergency-based whilst development projects would require longer projects' spans. Approaches to address refugees’ and host communities’ needs from an area-based and resilient perspective lack substantial tools for effectiveness.

3. Host areas, communities and public services would require more foundational support to allow their capacity to absorb refugees. The support needs to be on different levels from physical to socioeconomic and cultural. Meanwhile, refugees have varying localized experiences and needs on the social, cultural and economic realms.

4. Reflecting on the case studies, it seems that the impact of projects that support refugees in the public sector have positioned the refugee question as one better suited for the urban realm (i.e.

where both host community and refugees benefit). Nonetheless, one can argue that the planned project-level outcomes were not reflected in reality i.e. no observed improvement in relationships between host and refugees or increased attendance in schools, etc. Such projects seem to be more favored, and understandably so, by the host community than refugees Conclusion The response to the challenges facing the public system by creating a “parallel system” may have considered refugees’ prospects in the design and development processes but could have unintended negative effects (such as dependency, promoting exclusion of refugees, etc.) if these are not mitigated by other interventions or programs. Even though the Fard center is located in a newly constructed urban setting, it hardly shows any influence on the local surroundings. There has been no significant, observed social or economic activity to date that was stimulated by its presence. Public and semi-public spaces, like schools, are meant to bring people together and to establish an urban realm of interaction and value creation. With that said, if UNHCR-initiated projects were coupled with a shift in the quality of the services, their impact would have been much more meaningful.

Conversely, if projects developed as parallel systems gradually include Egyptian students coupled with a more sustainable business model (in a form of a semi-private school, for example), the model could have a totally different effect on the outlook of the children's life and interaction with the wider community that they are part of.

It is not easy to bring both approaches into conjunction. The link between humanitarian and such development-oriented initiatives is still absent. UNHCR and other actors seem to be detached from the Egyptian national development agenda. Even though the Egyptian government have been supporting the refugee and resilience plans, there has been little if any structured development support provided to refugee-hosting areas (that links to local development plans). Being funded under emerging donor-interest and not strategic development agendas, this "development" approach to urban interventions in response to the presence of refugees still seems to be immature.

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References

AL ARABIYA (2012) Syria’s top 10 businessmen flee to Egypt, AL Arabiya news. Available at: https://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/12/04/253308.html (Accessed: 11 June 2017).

Arous, R. (2013) Refugee Setting and Urban Form and Governance: The Predicament of Syrian Refugees in Navigating Cairo’ s Urban Spaces and the Complexities of Governance in Turbulent Times.

El-Gundy, Z. (2016) ‘A visit to Syria’ in Egypt’s 6th of October City - Features - Egypt - Ahram Online. Available at: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/151/193440/Egypt/Features/A-visit-to-Syria-in-Egypts-th-of-October-City.aspx (Accessed: 20 May 2017).

Guay, J. (2015) Social cohesion between Syrian Refugees and Urban Host Communities in Lebanon and Jordan.

Haysom, S. (2013) Sanctuary in the city? Urban displacement and vulnerability. Available at: http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/7436peshawar-pakistan-afghan-refugee-idp-displacement-urban.

Hoeffler, A. (2012) ‘Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire? Migration from Fragile States to Fragile States’, OECD Development Co-operation Working Papers, No. Oxford: Centre for the Study of African Economies, pp. 1–34.

Jureidini, R. (2010) Regulation of Migration in Egypt, Middle East Institute. Available at: http://www.mei.edu/content/regulationmigration-egypt (Accessed: 16 July 2017).

Kagan, M. (2011) ‘“We live in a country of UNHCR”: The UN surrogate state and refugee policy in the Middle East’, International Journal of Refugee Law, (201), p. 27.

Kingsley, P. (2013) Syrian refugees serve up flavours of home in Cairo satellite city, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/25/syria-refugee-restaurant-food-egypt-city (Accessed: 17 July 2017).

Kirbyshire, A., Wilkinson, E., Masson, V. Le and Batra, P. (2017) Mass displacement and the challenge for urban resilience.

Kobia, K. and Cranfield, L. (2009) ‘Literature Review: Urban Refugees’.

MOE (2014) Strategic Plan for Pre-University Education. Egypt National Project. Available at: http://www.unesco.org/education/edurights/media/docs/c33b72f4c03c58424c5ff258cc6aeaee0eb58de4.pdf (Accessed: 30 May 2017).

Norman, K. (2015) ‘Co-ethnicity, security and host government engagement: Egypt as a non-traditional receiver of migrants and refugees’, Refugee Review, 2. Available at: https://refugeereview2.wordpress.com/2015/05/29/co-ethnicity-security-and-hostgovernment-engagement-egypt-as-a-non-traditional-receiver-of-migrants-and-refugees/ (Accessed: 20 May 2017).

Pitea, R. (2010) ‘Transit Migration: Challenges in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon’, CARIM Research Reports, 2.

Primo, V. (2016) Inside Little Damascus, the Syrian Neighbourhood in Greater Cairo, Cairoscene. Available at: http://www.cairoscene.com/In-Depth/Inside-Little-Damascus-the-Syrian-Neighbourhood-in-Greater-Cair (Accessed: 17 July 2017).

Roman, H. (2006) ‘Transit Migration in Egypt’, Robert Schuman Centre for advanced studies, (1).

Shahine, G. (2016) Syrians in Egypt: A haven despite the hardships, ahramonline. Available at: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/151/217025/Egypt/Features/Syrians-in-Egypt-A-haven-despite-the-hardships.aspx (Accessed: 11 June 2017).

Soliman, M. (2016) Local Integration of African Refugees in Egypt: The Policy challenges. The American University in Cairo.

UNHCR (2009) ‘UNHCR policy on refugee protection and solutions in urban areas’, International Journal of Refugee Law, 21(4), pp. 823– 850. doi: 10.1093/ijrl/eep028.

UNHCR Standing Committee (1997) ‘Social and economic impact of large refugee populations on host developing countries’. Available at: http://www.unhcr.org/excom/standcom/3ae68d0e10/social-economic-impact-large-refugee-populations-host-developingcountries.html.

UNICEF (2013) UNICEF Annual Report 2013 -Egypt. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/about/annualreport/files/Egypt_COAR_2013.pdf (Accessed: 30 May 2017).

World bank (2016) Forcibly Displaced. Toward a development approach supporting refugees, the internally displaced, and their hosts.

Advance ed. Washington, DC: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. doi: 10.1596/978-1-4648-0938-5.

Zohry, A. (2012) Cairo: A Transit City for Migrants and African Refugees.

Cover image: adapted by author. Photo source: Dessouki, K. (2016). FT photo diary, egypt [online] Available at: http://blogs.ft.com/photo-diary/tag/egypt/ [Accessed 15 Aug].

Primary data sources:

Rasha Arous, community development officer UNHCR Ibrahim Ghanem, community development associate UNHCR Insaf Ben Othmane and Omar Wanas, co-founders Ecumene studio Dr. Heba Mourad, Co-founder of Fard foundation. Gharb Sumid, 6th October City. March 15th,26th 2017 Tahra Ismail, Fard foundation representative. Gharb Sumid, 6th October City. March 15th, 2017 Principal of Omar Ibn elKhattab Public School. Sheikh Zayed. March 14th, 2017.

Principal of Amr Ibn elAas Public School. Sheikh Zayed. March 14th, 2017.

Dr. Molham Muaz Al-Khan, chief of board of trustees Syrian algad foundation. Dokki. March 26th, 2017 Further interviews with other participants (Syrian and Egyptian teachers, pupils, parents) were conducted.

Source: Let’s Do It! World 2016.

Transferability of Civil Society Initiatives Examining the Process and Affecting Aspects of Transnational Transfers Author: Eva Sule Supervisor 1: Prof. Dr. Mohamed Salheen, Professor of Integrated Planning and Design, Ain Shams University Supervisor 2: Prof. Dr. Astrid Ley, Professor of International Urbanism, University of Stuttgart Supervisor 3: Dr. Ayat Ismail, Assistant Professor of Urban Design & Planning, Ain Shams University The thesis summarized here aims to contribute to filling a research gap in transferability studies, which examine how ideas, action models and lessons learnt are taken from one context to another, in order to be able to improve transfers and strengthen practices tackling worldwide social, economic and environmental problems. The research seeks to unveil the process and some of the factors influencing transfers in the civil society by both reviewing policy and knowledge transfers from literature, and empirically examining a case study of a civic campaign grown into a global network and civic movement.

Based on the example, the transfer process was modeled dividing the involved activities into pre-transfer, transfer and posttransfer phases. Moreover, various aspects affecting transfers have been detected and categorized as initiation-, model-, transaction-, context- and implementation-related factors aiming toward a case-oriented conceptual framework.

Keywords: transferability; knowledge transfer; policy mobility; global civil society; transnational civic action.

Introduction In an era where worldwide social, economic and environmental problems grow more complex and difficult to tackle, there is a need to spread and replicate successful countermeasures within and across borders. Currently best practices are often displayed, particularly by local and international governmental organizations, but seldom become implemented in new contexts.

While political decision makers and economic powers have not been able to deliver effective responses, a multitude of authors agree that many civic players have succeeded in affecting policies and intervening with new approaches toward sustainability and equity in contexts of varying development. Increasingly, this also happens transnationally with civil society actors of different formations and characters engaging in a global exchange of knowledge and experiences.

Studies on transferability – examining how ideas, action models and lessons learnt are taken from one context to another – help to understand these processes, which in turn is crucial for improving transfers and thus, strengthening effective practices. However, this body of research remains extremely limited, especially in empirical research and particularly on transfers within the civil society.

The research summarized here attempts to contribute to filling this research gap by examining the process of transfers and searching for factors influencing policy, knowledge and model transfers in the civil society both from literature and empirically.

1.

Transferability in Literature

Discussions on transferability seek to model and theorize on the transfer process, classify the actors involved, identify the power relations that facilitate adoption, and establish the conditions and mechanisms that lead to the success or failure of certain transfers (McCann 2011) or, in other words, find what restricts or enables transfers and which lessons can be learnt (Dolowitz and Marsh 2000). A transfer is understood as a distinct experience of taking a practice from one environment to another (Szulanski 2000).

Looking into three discourses most commonly discussing transferability – political science, organizational theory and urban studies – different kinds of transfers and respectively their actors, means and methods introduced in Table 1 can be found. While political science and international relations theorize mainly about policy transfer (Dolowitz and Marsh 2000, Stone 2004) or policy mobility (Peck and Theodore 2010), organizational theory elaborates on knowledge transfer (Argote and Ingram 2000, Szulanski 2000, Reagans and McEvily 2003). In urban studies, a model has been developed including policy, policy model and policy knowledge transfer (McCann 2011). Urban research also entails some accounts of transfers within the civil society (see Ley et al. 2015, Ginzel 2012, Birch et al. 2012), whereas the other two focus largely on transfers within and between public and private organizations.

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Political science and IR

Organizational theory

Urban studies

Focus

Policy transfer

Knowledge transfer

Policy transfer Policy model transfer Policy knowledge transfer

Actors

States IGOs non-state actors

Private & public organizations

Multilateral, governmental/bilateral actors, practitioners, private sector and philanthropic institutions, academia, (civil society)

Scale

Between different actors within or across countries

Within organizations, local or international

Between different actors within or across countries

Method

Publications, online databases, conferences, training, personnel movement, observation, “best practice” advocacy, partnerships, networks, legislation, regulation, aid conditionality, invasion

Personnel movement, training, communication, observation, “best practice” advocacy

“Best practice” advocacy, online tools and databases, peer-to-peer learning, learning from academia/ institutions, intermediary-facilitated knowledge transfer

Means

Policy tools, legislation, approaches, ideas, paradigms, lessons, norms

Individuals, tools and technology, tasks, combinations

Guidelines, procedures, statements, expertise

Table 1. Transferability in different discourses.

Source: author, based on Dolowitz and Marsh 2000, Stone 2004, Argote et al. 2000, Argote and Ingram 2000, McCann 2011, Birch et al. 2012.

Examining the different degrees of transfer and how transfers happen, a research gap can be found as few studies examine the transfer process (Dolowitz and Marsh 2000, Szulanski 2000, McCann 2011) and existing attempts to model it, in order to facilitate classifying transfer-related problems (Szulanski 2000), are incomplete. Furthermore, while it is suggested that the transfer process is difficult and time consuming (ibid.), a comprehensive overview of the possible aspects affecting transfers appears missing, hindering the optimization of transfers. However, some argumentation lines and a few case study examples in existing literature indicate that adaption and compatibility of the practice with the importing context, as well as decentralized organization within the transfer and face-to-face contact in learning, facilitate transfers.

2.

Transfers within the Global Civil Society

A limited amount of research is also displayed on transfers specifically within the civil society. Having changed meanings over history[1], Kaldor (2003) distinguishes between three types of civil society definitions still applicable at present – the activist, the neoliberal and the postmodern understandings[2]. The research has followed primarily the activist version of civil society, which sets rule of law as a precondition and insists on both restraining the power of the state as well as redistributing power through participation and autonomy. Active citizenship, increased self-organization and the ability of citizens to influence the conditions they live in are all part of this civil society (ibid.).

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Notably, the transnational scale of relations between and action by civic actors marks a new kind of civil society to have emerged – the global civil society (Anheier, Kaldor and Glasius 2001, Batliwala 2002, Kaldor 2003, Keane 2003) – defined by Kaldor, Anheier and Glasius (2004:2) as “a sphere of ideas, values, institutions, organisations, networks, and individuals located between the family, the state, and the market, and operating beyond the confines of national societies, polities, and economies” (emphasis original).

Enabled by increased opportunities for connecting across the world (Kaldor 2003, Madon 1999, Keck and Sikkink 1999), global civil society (GCS) is often organized as a response: to global problems and local issues; to environmental, economic, social threats and accumulation of power (Smith 2002) as well as to neoliberalism underlying many of these issues (Giddens 2001, Batliwala 2002, Keane 2003, Clark 2003, Bandy and Smith 2005). Gaining a wider audience for reporting mistreatment and searching for support (Giddens 2001, Batliwala 2002, McCann 2011, Keane 2003) as well as strengthening the position of local actors through global networks (Madon 1999) more able to voice the concerns of local groups (Keck and Sikkink 1999) also to national authorities (Nash 2004, Kaldor 2003, Madon 1999), going global serves as a useful tool for strengthening civic actors.

There are various organizational forms of GCS actors categorized varyingly by different authors. Looking into power distribution and the internal hierarchy within them, deemed important in transfers (McCann 2011), the research has followed Clark’s (2003) categorization of civil society organizations (CSOs) distinguishing between international CSOs, CSO networks and social movements.

Examples of knowledge transfers within the GCS can be found from literature in the form of conferences (Giddens 2001:iv) and peer-to-peer learning (Ley et al. 2015). With specific strategies for gaining momentum via more supporters, finances, etc. (Dolowitz and Marsh 2000), something similar to a policy transfer may take place in the GCS, however, not in the classical sense. The distinctive characteristic of GCS in transfers may be gathering around shared values (Keck and Sikkink 1999, Batliwala 2002, Clark 2003, Stone 2004, Bandy and Smith 2005), further encouraging their exchanges and collaboration for the common aim.

3.

Research Questions and Methodology

Given the gaps in research on the transfer process, the facilitating and hindering aspects and transfers within the civil society, the study project aims to better understand how transfers within the civil society happen, which conditions and factors enable or obstruct them and why, in order to be able to give recommendations for future practice and theory. For realizing these objectives, the following primary and secondary questions were set.

•

How do transfers within the civil society take place? o

Why do transfers in the civil society happen?

o

What is being transferred within the civil society?

o

How can the transfer process be modelled?

o

Who are the actors in the transfer process?

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•

What restricts or facilitates the transfer process and why? o

How does the model of the civic action affect the transfer?

o

How does the initiation of the transfer affect transfers?

o

Which aspects during the transaction facilitate and restrict the transfer?

o

How does the implementation context affect the transfers?

o

Which aspects should be considered for a successful transfer of civic initiatives from one context to another?

In order to answer these research questions, a case of a civic campaign grown into a global network and one of the fastest growing civic movements in the world – the ‘Let’s Do It’ (LDI) garbage clean-up campaign, taken to over 100 different contexts – is examined empirically, in addition to the literature review. Being a call-to-action campaign specifically, its benefit for being researched in transferability studies lies in the existence of a clear action model, making comparisons easier, and its impediment in differing from many other civic actions, making lessons learnt more difficult to apply.

To establish the features of the case important for studying

transferability,

extensive

semi-structured

interviews were conducted with organizers in the exporting country Estonia, as well as two importing countries, Egypt and Slovenia, and available material from project databases, reports and the media collected and analyzed.

While the design of the empirical research was founded on the literature review on transferability and GCS, the analysis made for reaching the conculsions combines

Figure 1. Research design.

and compares both (see Figure 1).

Source: author.

4.

Case Study Analysis

Examining the general development of the spread of LDI, different phases in terms of initiation model, aims and support structures were detected. The cases of Estonia and Slovenia exhibit a relatively successful implementation of the original idea with alterations, having been made to better suit the respective conditions nevertheless, and while modifications also occurred in Egypt, the implementation has been mostly taking place on a small scale.

When considering the application of the theory in the case of LDI, it appears that since primarily the organizing experience is exported, knowledge transfers are crucial in the case and take place in multiple forms. Having set long-term goals on specific problems, the case can also be considered to contain policy transfers. Yet, the mechanism of the transferred practice as well as how it translates to practice indicates something other than knowledge or policy transfers to take place. Partly synthesizing on McCann’s classification (2011) of policy,

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policy model and policy knowledge transfers, a suggestion is made that the case of LDI may also exemplify the transfer of a model – a plan consisting of a clear set of actions.

Furthermore, investigating the activities happening during the transfer of the case study and extending on Szulanski’s (2000) abstraction of transfer processes, a model of how the process of transferring a campaign takes place in the specific example has been derived (see Figure 2; the activities in brackets may or may not happen).

Figure 2. Model of the transfer process derived from the case study.

Source: author.

As there is reason to stipulate that LDI has developed into something beyond a country cleaning campaign, considering the amount of countries and people involved and the different aims and activities of LDI at different times, the organizational structure of LDI has been reviewed based on Clark’s (2003) classification of civic actors. It is found that the case shows a mixture of characteristics of informal CSO networks and social movements, being rather a rooted movement that may be part of a transnational movement.

Since both informal networks and social movements are formed around a common cause and led by common beliefs and values (Keck and Sikkink 1999, Clark 2003, Bandy and Smith 2005), the role of common values and motivation in transferring the case were considered. Indeed, the analysis of the empirical fndings showed how the common values have increased the likeliness for transfers to occur, fuelled motivation of organizers and strengthened implementation, being thus a facilitating aspect entwined with many of the other aspects affecting transfers.

Through further analysis of literature and empirical findings, the case was found to confirm decentralization as a facilitator of transfers, encouraging members to engage with others in the lack of power-structures, increasing local autonomy and chances for context adequate implementation and building local capacity, thus also contributing to project sustenance. Likewise, network structures appeared to expediate exchanges between more parties, reducing pressure on exporters, and facilitate reaching new people and areas. Face-to-face interactions were found to build synergy, inspire and motivate, build trust, make recruiting and finding partners easier, and facilitate learning, thus enabling transfers despite being time and resource costly. While the importance of compatibility of a practice into a context and similarity between socio-economic conditions of exporters and importers was confirmed to some extent, it was found, additionally to literature, that adaption of the practice to the unique local situations can be an important facilitator to transfers. As another new finding, initiation of a

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transfer through inspiration and networks was found more successful than approaching actors in the importing context with the idea to transfer.

Based on these analyses, results and other findings that indicated toward aspects affecting transfers, but could not be further investigated due to the time and volume constraints of the research, a case-oriented conceptual framework of aspects affecting transfers was developed (see Table 2).

Aspect

Affecting actor

Initiation related

Initiation mode Organizational structure …

Exporter and importer

Model related

Adaptability of the model Model setup …

Exporter

Transfer process related

Mode of exchange Support Cultural differences …

Exporter and importer

Context related

Receptiveness Political setting …

Importer

Implementation related

Existing capacity Implementation scale …

Importer

Table 2. Case oriented framework of some of the aspects affecting transferability, (in italics are the aspects not elaborated in detail in the thesis).

Source: author.

Furthermore, some recommendations for practitioners in the civil society (and in some cases also theory) can be offered: •

To build on the particular characteristics and existing strengths of civic engagement when seeking international collaboration, by focusing on actors with matching values.

•

To run rather decentralized platforms both internationally and within a local organizational team to enable local capacity building, autonomy and context adequacy; but also increased knowledge exchange between more parties (peer-to-peer learning), thus better distributing training tasks.

•

To seek facilitating as much face-to-face interaction between the exporters and importers as possible for strengthening ties and enabling transfer.

•

To transfer models or policies that allow for the specifics behind the idea to be adapted to local needs and context.

•

To find new transfer partners through inspiring and networks.

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Conclusion Transnational exchange of “best practices” is an increasing trend between actors in public, private and civil sectors, aimed at strengthening them with new knowhow, improving effectiveness and the ability to survive. This research has looked into a purposeful transfer of practices from one context into another, specifically in the civil society combining theoretical and empirical research. Consequently, a model of the transfer process was derived from the case study example, and various aspects affecting transfers were detected and categorized as initiation-, model-, transaction-, context- and implementation-related factors aiming toward a conceptual framework. Being primarily based on one case study of a specific kind of civic action, the list of these factors does not attempt to be complete and may not be applicable for any type of transfer in the civil society. Nevertheless, the framework can be of use for detecting further variables affecting other initiative transfers, and the recommendations based on the lessons learnt from the case may guide and help to improve future transfers.

Endnotes [1] The term civil society was understood as a society characterized by a social contract in the 18th century by Kant (societas civilis), “the arena between the state and family” by Hegel and Marx in the 19th century (Bürgerliche Gesellschaft) and the scene “between the economy, the state and the market” (Kaldor et al 2004:2) by Gramsci in the 20th century.

[2] According to Kaldor’s (2003) categorization, the neoliberal civil society means non-profit, voluntary associational life that, apart from restraining state power, also substitutes some of the functions attributed to the state, most commonly welfare, compensating for the parallel economic globalization. The postmodern definition emphasizes tolerance and sees civil society to be pluralistic and include civility as well as incivility. Postmodernists may criticize the prevailing concept of civil society for imposing Western culture on the rest of the world, call for including more communalist political cultures and highlight the importance of national and religious identities (ibid.).

References Anheier, H.K., Kaldor, M. and Glasius, M. (2001) Introducing Global Civil Society. In Anheier, H.K., Kaldor, M. and Glasius, M. eds. (2001) Global Civil Society, pp.26-38. Oxford University Press.

Argote, L. and Ingram, P. (2000) Knowledge transfer: A basis for competitive advantage in firms. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 82(1), pp.150-169.

Argote, L., Ingram, P., Levine, J.M. and Moreland, R.L. (2000) Knowledge transfer in organizations: Learning from the experience of others. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 82(1), pp.1-8.

Bandy, J. and Smith, J. (2005) Factors Affecting Conflict and Cooperation in Transnational Movement Networks. In Bandy, J. and Smith, J. eds. (2005) Coalitions across borders: Transnational protest and the neoliberal order, pp.231-254.

Rowman & Littlefield.

Batliwala, S. (2002) Grassroots movements as transnational actors: Implications for global civil society. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 13(4), pp.393-409.

Bebbington, A., Hickey, S. and Mitlin, D. (2008) Introduction: Can NGOs Make a Difference? The Challenge of Development Alternatives. In Bebbington, A., Hickey, S. and Mitlin, D., eds. (2008) Can NGOs make a difference? The challenge of development alternatives, pp. 3-37. London, Zed books.

Birch, E.L., Wachter, S.M. and Keating, A.M. (2011) An Assessment of How Cities Create and Transfer Knowledge: A Landscape Study. White paper, University of Pennsylvania.

Clark, J.D. (2003) Introduction: Civil Society and Transnational Action. In Clark, J.D. ed. (2003) Globalizing civic engagement: civil society and transnational action, pp.1-28. Routledge.

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Dolowitz, D.P. and Marsh, D. (2000) Learning from abroad: The role of policy transfer in contemporary policy‐ making. Governance, 13(1), pp.5-23.

Giddens, A. (2001) Foreword. In Anheier, H.K., Kaldor, M. and Glasius, M. eds., Global Civil Society, pp.iii-iv. Oxford University Press.

Ginzel, B. (2012) Bridge the gap! Modes of action and cooperation of transnational networks of local communities and their influence on the urban development in the Global South. Unpublished thesis (PhD), Leipzig University.

Kaldor, M. (2003) Global Civil Society, An Answer to War. Cambridge, Polity Press.

Kaldor, M., Anheier, H.K. and Glasius, M. (2004) Introduction. In Anheier, H.K., Kaldor, M. and Glasius, M. eds. Global Civil Society 2004/5, pp.1-22. Sage.

Keane, J. (2003) Global civil society? New York, Cambridge University Press.

Keck, M.E. and Sikkink, K. (1999) Transnational advocacy networks in international and regional politics. International Social Science Journal, 51(159), pp.89-101.

Ley, A., Fokdal, J., Herrle, P. (2015) Whose Best Practice? Learning From Transnational Networks Of Urban Poor. In Cabrera, C., Linden, A., Michelutti, E., N-AERUS XVI Conference: Who Wins And Who Loses? Dortmund, 19-21 November 2015, N-AERUS coordinating committee, 189-197.

Madon, S. (1999) International NGOs: networking, information flows and learning. The journal of strategic information systems, 8(3), pp.251-261.

McCann, E. (2011) Urban policy mobilities and global circuits of knowledge: Toward a research agenda. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 101(1), pp.107-130.

Nash, J. (2004) Transnational civil society. A Companion to the Anthropology of Politics, pp.437-447.

Peck, J. and Theodore, N. (2010) Mobilizing policy: Models, methods, and mutations. Geoforum, 41(2), pp.169-174.

Reagans, R. and McEvily, B. (2003) Network structure and knowledge transfer: The effects of cohesion and range. Administrative science quarterly, 48(2), pp.240-267.

Smith, J. (2002) Bridging global divides? Strategic framing and solidarity in transnational social movement organizations. International Sociology, 17(4), pp.505-528.

Stone, D. (2004) Transfer agents and global networks in the ‘transnationalization’of policy. Journal of European public policy, 11(3), pp.545-566.

Szulanski, G. (2000) The process of knowledge transfer: A diachronic analysis of stickiness. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 82(1), pp.9-27.

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Figure 1: Research Problem Source: Author

Spatial Control Repercussions on Social Dynamics The Case of Palestine Author: Marwa Tina Supervisor: Assoc.Prof. Yehya Serag Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Astrid Ley The paper broadly explores the repercussions of the Israeli restrictions on the Palestinian society, how they affect the social dynamics, and as a result, enforce spatial restrictions on the Palestinian society. In addition, the paper raises the questions of how the Palestinian society adapts to the restrictions and how the Israeli restrictions change the behaviors of the society spatially.

The research adapts an exploratory qualitative approach, using questionnaires and interviews as tools in exploring the concepts of power versus the analysis of the data collected from the fieldwork. Many spaces emerged from the fieldwork, such as main checkpoints for mobility, certain areas for choosing residences, and social interaction.

The research aims to present a comprehensive discussion connecting the power concepts, the policies implemented on the ground in opposition to the result of the field study, mainly the concepts related to social dynamics and its repercussions on the society’s adaptation methods and arguing self-control as part of the society’s adaptation.

1. Introduction If you google “Palestine,” “Israel,” the “Palestinian Conflict”, “Occupation”, etc., you will have many resources at your hand, providing details and information about the situation in the holy land. Nevertheless, it becomes a difficult task to understand the complications on the ground, the many restrictions that are forced on the Palestinian population by the occupation, the spatial fragmentation that is a reality on the ground, the political failures, the hardships of a whole nation, and understanding why after 69 years, the occupation is still ongoing.

The occupation of Palestine in 1948 or what is called Al-Nakbahi, has led to the exodus of almost 700,000 (McDowall, 1987, p. 10) Palestinians to the neighboring countries from the West Bank and Gaza, which denied them access to their cities and hometowns. After the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, more Palestinians were forced to leave, and around 325,000 (Bowker, 2003) thousand had to go through yet another forced displacement. What marked the Al-Naksahii in 1967 is the annexation of East Jerusalem, which meant that 66,000 (Jefferis, 2012) Palestinians would be considered as permanent residents but not citizens of Israel.

The Israeli restrictions on the ground have multiplied and diversified. Since the signing of the Oslo agreement in 1993, the spatial fragmentation and the spatial control has increased excessively. The control mechanism Israel has been using combines multiple methods to have a comprehensive control, not only spatially but socially, economically, and politically.

Since the occupation of Palestine, Israel has been using physical and nonphysical restrictions to control the territory; the combination of physical and spatial restrictions affects the social dynamics of the Palestinian population from different areas.

The restrictions vary from spatial fragmentation of the territory, by using different land classifications, checkpoints, constructing the apartheid wall, land confiscation, settlement expansions and land demarcating to non-physical restrictions such as the identification card system, entry denial, imprisonment of Palestinians, and unjust treatment.

The use of different types of restrictions, such as tools of control, ensures the effectiveness of the occupation in keeping the Palestinian population under conditions of severe control.

The restrictions have forced the society to adapt to its surroundings and change its behavior interactions and activities. These changes have been done physically in their surroundings and unphysically in their daily life decisions. The society has changed its daily life routines by trying to adapt to the restrictions just to “get by” (Allen, 2008). Most importantly, the dynamics of the society are now being set by the place you live in, the type of identification you have, and whether you have access to certain areas or not.

2. Power and Control 2.1 Concepts of Power The research framework presents the concept of power through two main parts, primarily presenting the Theories of Power

by Foucault. Furthermore, it presents the concepts of ethnocracy By Yiftachel, and Spaciocide by Hanafi.

Foucault presents three concepts of power – Disciplinary, Sovereignty, and Biopower. These powers are discussed through their impact on people’s lives, how they coexist and complement each other, and how power exists when actions are

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conducted. In addition to power, the space, the subject and the panopticism is discussed. This combination of powers creates the ultimate form of control over territory and people.

Sovereignty is the power in the hands of the state, where people need to abide by the law, and the states practice the power over the population. This power requires two elements, a territory and a population. Populations under sovereignty power practice self-understanding, self-consciousness, and self-representation (Mbembé and Meintjes, 2003). Mbembé argues that it is the highest level of power which decides who lives and dies, while Hannah Arendt calls it the command-obedience power (Allen, 2002).

Disciplinary power creates docile bodies that may be subjected, used, transformed, and improved for the benefit of the power. It requires a controlled space, which Foucault called a social laboratory, where you can distribute the bodies that you want to control as well as discipline and supervise them (Foucault, 1977a, 1977b). In these spaces, the normalization of actions becomes a norm, where it is undemocratic practice, and eradicates the free will. Gilles Deleuzes argues that, in modern states, individualizing the masses into one body and one way of thinking is also related to disciplinary powers (Deleuze, 1988). The most significant space to practice disciplinary powers is the Panopticon; nevertheless, traces of this type of power can be seen in many modern states’ practices of power.

Biopower is the power over bodies deciding micro decisions. It subjugate the bodies, controls the populations, and forces strategies over collective existence in the name of life and death (Foucault, 1984; Šupa, 2015). Biopower or biopolitics is used to group bodies according to race, ethnicity, and gender to exploit, dominate and eliminate the others. Biopower has elements of subjectification, in which individuals work on themselves, under certain modes of authority, by means of practices of the self, in the name of their own life and health, in a collective or an individual way (Rabinow and Rose, 2006).

The concept of Subject is presented by Foucault in a vital concept that connects power to individuals. Foucault emphasizes the importance of the practice of power over the subject, the human body that can be transformed into subjects, through inquiry, dividing practices, self-objectification(Foucault, 1982). That’s when the subject is inserted into the power relation.

Individuals act upon themselves, where they impact themselves or others through actions. The subject can be objectified by different forms of power, depending on the context, the social and historical norms as well as the background.

The concept of space appears in all forms of power. It is important for power and power relations, where the practice of power can create different kinds of spaces. Foucault presents space through Heterotopia and Utopia, where traces of creation of Utopia can be found in the Israeli colonial regime in the creation of colonial spaces for one ethnic group. Foucault focuses on forming relations with other spaces where you can classify humans to achieve the end goal of power (Foucault and Miskowiec, 1986). Koskela argues that power practiced can create different kind of spaces (Koskela, 2003). Foucault argues that since space, knowledge and power are associated, “it is somewhat arbitrary to try to disassociate the effective practice of freedom by people, the practice of social relations and the spatial distributions in which they find themselves. If they are separated, they become impossible to understand” (Foucault, 1984).

Panopticism is presented as the ultimate space to practice power, where a gaze is enough to control the body, the mind and the knowledge of the subject. It resembles the concept of surveillance, which defines the power relations of everyday life.

2.2 Ethnocracy and Spaciocide Power concepts are vital to the second part of this section, where the concepts of spaciocide and ethnocracy are presented, as a demonstration of the Israeli practices of power in Palestine.

Israeli regime policies are manifested in the racist planning system and the tools of control used to enforce fragmentation and segregation of the Palestinian society. Oren Yiftachel argues the that there are four components of control in the

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planning system to enforce oppression, which are the territorial, procedural, socioeconomic, and cultural dimensions (Yiftachel, 1998). There are similarities here to the disciplinary and sovereignty powers which require territory to practice power, and population to practice power over.

This use of power feeds in the colonial ideology of Israel to control resources of the territory, which increases the pattern of segregation and inequality against the “others,” where the concept of ethnocracy is implemented in Palestine. Ethnocracy, which consists of three components – settler colonial society, mobilizing the power of ethno-nationalism, and the ethnic capital (Yiftachel, 1999) – is practiced heavily in mixed towns and cities, most importantly Jerusalem. The results of this type of policy is extreme segregation that impacts the Palestinian society.

Hanafi connects the types of power used in Palestine to biopolitics, likewise Foucault, which turned the Palestinian population to be under constant surveillance. This is implemented through panoptical towers, settlements that encircle Palestinian communities, road segregation and many other types of restrictions.

Spaciocide is the annihilation of the space and the destruction of space. Hanafi states that the occupation of Palestine is characterized by the spaciocide of space rather than the genocide of the population (Hanafi, 2006). The components of spaciocide have similarities to the characteristics of ethnocracy, and can be connected to the theories of power of Foucault.

Spaciocide components are sociocide, economicide, and politicide (Hanafi, 2012), which Yiftachel discussed under the dark side of planning. Moreover, spaciocide is characterized by colonization, separation, and the state of exception which was presented by Agamben (Agamben, 2005).

Colonization is associated with the purity of the space for one ethnic group, thus using the colonies as a tool to undermine the social fabric of the society. These are combined with sovereignty over the population and practicing power through disciplinary measures. The connection between Foucault, Yiftachel and Sari Hanafi will be presented in terms of practices on the ground in the next section, where a discussion of the physical and non-physical restrictions as tools, and as power elements, has changed the Palestinian society, impacted its social relations and changed the socio-spatial aspects of the society.

3. Physical and Non-Physical Restrictions This section presents the Israeli policies through the identification regime and the multiple physical restrictions focusing on the wall as an example.

3.1 Identification card Regime The identification regimes used tools such as; the census in order to control the Palestinians during the 1967 census (Doumani, 1994), providing different identifications, and denying many Palestinians from obtaining residencies inside Palestine.

In later years, and post-Oslo era, the identification card regime has changed slightly, nevertheless maintaining the powers of approving or revoking residency in the hands of the Israeli government. The identification card system marked subjects to be in certain spaces, in addition to the ability to exclude or include individuals in different spaces.

The identification card regime includes five types of identification cards. The first is the green identification card which is held by the residents of the West Bank who were present during the census of 1967, or their children, in addition to people who received it by unification (Tawil-Souri, 2011). This card type restricts its holder from mobility beyond the West Bank

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areas, without a special permit. Nevertheless, existence of the permit is under the control of the Israeli government, and can be revoked and stopped for any reason.

The blue identification card, which is given to Palestinians residing in East Jerusalem, provides residency but not citizenship to the Palestinians in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem identification card can provide mobility, but it restricts Jerusalemites from changing the locations of their residences as per the policy of the “center of life” (Jefferis, 1997), which increased the demand on housing in Jerusalem. The increased restrictions on Palestinians holding the Jerusalem identification card lead to the quiet deportation of Palestinians, increased financial issues and revocation of their residency.

Palestinians who stayed in their towns and cities after 1948 obtained the Israeli citizenship after proving to have resided in Israel between 1949-1952 (Tawil-Souri, 2011). The Palestinian population in Israel faces many inequalities and injustices, and the formation of the state of Israel led to separation of the families’ social relations with the occupied cities of Palestine within the armistice line. Palestinians in Israel are prohibited from living on 68% (Adalah, 2011) of the land controlled by Israel according to the “admissions committees law.”

Many Palestinians lost their right to residency, while most have sought other nationalities. For Palestinians holding foreign passports who returned to Palestine under tourist visa or temporary entry, renewal of entry was required every three months.

In some cases where they overstayed their visa, they became confined to their towns. Some Palestinians holding foreign passport were denied entry to Palestine by the Israeli authorities under the pretext of terrorism or security.

Palestinians holding Gaza Identification cards are confined to Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Israeli authorities, with no access to the outside world except from two exists which are controlled by Israel and Egypt.

3.2 Physical restrictions The combination of the physical restrictions imposed on Palestinians has restricted their movement, segregated the society and destructed the social fabric of the entire society.

There are several types of physical restrictions such as the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which attempt to create a utopia for the Jewish Israelis, affecting Palestinian urban spaces, increasing expansions and land grab, and intensifying surveillance over the Palestinian population. Bypass roads for Israeli settlers, that dissect Palestinian urban areas, prevent them from development, and separate the Palestinian space. Furthermore, there are checkpoints which act as gates to exist certain places; these checkpoints exist in and around the West Bank denying Palestinians the freedom of movement.

In addition, the fragmentation of the Palestinian space was intensified with the creation of the new administrative borders – Area A, Area B, Area C, Area H1, Area H2, after the Oslo agreement and Hebron Protocols (B’Tselem, 2014) – the seam zone which was created because of the construction of the Wall. As a result, the West Bank map resembles islands with no connection between its areas.

The research focused on the wall as a tool of spatial control. Nevertheless the combination of the restrictions and the identification regime plays a huge role in the disfiguring of the Palestinian social dynamics.

The construction of the wall started in 2002 as a security measure by the Israeli government. The construction of the wall led to the annexation of more areas of the West Bank to Israel, creating the seam zones where Palestinians are segregated and restricted from movement, confined to their place of living. The wall consists of two types, a smart security fence, and a precast concrete wall.

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The wall sets new demarcation borders for Israel, enforcing new reality on the ground. The route of the wall has changed many times due to pressure from the settlers’ lobby, environmentalists and archeologist. Nevertheless, the wellbeing of the Palestinian communities was the least priority of the planner of the wall.

The impact of the wall was severe over the Palestinian population. Nine main impacts can be listed, such as forced displacement, restrictions on the place of residence, restriction on mobility, economic poverty, health, education, social life and cultural and religious matters. In addition, the wall has changed the map of the geopolitics of the West Bank and Palestine in general.

The identification regime, as a non-physical restriction, has a severe spatial impact on the Palestinians. In combination with the physical restrictions, the combined impact can be manifested in the Palestinian society.

The overall impact of the discriminatory powers against Palestinians has changed the social norms of Palestine. It affected the social relations of the Palestinians, social networks and marriages as well as the Palestinians’ practice self-confinement and self-control to some degree, changing the social dynamics of the society.

Forced displacement, loss of livelihoods, loss of access and constraints on all aspects of life are the main characteristics of living in Palestine.

The matrix of control (Halper, 2009), as Halper calls it, has roots for disciplinary powers, using surveillance over Palestinians to control the population, thus restricting them from freewill. In addition, sovereign powers are exhibited in the collective punishment of the whole population, by imposing the Israeli regulations over Palestinians, and punishing them in case of disobedience.

Controlling micro-decisions of the Palestinians, like the choice of residence and life partners, can be interpreted as a biopolitical power and control, though indirect. Nevertheless, the execution of several restrictions led to a change in the behaviors of the Palestinian society.

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Figure 2: Compilation of Restrictions Source: Author

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4. Discussion- empirical study The fieldwork resulted in three main categories under which findings were discussed. They are as follows: 4.1 Residency and displacement Fragmentation of the Palestinian population, under several identification cards, relate to the disciplinary powers that were discussed by Foucault, using the identification regime as the apparatus to dissect the population into categories. Biopolitical powers were also used to influence the decisions of places of living and residence, and sovereignty to “punish” the population with revocation of residency in case they disobey the regulations of complying to the center of life policy. The line between adaptation and self-control in this case is very thin, and while Palestinians are aware of the policies and what is allowed and what is not, there are influences that might make them unaware of that impact on their decisions.

The fragmentation of the West Bank and the large amount of settlements in the area fall directly under the policy of spaciocide and ethnocracy of maintaining a strong colonial presence. This also coincides with the panopticism theory of Foucault, to keep the Palestinian population under surveillance. It also applies to the restrictions on the Palestinians holding the Jerusalem identity card.

The creation of many issues, such as reunification and stability of families, is a way of the Israeli authorities to practice its sovereignty over the population, although this practice is non-physical in some cases. Nevertheless, the manifestation of the spatial restriction of the non-physical restriction is evident.

4.2 Mobility and restrictions The matrix of control in Palestine can be identified with the three types of power Foucault discussed previously, where checkpoints and the wall area are used as a panoptical element to control and surveille the population. In addition, imposing restrictions on mobility forces Palestinians to adapt to the reality and find difficult alternatives to get by the occupation. These types of adaptations can fall under self-control to some degree, as adaptation on a daily basis can become a norm for most people.

Introducing restrictions as a way of control, and then introducing permits as a mode to pass by these restrictions is a clear state of exception presented under the concept of spaciocide. This increases the sovereign powers and allows for the disciplinary measures to take place more often.

4.3 Social relations and separation Social relations are important for society for maintain its social fabric. Severing the social relations is a way to isolate individuals, control them, and affect their normal lives.

Separation of families create isolated families scattered in the space, with weak relations to the society, living in a state of fear of punishment by losing residency.

Daily life decisions and important decisions like marriages are affected by the powers Palestinians face. They force Palestinians to categorize other Palestinians and put them in the “others” box, modifying their relationships with them, and mitigating relations based on their identification cards.

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5. Conclusion The thesis tackles the repercussions of the spatial control mechanisms of the Israeli regime on the social dynamics of the Palestinians residing in Palestine. The research opted for an exploratory qualitative method, in order to investigate the problem, and show the impacts of several types of restrictions on the Palestinian society.

The findings of the research were predictable and unpredictable at the same time, as issues like adaptations were common knowledge, since the entire population is using same methods to get by. Nevertheless, some of the findings, such as mitigating relationships, social relations networks and some personal stories, were unpredictable and hard to believe. This type of information could not be obtained by literature. Thus, similar studies and researches are encouraged to shed light on social issues that affect the society.

The conflict in Palestine is a complicated and overarching dilemma. Research in the field of the conflict has multilayers that should be taken into consideration, although connecting these different layers creates complexity. The researcher tried to present a connection between the social dynamics and how they change because of the restrictions and the different policies on the ground. The research touched the surface of the complexities and the intertwined issues that occur on the ground.

Nevertheless, the research findings have been part of minimal researches conducted by different scholars, who tried to investigate the social aspects of the restrictions and how they affect the spatiality of the society.

The research presented theories of power as bases of an ideology of a state that is controlling the territory, expanding its sovereignty, and practicing control over an entire population. This attempt is significant for this research; nevertheless, more research is needed, requiring additional expertise from different disciplines, in order to draw a comprehensive picture of the reality of Palestine.

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Jefferis, D.C. (2012), “Institutionalizing statelessness: The revocation of residency rights of Palestinians in east Jerusalem”, International Journal of Refugee Law, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 202–230.

Koskela, H. (2003), “‘Cam Era’ - the contemporary urban Panopticon”, Surveillance & Society, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 292–313.

Mbembé, A. and Meintjes, L. (2003), “Necropolitics”, Public Culture, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 11–40.

McDowall, D. (1987), The Palestinian, London.

Rabinow, P. and Rose, N. (2006), “Biopower Today”, BioSocieties, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 195–217. Šupa, M. (2015), “Mapping Practices of Social Control : A Foucauldian Analysis of Urban Space”.

Tawil-Souri, H. (2011), “Colored Identity the politics and materiality of ID cards in Palestine/Israel”, Social Text, Vol. 29 No. 2 107, pp. 43–62.

Yiftachel, O. (1998), “Planning and social control: exploring the dark side”, Journal of Planning Literature, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp.

395–406.

Yiftachel, O. (1999), “‘Ethnocracy’: The Politics of Judaizing Israel/Palestine”, Constellations, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 364–390.

Endnotes

i "al-Nakbah", literally "disaster", "catastrophe", or "cataclysm" ii “Al-Naksah” day of the setback". As a result of 1967 war, Israel took control of the Palestinian-populated West Bank and Gaza Strip, which were previously annexed by Jordan and controlled by Egypt, respectively

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Urban Landscape and Agricultural Urbanism

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Bolstering socio-ecological resilience in Greater Cairo Region’s peri-urban agriculture pockets Strategies for Local Economic Development and Improved Food Security

By Dorothy H. Estrada Supervisor 1: Prof. Dr. Mohammed Salheen, Professor of Urban Planning, Ain Shams University Supervisor 2: Prof. Dr. Antje Stokman, Professor of Landscape Planning and Ecology, University of Stuttgart This research focuses on the causes and consequences of encroaching development onto agricultural lands in Cairo’s periurban fringe in Giza. It examines strategies for resilient peri-urban agriculture that can be applied to the Greater Cairo Region (GCR) based on case study examples of urban fringe agricultural systems and their “best practices” in terms of resilient planning. Qualitative data collected from formal interviews, focus group discussions, as well as informal interviews in the district of Saft al Laban was analyzed. The final output of the research are design and policy recommendations for peri-urban agricultural systems on the local, district, and regional levels.

Keywords: Food Security; Local Economic Development; Peri-urban Agriculture; Resilience

Introduction Currently, there is rapid growth in urban areas worldwide that has created a global alarm about how to make cities more food-secure. Peri-urban areas (where agriculture has traditionally taken place) are being pressured for development to suit housing and settlement needs. However, urban development in such areas can have negative environmental impacts and push food production centers more to the periphery. When this occurs, food must travel further, and this transport contributes to the increased amount of CO2 emissions, which inevitably impacts climate change. In addition, other negative consequences include the loss of income for farmers, the loss of soil, biodiversity loss and potential erosion and habitat fragmentation.

Popular now in academic and sustainability discussions is the notion of socio-ecological resilience, loosely defined as “a complex, adaptive system concerning the integrated concept of humans in nature” (Folke, 2005), which examines the web of dynamics between humans as a species and their interactions with the environment.

This includes the management of natural resources, or, in many cases, the current mis-management. Peri-urban agricultural lands are but one example of precious resources that are being squandered, and as arable land worldwide shrinks, so does our capacity as a species to feed ourselves. In the Greater Cairo Region (GCR), this issue is at the utmost extreme, since economic desperation from the working class and farmers, in addition to poor government management of peri-urban agriculture (PUA) lands, has led to their depletion. This loss has occurred at such a rapid rate in the last few decades, that if no intervention is made, the extremely fertile lands of GCR may disappear altogether, bringing the nation on the verge of an extreme food security crisis.

Research Questions and Objectives: This thesis touches upon a rich body of knowledge that has begun to develop, exploring the importance of peri-urban food production and the socio-ecological and economic value of agriculture. Studies published in the last decade indicate that depleting PUA is a major topic of concern, yet little research has been produced to examine regional peri-urban strategies to combat food insecurity and improve local economy in informal areas.

The academic nature of this text is based on an application-led approach, focusing on qualitative research in combination with design-science. Several typologies exist when speaking about urban agriculture and its related subtopics, but this scope examines the issue on a larger, regional scale, and links it with elements in the broader fields of local economic development and food security.

The key research questions to be examined in this text are as follows: 1) How does peri-urban agriculture support socio-ecological resilience in an urban area? 2) In which ways can peri-urban agricultural activities support local economic development? These key questions are grounded in the context of the GCR and have been explored in order to reach a collective understanding of the reason why the existing phenomena of loss of PUA lands in Cairo occurs so rapidly, as well as what some solutions could curb this trend.

1.

Literature Review To begin, a comprehensive literature took place in order to understand socio-ecological resilience, learn about

Egypt’s food security status, and reach an understanding about resilient design tactics for PUA.

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a. Socio-Ecological Resilience There exists a plethora of definitions to define the word ‘resilience’ (Meerow et al.,2016). Arguably, the word has become as overused as much as ‘sustainability,’ but according to recent studies, resilience and sustainability differ because sustainability does not focus on testing a system’s capacity or its adaptive capabilities (Wu, J. and Wu, T., 2013). With this thought, researchers are now beginning to understand resilience as a key to achieve sustainability in socio-ecological systems (2013).

Fluxes in the peri-urban agricultural systems, such as flood, drought, or extreme weather, are likely to affect urban food production areas, and require adaptive or transformational changes (De la Salle & Holland, 2010). Urban landscapes can be thought of as complex systems that are regulated and transformed by nature (Niemelä, 2010). Urban ecology has encouraged both scientists and designers alike to consider such feedback loops and self-organization and incorporate urban designs to fit naturally into this. Another term for this is ‘panarchy,’ or nested hierarchies that continuously influence each other (Wu, J. and Wu, T., 2013). Such considerations encourage a wider, systems-thinking approach, since solving isolated issues does not impact the overall resilience of a city region. Ecological resilience emphasizes resistance, change, and unpredictability (2013). b. Food Security in Egypt Annually, the UNFAO produces a list of Low-Income, Food-Deficit Countries (LIFDC) in order to pinpoint where to best target their efforts. While Egypt is currently not on this list, Greater Cairo region (GCR) has one of the highest population densities globally with 397 persons per ha, and the country is reported to be the world’s largest importer

of

wheat

(FAOSTAT,

2015). In 2010, the nation’s oil minister stated that Egypt imports

Fig. 1- Egypt’s food security has been affected by a number of crisis events. (Source: Bush, 2014)

40% of its food, and 60% of its wheat (Weisenthal, 2011).

Fig. 1 Egypt’s food security has been affected by a number of crisis events. (Source: Bush, 2014)

Research suggests that if Egypt is not in a food security crisis now, it may be heading there in the future.

According to a 2014 report from the International Food Policy Research Institute, Egypt’s food security has been fluctuating greatly in the past few years. Figure 1 shows the factors from 2005 to 2012 that may have been affecting food security, such as the steady increase of urban poverty, and astoundingly between 2009 and 2011, 15.2 percent of the population (12.2 million people) fell into poverty (Bush, 2014, pp. 11-12).

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According to the UNFAO Regional Cairo office, food insecurity is an important issue for Egypt, and one that has been partly compounded through over-population in some areas, as well as other aspects of food like water and other natural resources needed to produce it (Yacoub, 2017). The strategic crops the FAO considers are those that address food security: wheat, maize, and rice, and as one researcher at the American University in Cairo indicated, “food security is planned at the national level” (Moneim, 2017, pp. 4).

c. Resilient Design for PUA Literature review also indicated that PUA lands provide a plethora ecosystem services have a powerful impact on socio-ecological resilience. Ecosystem services are defined as the “the stock of natural ecosystems that yields a flow of valuable ecosystem good or services in the future society” (Richter, 2011, pp. 157).

When considering peri-urban agricultural lands in particular, the provided environmental services are vast.

A review of urban ecology studies indicates that sustainable planning and urban design for PUA should take two important factors into consideration. First, landscape functions as nested scales. This means that when determining the boundaries of landscapes in an urban ecological design, it is helpful to always think up one scale (Pickett, Candenasso, and McGrath, 2013; Allen and Hoekstra, 1992). Second, sustainable urban design “should create holistic solutions to existing social and ecological problems while anticipating future challenges and striving to create a better future” (Pickett, Candenasso, and McGrath, 2013, pp. 56). This means that such planning should be place-based and built on aspects that already exist. It involves working with cultural and natural systems in order to guide planning and design decisions (2013).

2.

Methodology The research was designed to examine PUA’s impact on of food security and LED in a region or peri-urban

Cairo through a lens of socio-ecological resilience. In order to lead the research toward design-solution oriented recommendations,

data

was collected in the district of Saft al Laban in Cairo as part of a comprehensive field study. a. Field Survey Selecting a relevant site in Cairo was vital in understanding

the

problem at hand. Saft al Laban is an informal fringe area where the expansion on Fig. 2- The pockets surrounding Saft al Laban. (Source: Google Earth, 2017)

PUA

land

is

very

dominant. The district is located on the western

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fringe of Giza, adjacent to the Ring Road on its west, Kafr Tuhurmis to the south, Bolouq ad Dakrour to the east, and Zinayn to the north. The relative location and reduction of greenspace over time can be seen in Figure 2. Saft al Laban’s close proximity to the Ring Road and formal areas of Giza make it an interesting subject worthy of further analysis. To address the key research questions, a multi-stage field survey was devised that consisted of the following: Informal interviews, informal conversation and first-hand observations, and a formal focus group discussion. The field survey was conducted in a two-week research trip to Cairo in April 2017. b. Survey interviews Informal interviews were conducted in the selected neighborhood site over the course of two consecutive weeks. In total, 39 residents participated in the survey, and it is the opinion of the researcher that such a number was sufficient to observe patterns in responses and reach a saturation point. Interview participants were questioned from a standardized 39-question survey. The survey was translated into Arabic as well as English. The researcher went into the field with a male translator of the Egyptian Arabic dialect. The interpreter would read off the list of questions on the survey and the participant responded verbally. The interpreter would then translate the speech into English, and the researcher would mark down the applicable answer to the question, taking additional notes as needed. c. Informal Conversations and Observations On several occurrence during the field survey in Saft al Laban, residents did not want to participate in a full survey, but were eager to engage with the researcher and interpreter in conversation. When this occurred, the researcher took notes and answered questions posed by the resident about their interest in the area. During every visit, the researcher took the opportunity to take notes about the observed activities and behaviors in the neighborhood, in order to compare how they varied at different times of day, as well as to take pictures of the surroundings. d. Focus Group Discussion On April 9, 2017, a focus group discussion was held with 9 community members to discuss community assets and resilience, with the purpose of gaining a better understanding about Saft al Laban’s socio-ecological resilience status as a community. This event was structured in loose accordance with recommendations made in a 2009 publication entitled the Community Resilience Toolkit (Bay Localize, 2009). The focus group discussion was divided into four parts that consisted of the following: Asset Mapping for local infrastructure and services; Open Discussion about assets and resilience; Evaluation of the community by sector; and a Closing Thoughts dialogue.

The discussion was held in the Saft al Laban community at the office of Mish Madrasa, a local education-focused NGO, and lasted for a duration of 1.5 hours.

4. Results As previously stated, the field survey was structured with questions related to land ownership, economic status, local assets, relationship to agriculture, and food security in order to reach an understanding of the key research questions. The results of the field surveys and focus group discussion are as follows. In the general survey,

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the majority of identified interviewees were male, and most were between ages 36-45, though with a large number not specified. Most of the people interviewed have lived in Saft al Laban for most of their lives, and were therefore able to call up historical perspectives of their place before rapid settlement began. a. Land Ownership The survey found that home ownership in Saft is high. There is a fairly diverse split in how people acquired the property. For a small majority,

this

building

it

was

by

themselves.

However, a lot of others answered that their parcel of land was either inherited from

a

deceased

family

member or that it was purchased. For people who

Fig. 3- Future growth in Saft. (Source: Author, 2017)

had to make a purchase ownership agreement for the land, the vast majority answered “other.” Residents claimed new homes can be built quickly in about 1-3 months. A very low percentage of people choose to use any of that land for agricultural purposes, and site observations indicated that the only observable farmed areas are those at the fringe part of the district and one observed rooftop farm at the Mish Madrasa building. Figure 3 indicates that most residents expect that they or their neighbors will expand their homes in the future. b. Economic Status The majority of people surveyed claimed that they were employed, with the most of those employed identifying that they work elsewhere in the city (outside of Saft). Ten respondents (48%) of the 21, who claimed to be employed, work full time, while another 29% work part time, and still another 10% are self-employed (Figure 4). Most survey

Fig. 4- Employment statistics in Saft. (Source: Author, 2017)

respondents also did not respond to the question about whether monthly earnings were enough to cover their monthly expenses. However, participants in the focus group commented directly that they felt the middle and low classes cannot afford their basic needs. c. Local Assets During the focus group discussion, several assets were defined in the neighborhood, including streets of local businesses, several mosques, and one ministry office. From the community survey, it was identified that some schools are present in the area, but their proximity to the selected neighborhood scale seems to be out of range.

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Most respondents also said that there were no NGOs active in the area, apart from Mish Madrasa, which was mapped during the Focus group discussion. One survey participant remarked that there were more active NGOs in the area before 2011, but after the revolution they disappeared. The most prominently lacking institutional asset is the presence of a waste management service. According to survey participants, waste is managed mostly by dumping it in a tunnel close to the Ring Road, as confirmed by the researcher’s site visits. A few times a week, mostly at night, a dump truck from the city comes to pick up the trash to take it elsewhere, but some piles remain, which was observed by the researcher. d. Agriculture Prevalence and Food Security In the survey, a split occurred between people who offered their opinion about farms. While the largest number of respondents remarked that “they are good,” others commented that they are not useful or do not exist.

Most people also claimed to know a farmer personally and buy their products, but around 31% of the respondents said they do not have a personal connection (Figure 5).

Opinions about agriculture were varied, and most survey participants claimed that people working in agriculture work outside of Saft, which was also confirmed by an informal interview with a group of local farmers. The majority of participants did not answer when asked if they felt agriculture was beneficial for the community, but of the respondents, 31% said ‘yes’.

Of those surveyed who participate in agriculture, the split was an even 50/50 when those who do participate were asked whether they produce for home consumption or for sale. Participants in agriculture estimate their earnings to be between EGP 500-1000 per month. During the Asset Mapping activity, farms were identified predominantly by being on the west side of the Ring Road.

This is also consistent with what the researcher observed during field visits, and the area was also identified as having an important water resource. Regarding food

Fig. 5- Opinions about local farms in Saft. (Source: Author, 2017)

security, nearly every interviewee claimed to buy food from a local market, and that there were no issues in accessing these places. In terms of quality, the majority claimed that the food they buy is “good quality” but fewer said “it’s good” or “it’s excellent.” This statistic was in contrast to the number of respondents who said they felt the food was not safe to eat; almost 48%. Most respondents claim that if they had options to buy more from local famers, they would (Figure 6). Most surveyed did not respond

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about the quality of products coming from local farmers, but 13 out of 39 did say they believe the produce was good quality and affordable.

Fig. 6- Food safety and potential purchase change in Saft. (Source: Author, 2017)

f. Community Resilience Assessment During the Resilience Assessment Activity in the focus group, an average was taken from the 9 participant ratings, and the results from this first exercise indicated that no participant felt Saft al Laban was doing “Very Well” in any of the sectors. However, for criteria of ‘Equity’ in the sectors of ‘Social Service and Civic Preparedness’ and ‘Local Jobs and Economy,’ the participants felt their community was doing ‘Fairly Well’. In the second part of the focus group discussion, participants were asked to do the same type of ranking, but consider their community 10 years into the future. Overall, the results showed a future outlook with improvements in virtually every sector.

5. Discussion The intent of the Cairo-based case study was to give more insight on what the PUA land loss in the Greater Cairo Region. The results of the field survey indicated that building development is expanding rapidly onto agricultural lands. Therefore, there seems to be a common consensus that Saft al Laban will become increasingly urbanized. In terms of economic status for Saft al Laban residents, the researcher found these employment statistics to be surprising. It was expected that unemployment would be higher, but this also may be due to the fact that most respondents were male, as there was a vocalized cultural stigma in the district that women should not need to work. When observing the physical local assets on the fringe part of the district, field observations revealed a striking difference between the lifestyle of the people living in Saft al Laban on opposite sides of the tunnel under the Ring Road. Those that live on the west, near the farmland, consider their farmland an asset, and some interviewees remarked that they know they cannot farm it forever, but will hang on to the land as long as possible to wait for the real estate price to increase. People in the main district of Saft tended to be less communal, and less tolerant of the farmer’s practices.

Overall, the presence of agriculture in the district was visibly shrinking, though a number of people still believe the agricultural lands to be beneficial for local livelihoods. Survey responses indicate that local residents of Saft feel food secure, but generally believe that the quality of their food could be improved. All told, residents seem open to improving their access to healthy, fresh food, but seem hesitant that their own greenspaces would

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be a part of this development. Drawing from these inferences, recommendations were made on how existing assets could be used to support PUA in informal fringe settlements.

Though the researcher made efforts to organize the data collection with as little error as possible, some circumstances occurred that may have affected results. These occurred mainly in the informal interview stage and focus group discussion parts of the field survey. During the informal interviews, all of the data collection was done via interpretation, so it is probable elements were lost in translation. Additionally, respondents of the survey were mainly the people who were openly out on the street or in front of their homes, excluding the people who may tend to stay inside more often. In the focus group discussion, flaws included participants being predominantly male and from the same 16-25 years old age bracket, which narrowed the scope of the community’s opinion. As with the survey and informal interviews, all statements were being translated to the facilitator from Arabic to English, and it is likely that some content was lost in the oversimplification of the participant’s statements.

5. Recommendations The case of Saft al Laban may be considered as a mirror to the wider GCR, and patterns of its behaviors and assets as a community as discussed provide a solid foundation upon which to consider strategies that may be needed in other fringe settlements to prevent the further loss of agricultural lands. Specific recommendations for sustainable design include conducting an ecosystem services assessment, establish agricultural co-ops, creating more multi-functional greenspaces to link the fringe to the rest of the settlement, and managing waste and water in a community collective. Policy intervention recommendations include establishing more NGOs and advocacy networks for PUA on the local level, activating more capacity-building from organizational actors (business, NGOs, and governmental organizations), and more investment and partnerships related to agricultural development from upper level actors at the institutional level.

6. Conclusion This research explored the dynamics and best-practices related to resilient PUA lands management in GCR. Key research questions strove to uncover the ways in which peri-urban agriculture supports socio-ecological resilience in an urban area, as well as its impact on local economic development. A comprehensive understanding of the importance of regional agriculture planning and the urgent problem of food security for urban areas was established through literature review. After collecting research findings in the Cairo district of Saft al Laban, several recommendations were made to bridge the design and policy gaps afflicting PUA lands in informal fringe settlements. Findings showed that residents do envision a more resilient, inclusive future for themselves, and with proper interventions across multiple scales, the land can continue to sustain livelihoods for generations to come.

The research explored important questions related to tangible strategies to improve resilience, but had to do so from the lens of but one local settlement and make several assumptions in the process. It would be extremely valuable if future studies focused on 1) the economic profitability aspects of peri-urban food security and LED in urban areas and 2) the linkage between LED in peri-urban areas and sustaining an urban region. In other words, it is of interest for cities to understand what it costs to be food-insecure. By looking to lessons learned in informal

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settlements, this research can guide developing regions to reach the capacity to be more resilient, sustainable, and food-secure cities of the future.

References Babar, Z. and Mirgani, S. (eds.) (2014) Food security in the Middle East. Oxford: Oxford University Press USA. Bay Localize (2009) Community Resilience Toolkit. Oakland, California. Available at: www.baylocalize.org/toolkit.

Bush, R. (2014) How to build resilience to conflict: The Role of Food Security: Food Security and Food Sovereignty in Egypt. (Food policy report). Washington, D.C. Available at: http://www.ifpri.org/sites/ default/files/publications/pr28.pdf.

De La Salle, J. and Holland, M. Agricultural Urbanism: Handbook for Building Sustainable Food & Agriculture Systems in 21st Century Cities. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Green Frigate, 2010. Print.

Estrada, D. (2017) 'General observation notes about Saft'. Interview by Dorothy Estrada, 2 April.

Folke, C. et al. (2005) ‘Adaptive Governance of Social-Ecological Systems,’ Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 30(1), pp. 441–473. doi: 10.1146/annurev.energy.30.050504.144511 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UNFAO) (2017) Food Security Statistics. Available at: http://www.fao.org/economic/ess/ess-fs/en/.

Meerow, S., Newell, J.P. and Stults, M. (2016) ‘Defining urban resilience: A review’, Landscape and Urban Planning, 147, pp. 38–49. doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2015.11.011 Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (2003) ‘The Strategy of Agricultural Development in Egypt until 2017". Cairo.

Moneim, A. (2017) 'Interview with Independent Researcher at ASU'. Interview with Abdulhaliem Moneim.

Interview by Dorothy Estrada, 4 April.

Niemelä, J. (ed.) (2010) Urban Ecology: Patterns, Processes, and Applications: Oxford University Press (Accessed: 5 February 2017).

Pickett, S., Candenasso, M. and McGrath, B. (2013) Resilience in Ecology and Urban Design: Linking Theory and Practice for Sustainable Cities. New York: Springer (Accessed: 20 February 2017).

Richter, M. (2011) Applied Urban Ecology: A Global Framework: Wiley & Sons (Accessed: 5 February 2017).

Saft Al Laban Residents (2017) 'Focus Group Discussion'. Interview with Saft Al Laban Residents. Interview by Dorothy Estrada, 9 April.

Salem, S. (2017) Agricultural Sustainable Development Strategy 2030. Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation. 2017.

Sims, D. (2010) Understanding Cairo: The Logic of a City Out of Control. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press (Accessed: 17 January 2017).

Weisenthal, J. (2011) ‘Egypt's Food Problem In A Nutshell’, Business Insider, 31 January. Available at: http:// www.businessinsider.com/egypts-food-problem-in-a-nutshell-2011-1?IR=T (Accessed: 10 February 2017).

Wu, J. and Wu, T. (2013) Resilience in Ecology and Urban Design: Chapter 10: Ecological Resilience as a Foundation for Urban Design and Sustainability: Springer.

Yacoub, M. (2017) 'United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Regional Office'. Interview with Dr. Mohamed Yacoub. Interview by Dorothy Estrada, 7 April.

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Water Bodies Within the Metropolitan Cities: Understanding the Urbanization Process Around Lakes & Lagoons´ shores in Greater Tunis, Toward Sustainability Mariem BRAHMI* Supervisor 1 Ghada Farouk * Professor of Urban Design and Planning at Ain Shams University * Supervisor 2 Antje Stokman*Professor of Landscape Planning and Ecology * Supervisor 3 Sami Yassine Turki* Associate Professor at the Higher Institute of Environmental Technologies * The abstract Included into the urban system, water bodies are also called Landscape sensitive zones that contribute to the balance and to the urban sustainability within the emerged concept of cities on the shores.

The integral relationship of the triplet (urban crawling, water bodies, and human practice) gives birth to the urban landscape identity, unique sense of each water body.

In holistic vision, water bodies in Greater Tunis have shaped differently the metropolitan urban fabrics and their forms on the shores. The current urban state reflects the physical and human interaction toward water bodies and their shores.

A better understanding of Greater Tunis case evokes the urbanization process over water bodies’ shores in the area and clarifies a differentiation in public strategy toward these four landscape units.

Since long time ago, lakes have played several roles for the urban community development. In fact, they started by playing a protective role on behalf of the Carthaginian Empire and then served as the outfall of urban water system for the Arabic Islamic. Nowadays, water bodies are more contributing to the revitalization of the metropolitan while threatening urban sustainability in the metropolitan.

The deterioration of agriculture sector inside the interior countries during the French colonization period while promoting industries and quarry activities on specific shores, promoted the exodus rural seeking for a place to settle near any alternative job opportunity which at that time were available near ports, quarry and brickyard that are situated on the southern part of Tunis Lake and the eastern Tunisian golf.

Indeed, the abuse of agrarian land and adopting land corruption behaviour as a remedy for lower power land purchase of immigrants on Lagoons´banks, while the government is investing more into Lakes shores urban planning, strengthens the differentiation in urban typology and form on different water bodies´shores. Even more, the social practice around Lakes and Lagoon are not similar.

The research is structured in the following way, the first part consists of contextualization of the research which is succeeded by a cognitive research based on literature review to understand the related concept of sustainable urban Lakes and Lagoon and finally tackling the case of shores in Greater Tunis through an empirical study and urban landscape perception. At the end of the research, a recommendation part proposes the main guidelines to achieve sustainability orientation through grasping and preserve the image of the shores that contributes to build the urban landscape identity inside Greater Tunis and their imageability. Also, it is followed by an ultimate suggestion for further deep research.

This research come up with stressing out on water bodies urban landscape and human interaction to valorise their important presence as signifying objects into metropolitan city identities, imageability and livelihood.

Figure 1.Main structure of the research

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Keywords: Urban wetland, urban landscape identity, urban natural sustainability, urban shore, urban lake, lagoon, metropolitan city, water front, shore imageability.

Introduction A new functional perception of urbanized water bodies´shores has been emerged to respond to metropolitan city revitalization needs and to its sustainability. The said concept of cities on shores has increased the value of water front and created a spatial vibrant place for communities and visitors.

For the case of Greater Tunis, the integral tangible and intangible relationship of the triplet (urban crawling, water bodies, and human practice), have affected the city imageability which is part of its urban landscape identity, worth to be studied.

The cultural landuse toward Lakes and Lagoons´shores in Greater Tunis has not only shaped differently the form and typology of urban fabrics, also the socio-spatial interaction inside the same metropolitan.

Since the colonization period, the urban dynamic in Tunisia was mainly dependent to city center proximity and to the availability of job opportunities. These main drivers, additionally to land corruption that happened around Essijoumi Lagoon, the presence of quarry nearby Tunis Lake and agriculture soil on the Ariana Lagoon shore, have defined the urban flow and oriented the public strategy toward shores revitalization. The multiplicity of urbanization factors has engendered physical mutation and social cultural change while the interwoven triplet relationship is getting more and more complex under distinguishable public strategies toward these urbanized landscape units.

The study of the spatial cultural mutation on Lakes and Lagoons ‘shores happening over time within greater Tunis, reveals the importance of water bodies shores as signifying objects into metropolitan city identities and sustainable community livelihood.

1. Problematic of the research The finality of the research is to come up with specific urban landscape characteristic of each water body in greater Tunis that attributes the added value of water front as signifying object to the community identity and livelihood as well as their contribution into urban sustainability.

Nevertheless, pointing out the difference between four main urbanized water bodies within greater Tunis in terms of their urbanization process, this research work is not only concerned with the urban dynamic evolution and its impact on water bodies´ shores, it also seeks to understand the public strategy toward the changing role of Lakes and Lagoons, hence describing the stakeholder’s interventions on theses landscape entities since the emergence of metropolitan city concept in Tunisia. The question here is which logic was behind adopting specific strategy toward water bodies and their shores in Greater Tunis?

Due to the various perceptions of water bodies and their shores in Greater Tunis, new image of the city and its area, has been emerged to respond to city revitalization needs. Implementing various urban projects on lagoons and lakes´ suburbs has engendered a defect in the city imageability and its sustainability. To what extend the

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impact of human spatial interaction in misperceiving the urban landscape identity of the shores in Greater Tunis and misappropriation into urban sustainability?

2. Methodology The research methodology for this paper consists of three main approaches. First, a field research which is an exploratory approach of the site that aims to grasp the prevailing situation within the urbanized sides surrounding the four water bodies.

Second a literature review that helps in establishing the knowledge related to the topic, clarify the associated concepts toward understanding the empirical case study which is Greater Tunis. Indeed, an overview of literature represents an important tool to collect information and data that are useful to build required knowledge which will be, further, the basement for suggested outcomes and exposed results. Therefore, highlighting the urban identity landscapes that are predominant around water bodies in Greater Tunis.

Third, a sensible lecture of urban landscape perception helps to assess the real and current state of the shores.

The said tool devotes to propose a better urban quality life on the shore (the various type of landscape design on the lakes ‘shores) and identity imageability definition.

The international examples of urban water front development projects that have applied the sustainability concept of water front rehabilitation, would serve as reference in the final part of the paper recommendation.

Extracting lessons that could be learned from international cas study and project them on the sustainability concept in correspondence to urban projects on water bodies shores, is the following aim of the research. This aim attempts to point out on the sustainable specificity of each referential project on waterfront.

Further, a tangible physical analysis of the interaction between urban fabric and community in addition to the intangible spatial cultural relationship are the two processes to reveal the foot print of the identity of urban landscape as added value which represents the symbolic sustainable value and attractiveness of the shores.

A spatial map perception over thirty years is the tool to detect the physical impact of such urbanization on water bodies system (urbanization delimitation, water body shore and the shape of water body itself). Moreover, a visual observation of human social interaction on shores helps to draw the image that gives character to the shores in Greater Tunis.

3. Key findings The findings of the research illustrate the strict alienation of urbanization to the natural environment. The factors and drivers of urbanization on water bodies ‘shores are commonly reflecting the interaction between physical natural environment and socio-economic cultural trends.

Separately, each water body in Greater Tunis has its own contributors to shore urbanization. Indeed, the two water bodies, Essijoumi Lake and southern part of Tunis Lake, were urbanized simultaneously but not for the same reasons. For Tunis Lake, the port which has been established in 1893 has reanimated the commercial aspect of southern side of this Lake. (Barthel, P., A. (2006) p (33)) and has attracted urban settlements on its

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surrounding, as a result a planned neighbourhood was established to receive workers of the port and being close to their job location. The desire of being close to the industrial company, quarry and a brickyard and the capital as much as it is possible, for any job opportunity without the need to use means of transport (Houimli, E., chapter (1) 1, led to a slum explosion on unsuitable land for urbanization where there was also, no land legislation around Essijoumi Lagoon. For the same driving reasons, settling on the banks of Ariana lagoon were due to the incapability of Tunis city center to absorb the urban demographic pressure and allocate the rural immigrants. Also, the low price of the agricultural area2 due to its unsuitability for building, allows the informal urbanization trend to prolong vis à vis the outskirt of Ariana Lake while nibbling the agricultural land which was triggered after 1970.

Nevertheless, the eastern sea side of Ariana shore was a privilege that have attracted economic and touristic urban investment projects, such as the case for the sea side of Tunis Lake. This double-sided shore was endowed with an economic and industrial establishment which gives the hypothesis that the presence of the sea front raised the planned urban value of those lakes.

Figure 2. Impact of urbanization on shores within Greater Tunis -Physical mutation

1 Houimli, E. (2008). LES FACTEURS DE RESISTANCE ET DE FRAGILITE DE L’AGRICULTURE LITTORALE FACE A L’URBANISATION : Le cas de la région de Sousse Nord en Tunisie. Doctoral thesis : Sciences et architecture du paysage. Paris : Universityo f Paris Tech -ECOLE NATIONALE SUPERIEURE DU PAYSAGE DE VERSAILLES, [online].

Available at: http://www.ecolepaysage.fr/media/recherche_fr/UPL3567887260222501138_Th__se_HOUIMLI_texte_int__gral.pdf) [Accessed 8 Apr.2017].

2 Mizouri, A. Mtimet, pge 282,

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The changing of human practice on shores is mututally affecting the relationship between the natural element and built environment and is affecting also, the role of shores into urban life. Their role is shifting from providing recreational privileges to being a platform for informal settlements and from spiritual connotation and agriculture use to slums (Essijoumi) also, from Gardening agriculture to Informal Urban Agriculture (Ariana).

These role development, defines temporary the role of shores within the urban system, toward sustainability which consists in a protective Role, natural physical sponge of Urban Area, functional platform for development, drawing city imageability, enhancing recreational and social practice, wetland provision for the ecological system.

The government strategies toward water bodies ‘shores were influenced by the international movements and the lack of national auto-finance to respond to local development needs. Simultaneously with the RAMSAR classification and importing foreign fund from golf countries during the period 1970-1995 have influenced the orientation of lakes shores development.

Table 1.Public strategy toward water bodies and their shores

Souttherm

part

of

Tunis Lake

Northern Part of Tunis

Essijoumi Lagoon

Ariana Lagoon

Informal

Economic

Lake

Implementation

of

Reconciliation

industrial and economic

between

portual

and water bodies.

urban

development projects.

strategy

urbanization

Modernization internationalization

settlements

upgrading projetcs Absence of Agriculture

and on

behalf of the City Center New imageability of city

Development

Coastal and

Tourism

land and Environmental Concerns Regulations Environmental Sustainability Initiative.

center

In fact, the relationship between the natural element and built environment brings to shores their ecological, social and economic value which the international examples have proven urban shore contribution to sustainability. Socially the Elbe river of HAFEN city in Hamburg is a show case of bringing people to the river, the high ecological potential of Indian lakes incited stakeholders to conserve lake and opt for their restoration.

The redevelopment project of old ports in Rotterdam has brought urban life to the water and diversified the economic trends.

The graphs below show the main outlines for the success of water front development project and its sustainability.

The result of the two graphs combination is the sustainability diagram of urban lagoon and lakes in Greater Tunis. The urban landscape identity is relatively influenced by the natural and cultural dimension in a

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progressive way of processing. Contrary to place identity, landscape identity is a social perception of regional space. Whereas, place identity concerns the individual perception to the space. City derives its identity from various levels. Moreover, the urban identity is under pressure since the homogenization of cities around world.

Ecological urban threats should also be assessed since it enhances degradation of the space identity and image over time

Figure 3.Outline for successful waterfront development and its sustainability

Figure 4: Diagram of sustainability process of water bodies in Greater Tunis

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Figure 5: Matrix of site imageability and real state sustainability assesment

Figure 6.Urban Landscape image in Northern part of Tunis Lake

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Figure 7.Urban Landscape image in Southern part of Tunis Lake

Figure 8.Urban Landscape image in Essijoumi Lagoon

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Figure 9.Urban Landscape image in Ariana Lagoon

Conclusion Despite of being geographically included into the same area of greater Tunis, each lake and Lagoon has its own characteristic and different urbanization context. Upgrading project for spontaneously urbanized shores followed by planned urban projects on the other side of the Metropolitan were the strategical public actions to achieve the governmental ambitious in internationalizing the Metropolitan and bringing new image to the city.

Whereas, the outcome of the research illustrates how much urbanization has influenced the imageability of shore and the extend of urban development project impact in responding to community needs and respecting the added value of Lakes and Lagoons.

Let´s emphasize that is not simply reporting the relationship between physical and natural variables under the cultural practice and the anthropological foot print, rather, it is an estimation of the extend of sustainability image of urban project on water bodies´ shores with an updated perspective that would respond to the wellbeing of community and gives character to water bodies within the urbanization.

The analysis argue that the urbanization is in continuing process that would make water bodies losing their identity, if there is no awareness of a compulsory needed intervention to add to lakes and lagoons their deserved value that they provide for urban project.

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The urban landscape is a product of conflicting values. It expresses a deep-seated affinity with natural elements cities and natural process. At the landscape level, Socio-cultural also are associated with Lakes which means that they are mutually affected in dealing with sustainability.

From the viewpoint, that the historic identity gives character, the urban landscape value enhancement is related to socio-cultural and urban form identity that evolves over time. The preservation of the past land use is an integral element of sustainable redevelopment of shores.

Preserving lakes and lagoons identity in Tunisia is challenging to increase effectiveness of an urban planned project on shores, and to attribute to them the added value that reflects the history of the physical cultural practice of the urban environment.

Through the urban cultural heritage, the value of water bodies is transmitting. Recently, regional planning, spatial planning is a key instrument for working toward sustainable development at the local level. So, natural and cultural landscape should be conceived together. They are inseparable issues for sustainable community development.

Willing to respect the identity of the area, is the infinity of balanced social cultural and physical interaction that gives meaning to any eventual development shores projects.

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The Kiosk and the Public Realm Danny Khilla Assoc. Prof. Yehya Serag. Associate Professor of Regional Planning. Ain Shams University Prof. Dr. Wolf Reuter. Professor of Urban Planning. University of Stuttgart Prof. Dr. Dina Shehayeb. Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning. Housing and Building National Research Centre Through a diagnostic approach, the research studies the commercial and social activities of the kiosk, taking place in and affecting the social territoriality of the public realm of GCR. Tracing the kiosk back to the thirteenth century, the research understands the urban element, its functions, and meanings. As well as, the governing measures towards kiosks. And understanding the activity setting through an empirical study of the kiosk, its actors, activities, and supporting environment, focusing on the social dimension within the activity setting provided by the kiosk for the public of GCR. Taking 12 kiosks as case studies, the actors are studied through semi-structured interviews, online questionnaires, and observations. The activities through observing the environmental behaviour, and the various activities. And the supporting environment through observations, and mapping physical traces. The study finds that the kiosk transforms the social territory of the urban public space, and is a node for the three realms, public, parochial, and private, to co-exist together. Finally, the findings are discussed due to the wave of dissent against kiosks, deeming them informal, and the threat of phasing out the kiosk as an urban element, with it the form of urban public space available for the people of GCR. Keywords: kiosk, public realm, urban element, urban public space, legal process, GCR

Introduction In Greater Cairo Region (GCR), the kiosk has imprinted itself in the minds of the people, as kiosks are virtually found in every neighbourhood. When talking about kiosks, the speaker and the listener alike will each have a kiosk, from their neighbourhood, or just on their routine path, pop up to their mind. Associating memories to this structure and its space, to its products, and social activities carried out with friends, family, and complete strangers. The kiosk has become a microcosm for commercial and social activities, on the go, for the inhabitants and street dwellers of GCR, and its fast pace of life (Irshad, 2013).

This research tries to unpack this microcosm of commercial and social activities taking place in, and affecting the social territoriality, one’s own border-less territory created by their social behaviour within a physical territory, of the public realm of GCR, focusing on the social dimension within the activity setting provided by the kiosk for the public of GCR. 1.

Problem Statement

In 1956, kiosks were introduced to a set of guidelines to govern their construction on the sidewalks, presented in three articles in Law 140 of 1956. These guidelines set the kiosks to be constructed according to a precise area, on sidewalks with specific dimensions, and limitations to their locations, in hopes of maintaining the walk-ability and functionality of the street and its sidewalks (Al Menshawy, 2009). The law concerning kiosks was mandated by the ministry for municipal and rural affairs, delegating the supervision and law application to the municipalities’ departments of occupancies [of the public realm] to do as they see fit, regardless of what the law has already mandated (Al Menshawy, 2009), which could be considered the source of confusion concerning the legally defined locations, and areas of kiosks that are found today on the sidewalks of GCR, and the subsequent sense of chaotic and informal encroachment.

Meanwhile, the pursuit for an open public space is an ongoing process for many residents of GCR alike; a space for relaxation, sitting, reading a book, and socialising with friends. The public would settle for coffee shops, or restaurants to get their share of socialising and recreation, or opt for the sidewalk and street as their form of public space. The same public space occupied by kiosks, and in turn coexisting together, each taking advantage of the other. However, this coexistence is subject to disassembly through the current wave of dissent against kiosks from the media, deeming them informal, and the authorities stopping the establishment of new kiosks, and phasing out the already existing ones, the kiosk as an urban element will cease to exist, and with it the form of urban public space that GCR residents are accustomed to, and the social activity outlet available for the people.

2.

Research Aim and Objectives

The research aims to develop an understanding of the kiosk as an urban element within its context. It aims at: understanding the definition and beginnings [inception/synonym] of the kiosk as an urban element, its functions -both manifest and latent- and its symbolic meaning for the users. Investigating the governance of the public realm, through the extent of planning -by the state- for the kiosk location, structure, areas, and

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appliances. And the legal processes the kiosk goes through during its lifecycle. And investigating the kiosk as an activity setting, within its urban context, the relations between vendors and users as actors, its supporting environment, and activities.

3.

Hypothesis

The kiosk affects the social territoriality of the public realm’s locale.1 The kiosk, as an urban element, offers a space for social activities in the urban public space of GCR, taking advantage and complementing social and economic activities within the direct surrounding.

Methodology Using a diagnostic approach to study the kiosk in the context of GCR, to deepen the understanding of the setting of the kiosk, the research takes twelve kiosks -from different neighbourhoods across GCR- as case studies. The empirical study is carried out through taking the kiosk as an activity setting, comprised of actors, supporting environment, and activities. The actors are studied through semi-structured interviews, online questionnaires, and observations in the field. The activities through observing the environmental behaviour, understanding and analysing the various activities taking place around the kiosk. While, the supporting environment is studied through observations, and mapping of the physical traces.

The Kiosk The kiosk in its present-day form is a small-scale commercial outlet, of low production costs (Papadopoulos & Axenov, 2007). Most selling goods, others services, while some are selling a mixture of both (Bromley, 2000).

The drivers towards operating a kiosk are poverty and lack of resourceful employment, especially in smaller towns and rural areas, that play a role in encouraging people to migrate to the cities, getting jobs in the unorganised sector (Vishwa, 2013), and partaking in the “kiosk economy” (Schneider-Sliwa, 2006). Deriving from the flexibility of this economy, during a time of adaptation and survival to the weak producers’ market, and the lack of -affordable- commercial spaces, providing for the demand of consumer goods (Axenov, et al., 1997; Bromley, 2000; Schneider-Sliwa, 2006).

1.

Arguments for the Kiosk

Schnider-Sliwa (2006) reflects upon the “kiosk trade” as a bottom-up phenomenon that considers “the strength of an endogenic potential, entrepreneurial spirit and proven locational knowledge”. The retailing through kiosks is significantly different than that through traditional brick-and-mortar shops, removing the burdens of commuting to, and identification of shopping opportunities, the kiosk anticipates the direction and size of consumers, locating itself on the potential pathways of consumers (Axenov, et al., 1997; Ehrenfeucht, 2016).

Additionally, Bromley (2000), associates street vending and kiosks with the addition of vitality to the streetscape, bringing life to dull streets, and the contributions to the economic activities and service provisions, offering an expansion to the range of places and times for goods and services.

Street vendors and kiosks can be an asset and an integral component of the social experience in the urban space, serving as hubs for people to socialise, build community and explore new products and cultures (Raj, 2011). The

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markets’ main appeals for customers are these rich social relationships, their accessibility to pedestrians, fostering long-term customer-vendor relations (Stillerman, 2006). Notions of urban signs, of the lived space of the city, created by the interaction and integration of differing practices or actions (Ledurt; cited in Carless, 1998). Nunes’ (2016) research of J. Pimenta’s suburban streets, a “sociability pillar” was erected as “both the kiosk owner and its customers were usually engaged in small talk that more than occasionally derived to more extended conversations. At the kiosk, the pretext for those exchanges was frequently prompted by the exposed journals and magazines”. Generating “activity pockets or proximity relationships” (Vishwa, 2013) and “[carving] out a small sidewalk place” (Nunes, 2016).

2.

Arguments against the Kiosk

While arguments against kiosks tackle their effects on the street and sidewalk, as “the excesses of urban life unsettle the social, economic or vehicular functions that are assigned to the street” (Gambetta, et al., 2012), and as their “radius of activity pocket or […] proximity circle expands” (Vishwa, 2013), hindering the traffic flow and the pedestrians’ right of way (ROW). Bromley (2000) also presents the arguments of the kiosks’ failure to operate within a strict legal framework, of keeping books and payment of taxes, and the small minority that engages in “highly disreputable and often illegal trades” (p. 9) through narcotics trading. Furthermore, remarking the uneven spread of vending across the city, as they gravitate towards congestions and traffic (Bromley, 2000), they increase them even further with their activities.

However with this in mind, kiosks have shown their possession of a proven locational knowledge (SchneiderSliwa, 2006), concentrating in significantly central areas (Papadopoulos & Axenov, 2007), and taking advantage of the heavy pedestrian traffic. This locational knowledge has situated the kiosks in spaces, such as streets, sidewalks, public squares, and near public transportation (Papadopoulos & Axenov, 1997; 2007), all spaces that form the backbone of the public space, and within the framework of certain social territorialities, the public realm (Lofland, 1973; 1998; Oldenburg, cited in Banerjee, 2001).

The Public Realm Public space is not synonymous to the public realm (Lofland, 1998; Bodnar, 2015). Realms are social environments rather than physical, “they are not geographically rooted” (Lofland, 1998, p. 51), that is, they are not space, public or otherwise. Lyn H. Lofland (1998) categorises these social environments into three realms, a private, a parochial, and a public realm; while Oldenburg (1989; cited in Banerjee, 2001) categorises them respectively as first, second, and third places. Defining each according to the networks found between the actors in each realm, set within the built environment. The private realm is characterised by the intimate relational forms (Lofland, 1998) among primary groups (Hunter, 1985; cited in Lofland, 1998), usually located within homes (Oldenburg, 1989; cited in Banerjee, 2001) and personal networks. The parochial realm by the communal relational forms (Lofland, 1998) among acquaintances and neighbours involved in the interpersonal networks (Hunter, 1985; cited in Lofland, 1998), usually located within work, or school (Oldenburg, 1989; cited in Banerjee, 2001). And the public realm by the stranger, or categorical, relational forms (Lofland, 1998), usually located in public spaces such as the street, sidewalk cafés, and other spaces with public access (Lofland, 1998;

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Oldenburg, cited in Banerjee, 2001). Consequently, identifying the realm dominating the built environment is not necessarily dependent on the legal definition of the physical space, as private or public (Banerjee, 2001; Lofland, 1998), but dependent on the person-to-person, and person-to-place connections2 (Lofland, 1973; 1998).

1.

The Public Space

Harvey (2012) identifies that it is the social action that has historically transformed the public space of the street into the common. The street as a public space is in many ways not a given, it is the social practices in relation to the space, that appropriate said space, and enhance it for the benefits of the many that shape this space of the street as a public space, and as a result these social practices establish a social relation to the common space, a relation that could be exclusive to one social group, or inclusive to all (Harvey, 2012; Nunes, 2016). The importance of the street as a public space lies in its vitality to the life of the inhabitants of the city, its openness to all citizens, and the mingling of all social classes (Jacobs, 1992; cited in Nissen, 2008). Evoking human coexistence as hopeful visions (Rekhviashvili, 2015), practices within diverse spaces evoke the human qualities of cities (Harvey, 2012). The way people think and act is influenced by the vivid experience of complexity and the less formal arrangements’ chaos of the city streets (Harvey, 2006; Bostic, et al., 2016). Rendering the street as a public space, a democratic physical space within the city, an “authentic public space” (Zukin, 1998, p. 127) crowded with strangers and individuals of unlike values exist together in the same space (Harvey, 2006).

The Kiosk and the Public Realm So, the story so far; In the beginning the street was a public space, controlled by the state, and a path, dominated by the public realm. Then kiosks started occupying the street, adding a character of place to the path, which in turn became a pause, and an urban common.

1.

The Kiosk and the Politics

Introduced by the Seljuk in Turkey’s mosque complexes, an elevated small domed hall with open arched sides used for prayer marked the very first structure to be a kiosk (Saoud, 2003) (Figure 1). These structures were later adapted by Ottoman sultans, namely in the Topkapı Palace of Istanbul (Figure 1), into small yet grand residences, atop the palace walls, overlooking the palace gardens and the city outside (Avcioğlu, 2008). The Ottomans aimed to express a distinctive architectural style of their own, for their newly found territorially defined empire (Necipoglu, 1992; cited in Avcioğlu, 2008). A style that was imitated by Istanbul’s dignitaries outside the palace throughout the city, and constructed these garden pavilion in their palace gardens (Avcioğlu, 2008). The kiosk, which was once used as a tool for political propaganda, signifying the end of the sultan’s seclusion within his palace, and an Ottoman representation of power and unity within the city, is nowadays an urban element of GCR’s urban public space, initially a governmental aid, deemed as an informality by the state, as it grew beyond the state authority’s attempts of regulation.

2.

The Kiosk and the Aesthetics

As Ottomans used kiosks as a tool for representation of power, so did a marginalised political figure used it for self-representation (Avcioğlu, 2003) (Figure 1). Based on his memories of exile in Turkey, the one-time king of

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Poland, Stanisław I Leszczyński, employed the Turkish architectural style and elements in his commissioned buildings, namely the Kiosque of the palace of Luneville (Figure 1), commanding a location between the city and the court. Moreover, fashioning for himself a tangible royal identity, influenced by a new architectural language for his buildings (Avcioğlu, 2003). Over a short period of time, the kiosk lost its militaristic connotations, and was appropriated by European nobility, using kiosks to serve beverages and play music (Khan-Dossos, n.d.). In Egypt, kiosks were akin to their European counterparts, located within gardens and parks as well, serving as music kiosks in gardens, and serving beverages in tea kiosks of private palaces. Later as private palace gardens, in Europe, were opened to the public, garden kiosks were used as tourist information stands, and bandstands, easing the way for the kiosk to be operated commercially. In Egypt, the kiosk in its final commercial form follows the three typologies devised by Axenov and Papadopulous (2007) of primitive, in the cases of immediate need for a source of income, standard, as the most commonly known and interacted with of typologies within GCR, and mature kiosks, as sponsorships and initiatives try to provide the kiosks with an attractive modern look.

3.

The Kiosk and the Economy

In 1857, the first commercial kiosk as an urban element was introduced in Haussmann’s Paris (Figure 1), which were imitated by many other European cities, as well as Khedival Cairo (Al Sayyed, 2011; Paraskevas, 2011).

Eventually, these news-stand kiosks developed into a trade and an economy of their own, with a wide variety of products and services added to their original business model. A governmental aid for the disenfranchised, the ex-convicts, widows, disabled, and the disabled by war and revolution (Sturgis, 2014), and benevolent loans in the form of small projects by NGOs (Atia, 2001). The kiosk became a resort for an honest source of income for those lacking the ability to integrate into the formal commercial processes. Waxing in every neighbourhood, complementing the products served in brick-and-mortar shops, and the non-existence of shops in other neighbourhoods. The kiosk has become a commercial outlet where the users could find what they need of products and services. Offering products in various forms, such as farrt cigarettes -a specialty only found in kiosks. The philosophy behind the various products and services offered by the kiosk is that by purchasing one, the consumer is bound to purchase another.

4.

The Kiosk and the Space

In occupying the street and its sidewalk, it is not only the structure of the kiosk that does so. Configuring the sidewalk with a variety of semi-fixed elements, the kiosk’s products, display stands, and fridges occupy the sidewalk, and in some cases the street itself. The research has identified multiple activity zones within the supporting environment of the kiosk; the second lane, parking lane, free parking space, window space, display space, storage space, and finally the adjacent public space, that typically supports the social practices in relation of the kiosk. These activity zones provide the spatial components of the kiosk, that could be utilised for identifying different typologies of the kiosk if supported on further research. Additionally, the activity zones are dependent on multiple factors that range from the width of the street, the sidewalk, and the surrounding context of the kiosk.

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Figure 1: Time-line of the kiosk, word & form Source : Author

5.

The kiosk and the Social

The hanging out and meeting point of the kiosk is associated with the appropriation of the public realm by the actors4 creating home territories within the space, through acquiring more knowledge about the physical setting, and the actors sharing the space. Through activities5 that are social practices, the actors generate sociability through verbal encounters with the other actors, and personalising the categoric knowledge of the other. As well as appropriating the setting to meet their needs for carrying on their social practices with their intimate ties, or for their individual self. In addition to activities, that when routinised a meaning is added to the place, and the person -who is the vendor- becomes categorically known. Equally important are mundane stranger interactions of everyday life within the public realm, where they are met with willingness and eagerness to assist, rendering the public realm less fearful, less stranger, and more welcoming.

6.

The Kiosk and the Culture

The kiosk is experienced as a setting for many rituals, hosting the activities of the users during special occasions.

A significant urban element used as a landmark. Known for its specialties of services and products, and its matching of the times and the users’ contemporary needs, the farrt cigarettes and glass soda bottles of old, and the imported goods, soda cans, and the new the best thing of nowadays. The kiosk has become known for its simple -and affordable if not free- setting. The kiosk has become the setting for the street culture of GCR, to hangout and talk about everything and nothing, the profound and the silly, the solemn and the hysterical.

However, on the one hand, the kiosk is perceived by some as a provider of safety, and urban surveillance, in the stranger world of the street. On the other hand, the kiosk could be perceived as an uncomfortable, and a restricted, environment for females, where they are susceptible to stares and verbal comments by the male dominance of the space (Koning, 2014).

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Conclusion The kiosk, as an urban element, affects the social territoriality of the public realm’s locale, all the while offering space for social activities in the urban public space of GCR, while taking advantage and complementing social and economic activities within the direct surrounding. Because of the actors, activities, and their activity zones within the supporting environment; the person-to-person, and person-to-place connections. Altogether, the kiosk becomes the node that intersects the three realms together, the public, parochial, and the private.

1.

The Public Realm of the Kiosk

The kiosk is the physical territory of the public realm, if the user is there by their own, and new to the setting.

The user knows the characters of the kiosk, and how to utilise them, because they are familiar with the kiosk and its culture, and not specifically of that one kiosk they are to embark on using. The public realm of the kiosk is classified by the categoric knowing of the other actors, and the users’ casual knowledge of the space as customers. Coping with the fact of being alone by assigning categories to the other, present within the setting.

And accordingly, the user’s activities are of fleeting relationships, civil inattention, and cooperative mobility.

Economically, the kiosk within the public realm is the best possible outcome for the vendor. The more passersby, the more the sales. Idling won’t be economically harmful, if passers-by still flock to the kiosk, however it could be perceived politically harmful, especially when done within a group -hanging out. Causing congestion on the sidewalk and the street, and more importantly creating a platform that could be used for political practices.

Another point in keeping the kiosk as a public realm, is the vendor’s fear of encumbering the neighbours of the kiosk by the number of idlers and groups hanging out around the kiosk, either through noise, or the users’ pestering of the neighbours, or other users fighting with one another.

However, from the users’ perspective, the attraction of the kiosk drives from the dynamism and the constant activity within the setting. The idler would enjoy a change of mood for a couple of minutes, through watching and listening in onto other people. Ultimately, with routinised interactions, the fleeting relationships transform into intimate-secondary relationships. And with regular usages of the kiosk, the casual knowledge transform into familiar -and intimate- knowledge. Ultimately, transforming the stranger relational ties of the public realm into more communal and familiar ties of the parochial -or private- realm.

2.

The Parochial and Private Realms of the Kiosk

The parochial realm takes place, if the vendor is hosting his neighbouring employees or locals, and if the user is there by their own, however is a patron of the kiosk. The parochial realm of the kiosk is classified by the personal knowing of the actors to each other, and the users’ familiar knowledge of the space as patrons. The routinised fleeting relationships between those who share the space have transformed into intimate-secondary relationships. As a result, the actors associate more personalised information to those who were once only known categorically, through verbal interactions dealing with more than simple exchanges of buy/sell.

While the private realm takes place, if the vendor is hosting his friends, and if the user is there by their own, however is a resident of the kiosk, or within a pack. The private realm of the kiosk is classified by the personal

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knowing of the actors to each other, and the users’ intimate knowledge of the space as residents. The actor, being the vendor, the friend, or the resident user, have created a home territory for themselves in the activity setting of the kiosk, within the urban public space of the sidewalk at large. The actors’ knowledge is not only limited to the supporting environment of the kiosk, but also to the actors, activities and their wane and wax. The kiosk as a home territory, offers the actors the ability to appropriate the setting of the kiosk, and the urban public space, for their own private interests, rendering the sidewalk less of a space and a public locale, and more of a place and a location.

The uniqueness of the kiosk’s experience is a result of the three realms coexisting together within the same setting, at the same time. The kiosk familiarises the locale of the sidewalk, associates memory to the space, and ultimately transforming it into a location, and a public place.

Endnotes [1] Affecting the locale of the sidewalk and street, transforming them from a public realm territory into locations of parochial realm territory.

[2] Lyn Lofland discusses and illustrates the person-to-person, and person-to-place connections in further detail in both A World of Strangers (1973) and The Public Realm (1998).

[3] Anjaria (2012), Axenov, et al. (1997), Roever (2014), and Vishwa (2013) go in further detail in their bodies of work, about the legal situtation of informal kiosks within the global context.

[4] The actors, as identified by the emperical study, are categorised by their function within the economic and social process taking place at the kiosk; as vendors, traders, users, and associates.

[5] The empirical study had identified the activities taking place within the built environment, depending on the character associated with the kiosk, for instance, the commercial outlet is associated with window-shopping, buying, consuming, parking to unload, product-unloading, and leaving the car running. The meeting point entails hanging out while using and not using the kiosk, chatting [with the vendor], sitting in the car, sitting and leaning on the car-hood, and waiting for someone.

References Al-Menshawy, A., Ali, A. (1998). Law No. 140 of 1956 Regarding the Occupation of the Public Roads and Its Executive Regulations ‫ﻗﺎﻧون رﻗم‬140 ‫ﻟﺳﻧﺔ‬1956 ‫ ﻓﻰ ﺷﺄن أﺷﻐﺎل اﻟطﺮق اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ وﻻﺋﺣﺘﻪ اﻟﺘﻧﻔﻴذﻳﺔ‬, Translated by author. 10st ed. Cairo: General Authority for Al-Amiria Press Affairs.

AlSayyad, N. (2011). Cairo. Harvard University Press.

Atia, M. (2011). Islamic approaches to development: A case study of Zakat, Sadaqa and Qurd al Hassan in Contemporary Egypt. In 8th International Conference on Islamic Economics and Finance, Center for Islamic Economics and Finance, Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, Qatar Foundation.

Avcioğlu, N. (2003). A palace of one’s own: Stanislas I’s kiosks and the idea of self-representation. The Art Bulletin, 85(4), pp.662-684.

Avcioğlu, N. (2008). Istanbul: The Palimpsest City in Search of Its Architext. RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, 53(1), pp.190-210.

Axenov, K.E., Brade, I. and Papadopoulos, A.G. (1997). Restructuring the kiosk trade in St. Petersburg: A new retail trade model for the post-Soviet period. GeoJournal, 42(4), pp.419-432.

Banerjee, T. (2001). The future of public space: Beyond invented streets and reinvented places. Journal of the American Planning Association, 67(1), pp.9-24.

Bodnar, J. (2015). Reclaiming public space. Urban Studies, 52(12), pp.2090-2104.

Bostic, R.W., Kim, A.M. and Valenzuela Jr, A. (2016). Contesting the Streets: Vending and Public Space in Global Cities.

Cityscape, 18(1), p.3.

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Bromley, R. (2000). Street vending and public policy: a global review. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 20(1/2), pp.1-28.

Carless, T. (2009). Reclaiming Public Space. A Critical Architecture. In Proceedings of the Conference held at the University of Brighton 2nd to 4th July.

Ehrenfeucht, R. (2016). Designing Fair and Effective Street Vending Policy: It’s Time for a New Approach. Cityscape, 18(1), p.11.

Gambetta, C., Banham, R. and Bandyopadhyay, R. (2012). Streetscapes: a symposium on the future of the streets-The problem. In Seminar (No. 636). MALVIKA SINGH. Harvey, D. (2006). The political economy of public space. The politics of public space, 17, p.34.

Harvey, D. (2012). Rebel cities: From the right to the city to the urban revolution. Verso Books.

Irshad, G. (2013). The Koshks of Cairo - Roads & Kingdoms. [online] Roads & Kingdoms. Available at: http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2013/the-koshks-of-cairo/ [Accessed 2 May 2017].

Jacobs, E. (2016). Paris Plans to Ditch Iconic News Kiosk Design. [online] Nextcity.org. Available at: https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/paris-design-news-kiosks [Accessed 4 Jun. 2017].

Khan-Dossos, N. (n.d.). Up The Stairs And Round The Corner by Navine G. Khan-Dossos - Kassandras. [online] Kassandras.org. Available at: http://kassandras.org/project/navine-khan-dossos [Accessed 26 May 2017].

Koning, A.D. (2014). Public women: Gender and urban space in Cairo.

Lofland, L. (1973). A world of strangers. New York: Basic.

Lofland, L.H. (1998). The public realm: Exploring the city’s quintessential social territory. Transaction Publishers.

Morgan, I. (1999). Cairo: The Development of The Modern City Center in The 19th and Early 20th Century, Kairo: Die Entwicklung des modernen Stadtzentrums im 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhundert, Translated by author. Diss., Univ.

Wuppertal.

Nissen, S. (2008). Urban transformation from public and private space to spaces of hybrid character. Sociologický časopis/Czech Sociological Review, 44(06), pp.1129-1149.

Nunes, J.P. (2016). Sidewalk Encounters: Card Playing and Neighborhood Use in a Lisbon Suburb. In Public Spaces: Times of Crisis and Change (pp. 53-78). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Papadopoulos, A.G. and Axenov, K. (2006). St. Petersburg: Kiosks as mediators of the new market economy. In Cities in Transition (pp. 147-173). Springer Netherlands.

Paraskevas, F. (2011). Tahrir Square and Haussmann’s Paris: Physical Manifestations of Political Doctrines. Architectural Association, last retrieved, 30(11), p.2013.

Raj, S. (2011). Multi-Use Sidewalk: The Social, Economic And Cultural Role Of Street Food Vendors And Kiosks In The Community. Responsible Hospitality Institute.

Rekhviashvili, L. (2015). Marketization and the public-private divide. The International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 35(7/8), p.478.

Saoud, R. (2003). Muslim Architecture under Seljuk Patronage (1038-1327). Foundation for Science, Technology, and Civilization (FSTC). http://www. muslimheritage. com/features/default. Cfm. Schneider-Sliwa, R. (2006). Global change and local reality. In Cities in Transition (pp. 321-329). Springer Netherlands.

Stillerman, J. (2006). The politics of space and culture in Santiago, Chile’s street markets. Qualitative Sociology, 29(4), pp.507-530.

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Urban Planning and Design

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Urban Growth in Greater Cairo Rent-based and rent-seeking uneven geographical development in Egypt’s capital Manuel Heckel Prof. Dr. Mohamed Salheen, Ain Shams University Cairo, Egypt Prof. Dr. Astrid Ley, University of Stuttgart, Germany Cairo's development occurs geographically uneven, split into informal, highly compact and largely under-developed settlements on agricultural land (which, nevertheless, kept the city functioning for the last decades) and formal, spacious and often over-developed exclusive communities in the desert — a fact that is often reduced in its explanation to the city's two “natural” circumstances: demography and geography. The often referred-to narrative of the “crowded valley,” however, cannot adequately explain the organization of Cairo's urban fabric beyond the eventual necessity to expand to the desert. While factors such as culture, politics and the above-mentioned geographical constraint and demographic necessity considerably affect Cairo's growth, economic and financial interests systematically produce and perpetuate uneven geographical development.

The research traces and discusses Cairo’s past and present growth through an extensive literature review, desktop research, satellite image analysis and semi-structured interviews and shows how rent-based and rent-seeking development risk the sustainable development and inclusive growth of Cairo.

Keywords: sustainable and inclusive urban growth; uneven geographical development; Cairo

Introduction When Egyptians went to the streets during the Arab Spring in 2011, they did so after two decades of constant economic growth. But the growth of the economy had not “trickled down,” it seemed, excluding many from the newly generated wealth. Basu, Stiglitz, and Hon (2016) argue that although the various popular uprisings worldwide in the last decade had different direct origins, they all showed a “deeper cause rooted in the sense of despair and deep feelings of injustice and inequity and the inability to exercise voice through normal political processes for a mass of people who have felt their relative positions deteriorate” (ibid.:xx). Cairo1, Egypt’s and the Egyptian Arab Spring’s capital, has long been divided — politically, socio-economically and spatially — but is certainly not an exception: intra-national inequalities are rising globally, despite growing economies and international levelling, which threatens the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (Alvaredo et al. 2017; Basu and Stiglitz 2016; World Bank 2016). Consequently, the World Bank changed course and started to promote “sharing prosperity” since 2013 (cf. World Bank 2016), echoed recently by Basu and Stiglitz (2016), the current and former chief economists of the bank.

Paradoxically, especially cities, which have long been the nuclei of humanity’s development, are also the prime location for inequality (cf. UN-Habitat 2015) and its (re)production. Space and its form define access to crucial collective consumption and mediate equality of opportunities in central ways (cf. Madanipour 2016 [1998]; Slater 2013). SDG 11, thus, explicitly aims to “make cities inclusive,” and the Habitat III Issue Paper Inclusive Cities asks for “political commitment to inclusive urban development at multiple levels, in the face of many forces and stakeholders incentivizing uneven and unequal development” (UN-Habitat 2015:1). What exactly are the “many forces and stakeholders incentivizing uneven and unequal development”? How do they unfold? And what are the implications? While these questions are hardly new and have been researched numerously in the past, contemporary Cairo gives an interesting case to revisit them, particularly given the new attention equality and inclusion receive on the global development stage. The thesis on which this paper is based thus explores the urban divisions in Cairo over the last two centuries and looks at the economic forces behind the uneven geographical development. The parallel over- and under-development of different parts of the city are now strikingly obvious, and, as the author argues, can be partially explained by the current political economic system and the economic interests of its actors.

Research design The research follows the question of how urban growth in the Greater Cairo Region is steered, influenced and made use of by intentional actors through their economic and financial interests in past and present political

1

The definition of the Greater Cairo Region (GCR) is taken from Sims (2010:7), who takes it from a study conducted by the

Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Unless noted otherwise, Cairo refers to the Greater Cairo Region (GCR), often also abbreviated to Greater Cairo.

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economic systems. It aims at understanding urban growth in Cairo under past and present political economic systems, by tracing and describing its economically and financially influenced patterns. Furthermore, it aims at outlining the potential implications for the sustainable development and inclusive growth of the city. Lastly, the research intends to give recommendations for further research and tentative suggestions for policy makers and planners. To do so, the thesis first looked at the spatial translation of political economic structure and reviews how, in theory, human geography inherently inclines toward an uneven organization of development on multiple scales under capitalism, and how, in turn, this spatial differentiation of life chances perpetuates economic inequalities and impacts societies. The research then turns to Cairo in a case study and traces and discusses its past and present growth, mainly through secondary research (extensive literature review and desktop research), enhanced by satellite image analysis and semi-structured interviews (with governmental officials, employees of international organizations, private developers and academic researchers). Available GIS data as well as previous research was used to identify urban growth in Cairo, which was then further investigated through analysis of satellite images over time (from Google Earth and Google Earth Engine Timelapse).

The research, thus, acknowledges the complexity and interdependency of various influences (for instance economic, political and cultural ones) and understands the influences at work rather as “gravitational fields” which exert various forces that pull urban growth toward certain directions – incentivize certain outcomes. Nevertheless, the presented research reduces urban growth to its political economic influences. It does so not to neglect or ignore other influences, but to help understand the political economic ones.

The thesis this paper is based on underwent many iterations of readjusting and reorienting the research objectives and questions, for various reasons: first, coming from a different context required to understand the Egyptian and Cairene context, which absorbed more time than anticipated and delayed narrowing down the topic greatly.

Secondly, data availability unexpectedly became a major restriction. Although originally scheduled to be released around the beginning of 2017, the publication of the official CAPMAS census 2016 data was delayed and and was, thus, unavailable for this thesis. Current GIS data was hard to access and replaced an initial plan of mapping urban growth in Greater Cairo with tracing it. Finally, the language and cultural barrier posed a severe limitation.

Documents and files in Arabic were machine-translated or inaccessible, and interviews were restricted to Englishspeaking interviewees. Various planned interviews could also not be conducted.

Capitalist development Harvey (1978) outlines how the capitalist over-accumulation crises and the development of cities are linked through switching investment circuits of surplus capital. He distinguishes three circuits: the primary circuit of capital refers to the production of commodities. It is here that the crisis of over-accumulation occurs as a function of continued productivity increases. The secondary circuit refers to “direct aids” of production (fixed capital, e.g. machinery) and consumption (e.g. consumer durables), as well as the built environment – which also acts as a support structure for production and consumption. Finally, the tertiary circuit refers to investment that is fundamental to rising productivity, such as investment into science and technology, but also, on the one hand, in

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the “qualitative improvement of labour power” (ibid.:108; e.g. education and health) and, on the other hand, in “cooptation, integration and repression of the labour force by ideological, military and other means” (ibid.:108).

To overcome the crises produced in the primary circuit, capital can be diverted into the secondary or tertiary circuit. Yet, at some point, fixed capital and the built environment become unproductive or fall behind in productivity (as more productive alternatives are developed) and undergo a crisis of their own: invested capital is devalued, which somebody has to pay for, or will not get repaid for – what Harvey calls capitalism’s “creative destruction.” N. Smith (2008) described this process and its consequence’s uneven geographical development in detail. Housing has a vital role in this process, both as a reaction to class struggle or uprisings during crises and as a base for further accumulation (cf. Harvey 2016 [2008]; Soja 1989; Massey 1995).

Harvey (2003, 2005, 2016 [2008]) later distinguishes the temporal, spatial, and sectoral fixes to crises of overaccumulation. Whereas investment can be diverted into built environment projects (secondary circuit) or social spending (tertiary circuit), both of which support future accumulation and hence displace capital in time, other options are to expand the capitalist production spatially or into more sectors, that is to displace capital in space or sector. He speaks of “accumulation by dispossession,” which becomes apparent in cities, for instance when informal settlements are cleared for redevelopment.

The building of modern Cairo is tightly connected to over-accumulation and the upcoming financial sector in Europe (cf. Landes 1958). Egypt’s impending default on the credits shaped the city’s physical and more so socioeconomic make up considerably. Today, too, crises of over-accumulation in the country are solved by switching to the secondary and tertiary circuits (often by individual or small groups of capitalists, but also significantly by the state), especially into the provision of housing. On the one hand, demographic growth necessitated and necessitates it, and on the other hand, it poses great opportunities for further accumulation. Furthermore, imperialism in the 19th century and the gradual opening of the Egyptian economy toward the end of the 20th century ushered in an influx of spatially displaced capital. A new ideological orientation also offered new accumulation possibilities through privatizations. The aspect of dispossession is always palpable: a recent case of a clearance of an informal settlement (Maspero triangle) to make room for development dispossesses residents that lived there since generations.

Uneven geographies As outlined above, capitalist development occurs often unevenly, on various scales from regions to nations to metropolises to cities and their quarters (cf. Frank 1966; Wallerstein 1974b; Soja 2006; Sassen 2000). Sassen (2000) argued that cities became key nodes in the globalized economy of contemporary capitalism, concentrating (globally unevenly) command and control functions as well as the service industry (known as the NIDL). A new global imbalance is produced, reflecting and embedded in the existing uneven geographical development of the larger economic world system (cf. Knox and Taylor 1995; Wallerstein 1974a), hierarchically categorized and ranked mainly economically into alpha-, beta- and gamma-cities (cf. GaWC 2012), despite all their historical, cultural and political differences (cf. Shatkin 2007; Swanstrom 1993). A few “global cities” at the top attract

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unproportional shares of investment, attention and control functions, having larger GDPs than many nations by now (Hoornweg et al. 2010), let alone their GDP/capita. The resulting “global city” race often goes hand in hand with urban restructuring, introducing and replicating the external and global stratification on an internal and local level (cf. OHCHR Special Rapporteur on adequate housing 2008). Despite their economic and social potential for growth (UN-Habitat 2011b) and integration, cities nowadays often not only show higher degrees of inequality than in their past or than their surrounding (UN-Habitat 2015), but also sort these inequalities spatially (cf. Clos et al. forthcoming). Space is both manifestation and cause of economic inequality: on the one hand, collective consumption, such as education and health services, for example, is organized in space and influences people’s life chances significantly. On the other hand, Slater (2013) stresses that only understanding the inverse process as well — i.e. how one’s life chances define where one lives – makes a proper analysis of inequalities possible. Space assumes a mediating and reproducing role, one that either reinforces or equalizes existing inequalities that are produced elsewhere (cf. Madanipour 2016 [1998]).

Cairo falls short of a top place in the GaWC (2012) ranking, reflecting its position in the NIDL and its level of global attention when it comes to capitalist development. Nevertheless, the opening of the economy also opened the prospect to climb the ranking ladder. Global city aspirations are, thus, hardly surprising. And similar to the established “global cities,” Cairo is divided internally into “global” quarters and “traditional” ones, as it has been in its past already. Especially since the end of the 20th century, Cairo saw a rising gap between exclusive developments, on the one hand, and informal settlements and existing quarters that remained under-developed on the other hand, creating observable divisions and disparities in the city.

Growth and its beneficiaries The common belief of economists was (or still is) that as long as economies grow, inequalities are irrelevant, since the produced surplus will ultimately benefit everyone, or “trickle down.” However, continuous growth does not automatically translate to rising prosperity for everyone (UNDP 2003; Basu, Stiglitz, and Hon 2016). Recent data and research show that inequalities have risen considerably worldwide (Alvaredo et al. 2017), which leads Stiglitz (2016) to distinguish between capital and wealth for an explanation: “Much of wealth is not produced assets (‘machines’) but land or other ownership claims giving rise to rents. ... We argue ... that changes in rents, broadly defined – including land rents, exploitation rents, and rents on intellectual property – may be at the center of what has been happening; much of the increase in wealth is a result of the increase in (the capitalized value of) rents – and such increases do not increase, and may even decrease, economic output” (ibid.:2f; cf. Baumol 1990).

Investment in land for rent-seeking takes away savings that could have otherwise been used for capital accumulation, investment in the secondary and tertiary circuit, that is further productivity gains or social welfare – in other words: development.

The speculative gains have to be backed somehow, if they are to last. Investment in land and real estate with the intention of seeking rent, thus, often leads to (re)development projects that leave the original users competing with or replaced by better paying ones. N. Smith (1979) explains this process, known as “gentrification” (cf. Zukin

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2014 [1989]), through his theory of the “rent gap”: once the potential rent of devalued neighborhoods rises high enough, redevelopment happens. The same is true for undeveloped land: once the possibility of developing it poses high enough profits, development occurs. The difference between investment and potential return can be further heightened by rent-seeking efforts such as negotiating land purchases under market value, deliberate undersupply of units or establishing (service) monopolies.

Despite all its issues, such as inequalities or its environmental impact (cf. Meadows et al. 1972), growing the economy has broad political and popular support for it provides the necessary fix for capitalism’s crises. Since the built environment assumes a vital role for the various fixes (see above), especially at the urban scale, cities become central nodes of growth. Logan and Molotch (2007 [1987]) and Molotch (1976) argue that cities are, thus, of great interest to urban “entrepreneurs (rentiers),” who form an “apparatus of interlocking progrowth associations and governmental units” (Logan and Molotch 2007 [1987]:32) known as the “growth machine.”

Cairo’s past and present showcases many rent-seeking strategies and efforts. Heliopolis, the often referenced privately developed desert town at the beginning of the 20th century, was financially successful through land purchases under market price and the establishment of service monopolies. Nowadays, a few private developers secure favorable land deals and largely control the supply of formal housing. The state, too, is involved and taps the “resource” desert land. The political influence of growth machines in Cairo may be limited or unpredictable and random — Cairo does not have a local government and never had to be afraid of any competition — and the need to “trap growth” in Cairo is, at least on a national level, small. Nevertheless, growth and rent-seeking coalitions, even if temporary, shape Cairo’s urban growth considerably.

Cairo’s growth and development From the 19th until the beginning of 21st century, Cairo grew from under half a million inhabitants to an estimate of over 18 million, doubling its population five times during this period, at almost equal intervals of 25 years. The city’s urban fabric grew accordingly. Yet the relation between population and city growth was and is neither automatic nor direct, but organized by different political economic regimes throughout Cairo’s history: various actors with economic interests defined and remain to define the city’s growth and its spatial inequalities until today (cf. Abu-Lughod 1971; Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture 1985; Al-Sayyad 2011; El-Safty 1985; Hegab 1985 ; Ilbert 1985; Rageh 1985; S.-E. Ibrahim 1985; Sims 2010; Stewart 1999). Whereas Egypt’s and, in turn, Cairo’s population growth was and continues to be a natural constant, its accommodation was and is very much socially shaped and constructed. Additionally, although Egypt’s geography limits habitation largely to the Nile Valley and, thus, poses a significant natural spatial constraint, the often referred-to narrative of the “crowded valley,” which is the basis of the state-supported, over-development of and leap-frogging to the desert (cf. Shawkat and Hendawy 2016), cannot adequately explain the organization of Cairo’s urban fabric beyond the eventual necessity to expand to the desert. Just how this expansion occurs is determined in another way.

While limited itself, political economic processes and interests can provide an explanation that is able to include the persistent shortage of affordable housing, simultaneous over-production of an estimated 30 percent vacant

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housing units, soaring housing prices and developer profits, and the continuously reproduced geographical unevenness. Consequently, the research argues that Cairo’s particular composition of various actors with economic urban interests, organized through a capitalist mode of production and socially constructed markets, functions as a powerful determinant of the geographically uneven organization of the city’s growth and development. The divide dates back to Cairo’s modern period, continues to a slightly reversed degree in the Arab Socialist phase and opens wide under Egypt’s economic liberalization. Whereas existing and mostly informal areas absorb the large share of the city’s growth at high land use intensities and low development levels, the situation is virtually the opposite for formally developed areas. Small-scale entrepreneurs in informal real estate markets kept Cairo functioning over the last century amid the authorities’ inability to cope with the city’s rapid population growth, and the informal housing sector still accounts for the largest share in accommodating the growing city (cf.

Sims 2010) – yet development happens somewhere else.

Cairo rentiers Throughout its history, Cairo attracted much needed capital to house the growing population and develop the city, be it foreign colonial capital or loans, international and regional aid (cf. Beblawi 1987; Hadid 2016; Richards 1991), remittances, or private surpluses, savings and donations. Much of this capital is rent, in one form or another (cf.

Beblawi 1987; Richards 1991), and individual rent-seeking of various actors was and continues to be at the core of Cairo’s urban growth.

To protect agricultural land and assure food security, the urban growth of Cairo became intrinsically linked to protecting its arable land, and governments since the middle of the 20th century pursued ambitious plans to divert Cairo’s population into the desert instead. Discovering the financial potential, the state – which virtually has a monopoly on desert land – attempts to balance its budget through the sale of desert land to private developers, and develop the city through attracting investment into the desert areas within Greater Cairo Region. Apart from the fact that all attempts to significantly move Egyptians to the desert failed so far (cf. Shawkat and Hendawy 2016), the two goals often conflict: the cross-financing of public housing projects through selling large patches of land to single developers has in reality led to separated islands of different development levels – whole quarters or settlements are built by single private developers in exclusive ways – and ultimately failed to sustainably develop the city. Nevertheless, the government vigorously promotes the private developments and its various mega-projects in the desert, while simultaneously restricting – more or less successfully – other (informal) constructions, effectively establishing a land monopoly. This combination not only creates the binary development of Cairo, split into under-developed informal settlements and over-developed formal desert settlements, and hence a fabricated predisposition of Egyptians toward the “modern” Cairo in the desert, but consequently also opens up much room for rent-seeking by private developers (both as contractor and developer; cf. Richards 1991; Adly 2009, 2013).

Large amounts of surplus capital are diverted from the primary circuit into real estate development by producersturned-investors, which is partly a productive industry itself, but partly also a rent-providing sector. Land scarcity

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and the land monopoly of the state keep the number of market suppliers small and establish a quasi-monopoly on formal housing development. The kind and consequently amount of housing provided are accordingly influenced: primarily higher income groups are targeted in exclusive gated “cities” – a supply that wholly fails to reach and benefit the masses of Egyptians (Cityscape 2016; Kuppinger 2004). Large-scale investors are complemented by a mass of small-scale investors, basically “almost every Cairo resident with sufficient financial resources has been – and still is – involved in building and speculating on the housing market” (WBGU 2016a:219). As real estate is regarded as a safe haven and high inflation, especially in recent years, and poses high losses of financial capital, housing serves as a prime saving and speculation mechanism for virtually everyone with a financial surplus.

Similar to the diversion of surplus outlined above, savings, too, flow into the real estate sector, often with a speculative intent, instead of being put to productive use through the banking sector (Richards 1991), a development further enhanced by the lack of (enforcement of) property taxation.

Potential implications Inevitably, Cairo will grow for years and decades, yet the rent-based and rent-seeking nature outlined above influences the city’s growth, with some potential implications and threats for its sustainable development. Overall, vacancy levels of approximately 30 percent (estimated to be as high as two thirds in formal developments; Sims 2010) show the extent to which urban growth is decoupled from providing homes to Cairenes. This formal housing surplus occurs parallel to a permanent housing shortage, driving Egyptians to the informal sector, which is often also the only way to acquire affordable housing. In the end, Cairo grows on agricultural land, the very land the state seeks to protect.

The uneven development of these two modes of housing provision potentially marginalizes lower income groups even further and displaces them spatially into ever more remote locations. Public housing is affected similarly, as it competes with private capital developments for locations close to the center. Yet, the remote locations are already only hesitantly or not accepted at all, potentially leading to rejected, vacant and hence inefficient public housing, all of which fuels informal developments. Private formal development, furthermore, follows the “rent gap” (N. Smith 1979) cycle, especially as many units are still under old rent-controlled contracts. Whole districts, the most prominent being Downtown Cairo, deteriorate slowly yet steadily. Still, signs of reinvestment become visible, indicating the start of an investment cycle in decayed quarters, for example in Downtown Cairo or Islamic Cairo (both prime tourist destinations). Here, too, the potential implication is the displacement of considerable numbers of long-term residents, especially of informal areas (e.g. Maspero triangle).

Access to and the capability to participate in the formal housing market sort Cairo’s residents spatially by socioeconomic status. As the society segregates, socio-economic inequalities become reflected and embedded in spatial inequalities, which consequently reproduce the socio-economic stratification of the society: life chances define the neighborhood people live in, which in turn define their life chances. The development of isolated and fragmented islands effectively separates and shields different income groups from each other, threatening the cohesion of Cairo’s society and solidarity among its citizens.

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The vicious cycle of life chances determining the neighborhood, which subsequently defines life chances, rests on geographically uneven provision and quality of services and collective consumption. Left with a state-supported binary choice of either accepting high rents (both for renting/buying their home and services) or looking for socially less accepted and/or potentially life-chance-threatening homes, medium income groups are pushed to buy into these “cities,” despite being over-priced. Lower income groups lack that option altogether or are equally pushed to unaffordable housing. As larger than necessary amounts of income are transferred to paying monopoly rents, dispensable incomes for consumption shrink, affecting the development of personal lives and potentially of the Egyptian economy as a whole. Moreover, the diversion of private surpluses and savings into rent-seeking and vacancies producing real estate development instead of productive reinvestment through the banking sector deprives Egypt’s economy of capital for potential development. The speculatively inflated prices and estimated percent of vacant housing units may contribute to increasing the wealth of individuals (given the current boom is not a bubble), and may even be measured in the growth of the GDP, yet do little to increase wages and better the lives of Egyptians (cf. Stiglitz 2016).

Recommendations Given the restrictions mentioned at the beginning, this research provides a general and broad analysis and recommends further more detailed research about how Cairo can be grown more sustainable without seeking rent, what “socially necessary” urban growth is in the case of Cairo, how much investment in the secondary circuit helps to sustainably develop Cairo and which role taxation or the lack of it plays. Moreover, in the area of housing, further research is recommended about how the real estate market responds to housing wishes for affordable housing and the decreasing ability of many Egyptians to buy/rent offered units, how a burst would affect Cairo’s development and citizens, how affordable housing can be provided in an inclusive way, how the “rent gap” defines Cairo’s growth and redevelopment and how housing typologies, densities and unit prices are distributed spatially.

Finally, further research is recommended about how the spatial separation and fragmentation of Cairenes affect social cohesion, what the connections between the extra-legality of informal settlements and the real estate market are and how rent-seeking shapes the informal sector.

Additionally, three tentative recommendations for policy makers and planners are offered: property taxation, mixing income groups regulation, and upgrading under-developed areas and reorganizing collective consumption.

First, introducing a tax on property, or collecting the existing (WBGU 2016b), could potentially put a large wasted resource to use and curb further speculation. To which extent already-built vacant units would become available in an affordable and inclusive way, however, is open. If introduced progressively, the measure could readjust inflated market prices slowly and, thus, support restructuring the real estate sector without sudden price drops.

Secondly, introducing regulations to guarantee a socio-economic mix of tenants, for instance by requiring a fragmented, small-scale inclusion of subsidized housing in new developments to a certain percentage, could balance spatial disparities, introduce “inclusionary processes” (Madanipour 2016 [1998]:206) and harness private developers’ capabilities. Lastly, upgrading informal settlements and other deprived or deteriorating quarters could

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balance the present divide, if current residents are guaranteed continued affordability. Reorganizing collective consumption by strictly regulating or nationalizing it would disallow financially able citizens to opt out of meagre services and consequently support and incentivize their fast and inclusive development.

Conclusion Rent-seeking is hardly a new phenomenon, which economists highlighted and despised since centuries. Land and real estate, the primary source of rent, define, to a great extent, how cities are built and transformed until today – especially today as the financial sector takes larger and larger shares of the economy. Worldwide cities are developed and redeveloped in cycles that are mainly defined by the logic of (financial) capital.

However, Egypt is unique and different: its map, demographic growth and inherited “peripheral” economic position define much of its development and dictate some response to the question of how to feed and accommodate its citizens. Cairo and its growth assume a pivotal position in answering this question. One may, thus, be inclined to believe that primarily natural and historical forces determine the city’s structure and expansion. This research, however, argues that economic interests were and still are deeply embedded in the urban growth of Cairo, and influenced and continue to impact it considerably. The combination of being used for seeking rents and being based on rents introduces a path dependency for the city’s development that creates an incline toward perpetuating and reinforcing economic inequalities and social exclusion. This not only sincerely risks Cairo’s sustainable development, but also takes chances of yet another popular uprising.

Putting Cairo on a trajectory of sustainable development requires to understand the connections between its urban growth and driving economic interests better. The research, thus, ends with recommendations for further research to better inform policy makers, planners and designers. Whereas the geographical restrictions and rapid population growth will continue to be great challenges for planning, including the design of the political economy of Cairo to work for everyone will be crucial to develop the city sustainably.

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Rethinking Unbuilt spaces within neighborhoods in Muscat Mapping community planning across rapid urbanization

By Rowa Mohamed Elamin Elzain Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Mohamed Salheen, Ain Shams University Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Johann Jessen, University of Stuttgart Abstract: The thesis investigates the definition of neighborhood as a step to further understand the relation between communities and urban spaces within them. A set of guidelines from literatures is extracted to evaluate a couple of selected neighborhoods which were determined to use a set of criteria on local neighborhoods that were designed and constructed within the period of current rapid expansion. Following a series of morphological mapping, a benchmark is set for the evaluation of the two neighborhoods within the arena of community and unbuilt spaces. Along with the deciding factors of policies and decision makers who shape these neighborhoods, a spatial and behavioral mapping through a comparative analysis of the two different neighborhoods outline potentials within policies and a designing approach for current neighborhood development with emphases on communities and urban spaces.

Keywords: Community | Urban Neighborhood | unbuilt spaces

Introduction With the current demographic growth and horizontal urban expansion of Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman, regional and national planning strategies are being discussed for the management and developments required to accommodate the future inhabitants of the city in a more sustainable and socio-economically responsive strategies. Additionally, economic diversity and regulation of policies add to the importance of having such regional and national strategies. The main objective of the thesis is to address the qualities of urban spaces within neighborhoods presented by the local planning in Oman, alongside the qualitative and quantitative principles and guidelines withdrawn from international and local design applications in the planning of new communities and neighborhoods. The research methodology used is a mixed research approach. Quantitative data collected through secondary data for statistic report by the National Centre for Statistic and Information in addition to categorized social and spatial information from the research documentation book, Urban Oman.

Further primary data through mapping and categorizing spatial configurations in selected neighborhoods are required to complement the qualitative data on the livability of spaces within these neighborhoods through semistructured interviews.

1.

Defining Neighborhood, Community, and Unbuilt spaces

Overview on Neighborhoods Understanding neighborhood as a unit of planning gained popularity with the movement of New Urbanism. A comprehensive plan on a defined area with great social and land mix is relevant to the design and implementation process of these units. Although Ebenzer Howard described the vitality of such unit in planning, with the rapid urbanization, central planning, with a focus on regional planning, was of great dominance until recent years when the effectiveness of such planning methods was being reconsidered. Lewis Mumford described neighborhood as a natural fact, where areas within cities can be distinguished by their physical or social characteristics that arise from the agglomeration of communities, economies, and the evident reason is for practicality. Many authors look at the role of a unit such as a neighborhood as it reflects the bundle of policies and planning related to the daily life of the inhabitants of those areas from economies, education, services, and public spaces.

Neighborhood Principles • • • • • • • •

High density defined by (elementary school, quarter mile center to edge, 15000 individual /sq.km) Defined centers and edge through arterial streets Availability of open spaces system Decentralized of services and institutions (single functions less than 10%) Adequate mixed land-use (40% of floor space) Internal street network Locally administered settlements Diverse social mix (20-50% low-cost housing)

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Overview of communities Whether the discussion is on medicine, urban planning, sociology, or even in economics, communities in respect to larger groups of individuals sharing a similar element of some sort is described. The definition of the term is altered with the focus on which it is described. Robert MacIver and Charles H. Page (1949) in their book, Society: An Introductory Analysis, define community in respect to sociology: “Wherever the members of any group small or large, live together in such a way that they share, not this or that particular interest, but the basic conditions of a common life, we call that group a community” (MacIver and Page, 1949, pp.8-9). (Usually, a block quotation has to be longer than 2 lines. Also, block quotations are written without quotation marks.)

Neighborhoods, as a definition or in terms of urban development, are often described in regard to the individuals living within it along with the added value gained by them, hence, this territorial relation is usually combined with communities. The relation is referred to in a social, administrative, and spatial aspect when we look into urban neighborhoods. Clarence Perry, prior to his introduction to “the neighborhood unit,” describes three levels of community: first, the “regional community” consisting of an agglomeration of various smaller community; second, the “village/city community: relating to a smaller section of the region; and finally, “the neighborhood community” which is the smallest fragment of studying a community.

Overview of Unbuilt space The discussion on urban spaces may reflect on the physically built-up and designed spaces, but occasionally, it is used to describe the remaining spaces that were a result of physical structures and designed spaces. In this regard, spaces which remain undesigned for a short or long term could be referred to as an empty space, void, open, or even unbuilt space. Each of these definitions carry criteria that distinguish them from each other under the definition of urban space.

Unbuilt spaces in neighborhoods multiple understanding of the definition, Heather Baker (2009) uses the general understood notion of unbuilt space in terms of “parcels of land lacking any built structures” (Baker, 2009, p.89) as a base on which she classifies these parcels of land into: -

Unbuilt urban plots in private ownership

-

Green areas within city

-

Public spaces, such as streets

Evaluation matrix The relation between communities and unbuilt spaces in neighborhoods undergoing rapid urbanization could be further investigated out of the extracted methods of analysis within each aspect in regard to the context of Muscat. The neighborhood’s understanding provides a base for a “benchmark” for neighborhoods in order to further examine the community and unbuilt spaces (Kelly, 2012, pp.61). As neighborhoods are distinctive of each other, this common ground to study a case has been outlined. An additional step for the analysis within a sociospatial study is the comparison of two or multiple cases with each other in the aim of identifying the status quo communities and urban spaces and provide recommendations on policy and neighborhood design.

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Figure 1: Thoughts and traces in Neighborhoods

2.

Neighborhoods in Muscat: Al Khoud 6 and Al Mouj

Neighborhoods’ elements on Al Khoud and Al Mouj In order to further evaluate the relation between communities and unbuilt spaces within neighborhoods, a study on the neighborhood level for both selected areas is required to establish the similarities and differences they offer prior to studying the communities and spaces in the following step. Here, we use the set of elements and criteria outlined in literature which are: site, path, plot, buildings, and objects. These definitions analyze the neighborhoods within a spatial aspect through morphological mapping. Along with spatial mapping, a review on neighborhood design within the local context is required to understand the relation between the site and how it was developed.

Three tiers of analysis: Thoughts, movements, and traces The questions that arise when looking at the community and urban spaces are: what the requirements by the community are, how the community use the spaces, and how the community shaped their spaces. Hence, we look at the thoughts of the residents on their neighborhood spaces, then map their movement within these spaces, and

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finally trace the marks that they have left on their urban context. In order to analyze these questions, three tools are used for the extraction of data for further evaluation, which are surveys, behavioral mapping, and finally spatial mapping. Interviews were considered in all aspect to fill the gaps in the missing information.

The general set of data gathered from the survey provide a demographic structure and description of movements within the larger section of Muscat and within the district. The information extracted were: age, gender, number of household, nationality, profession, movement to location of profession, and finally the years they lived in the neighborhood.

Thoughts on community and unbuilt spaces A short survey was conducted to understand how the community perceived their surrounding and relation toward the community. Following the elements of the sense of community outlined by McMillan and Chavis in 1986 on membership with a community in regard to “emotional safety as security, sense of identification, personal investment, and finally common symbol system,” the survey was conducted in the aim of answering a few of these questions along with the relation it provides to unbuilt spaces.

Community survey The survey questions the resident’s knowledge on the number of neighbors within their surrounding of which they know. A high majority of residents in Al Khoud 6 mentioned that they know most of their neighbors, while residents of Al Mouj know of a few only. Their reasoning to this was the inconstant neighbors as they change frequently in addition to the different culture that reflects in their different interests. However, when asked if they carry activities with their neighbors, both neighborhoods responded positively in this regard by 55%. The question then requests to find out the type of activity they do and the location where they would meet.

Unbuilt spaces survey Using the three criteria defined by Baker (2009) on unbuilt spaces in neighborhoods, the survey attempts to first understand the uses of spaces and facilities within the neighborhoods followed by spaces used for activities and the frequency of usage. Finally, a rate of cleanliness, safety, and maintenance within the neighborhoods was outlined.

A reflection on thoughts An understanding of lack provision vs resilience can be reflected in the case of Al Khoud 6 as the area includes less the minimum basic neighborhood infrastructure. However, they accommodate with the scarcity through finding alternative spaces for playgrounds and football, unlike in Al Mouj. Here, all facilities are available but with an annual fee for the maintenance of these facilities, thus, the satisfaction of them is quite high.

Movement within community and unbuilt spaces Behavioral mapping was used to understand how the residents used their surrounding environment throughout the day. Using the five-division section of the neighborhood, a second dimension of the radius of these locations was used in reference to Perry and Duany, and Plater Zyberk’s rule of quarter a mile neighborhoods. Hence,

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wherever possible, the radial definition of quarter mile radius was used to map movement within these five locations.

Community in unbuilt spaces behavioral mapping Two types of movement mapping was carried out. The first is the pedestrian behavioral mapping within the five areas, while the second is mobility mapping to understand the intensities of traffic within the neighborhood.

Looking at the pedestrian’s movements within neighborhoods in comparison to the same defined areas on the other neighborhood, similarities can be drawn in the natural feature and commercial zone areas as they both exhibit high pedestrian movements within. In the natural feature area at Al Khoud 6, high movements are the mosque and its exterior shop, which was recorded. Similarly, the playgrounds at the beach in Al Mouj were busier than the beach stretch as it had seating and facilities. The typical housing is harder in comparison as it offers different typologies, hence relating to different density and movements within a specific/given space. However, a comparison between the two types of residences show a relative similarity between the movements of pedestrians within the area, though with a slightly higher number of pedestrians in the parts with more public parks. However, in the case of Al Khoud 6 area, TH has a central strip of empty plots that are being used as a sport field by the residents and labor working and living in construction projects inside the neighborhood.

On the contrary, mobility within the neighborhoods illustrates the similarity of car traffic within the two neighborhoods, beginning with a high intensity open entrance to low traffic natural features/the natural feature of low traffic. Areas in-between, especially the commercial zone, exhibit the transition between high intensity entrance to lower intensity residential areas. The residential quarters demonstrate similar traffic movement within and between the two types and the neighborhoods. Looking at the commercial zone and open entrance of both areas along with both levels of mobility shows that, in Al Mouj pedestrian zone, traffic does not reach the main street as there is a bus stop at the beginning of the commercial zone. On the contrary, Al Khoud 6 has the location of the bus stop on the opposite side of the secondary road, hence pedestrian traffic is pushed out of the neighborhood with an additional need to cross a fast lane without a pedestrian path to reach the bus stop.

A reflection on movements In regard to pedestrian behavioral mapping, it is noted that areas with a dual or more functions are highly attractive to pedestrians. Even the availability of empty plots offer flexible areas for interaction and activities. Car traffic can also be influenced by the number of adequate access to an area; hence in the case of Al Mouj commercial zone, traffic is moved around the area, leaving the middle section for pedestrian movement much safer.

Traces on community and unbuilt spaces In order to understand the community from the perspective of their spatial context, mapping and observations along with interviews assisted in defining how each neighborhood utilized their surrounding for communal purposes. The first criteria for analysis was to define areas that are public versus areas that are private; hence, the type of usage could further be analyzed – whether it is related to the community’s needs of private interest.

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Community in mapping and interviews Tracing communities within Al Mouj was a change as the area is designed and built by an investor. Alteration of public spaces are highly unaccepted. In addition, limitation on altering private properties is applied to the uniformity and image of the neighborhoods; hence with the exception of very few houses, the negotiated the landscaping applied on their house entry for personal interests, no sign of communal spatial appropriation within the neighborhood could be found.

Unbuilt spaces in spatial mapping In regard to unbuilt spaces, whether public or private, Al Mouj, not correlated with this definition as a construction of building, is done through phases. Thus, no empty gaps or unbuilt areas are left accessible for the public. Similar to the situation of community traces, Al Khoud provides a selection of activities in this regard in both public and private areas.

A reflection on traces Traces of community in unbuilt spaces provide a set of stories that can be translated into principals of planning.

The top-down planning system carried within neighborhoods in Muscat offers many loop holes where the residing communities’ roles are activated, similar to the case of Al Khoud 6. Unlike the case of Al Khoud 6, Al Mouj, with its intensive supervision by the developer, leaves no room of the community to participate and change the surrounding; hence their surrounding is given and they would have to accept its context.

Triangulation relations in the analysis tiers The relation within the discussion on communities and unbuilt spaces with the three different spectacles on understanding their relations show that there is an overlap between the issues that arise within both neighborhoods and possible solutions that are seen from the communities to these issues. In the case of movement and thoughts, an overlap of the traffic of mobility in the commercial areas are mapped and outlined by the residents. Similarly, in Al Mouj, unclear private-public spaces are traced and acknowledged by the residents and planners. And finally, the enablement of the community in Al Khoud 6 is traced and mapped, which was a result of a lack of provision and monitoring to the community.

Conclusion Understanding the relation between communities and unbuilt spaces as a design element is outlined through investigation of terminology in literature and conceptualization of these elements into a local context with a comparison of ideal and less ideal neighborhoods which presents the key element for neighborhood design as the thesis describes. Therefore, understanding the aspects required for achieving a neighborhood, that take into consideration the needs and requirements of communities within a local level in relation to the ideal global understanding of neighborhoods, is examined in this thesis.

The discussion begins with an intensive review on three topics: neighborhood, community, and unbuilt space, with a focus on understanding how communities in urban neighborhoods accommodate to unbuilt spaces in

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Muscat which are currently planning a scheme. The neighborhood’s definition through literature provides the basis on which selection and setting benchmarks of local neighborhoods is achieved. These definitions are considered international as well as local and regional understanding of the neighborhood. Similarly, a review on communities in urban planning and sociology describes the criteria for the evaluation of the selected neighborhoods to further relate it to the surrounding context of unbuilt spaces. Finally, voids within urban spaces, regarded as unbuilt through a/the? common definition used in literature, are extracted for allocating these spaces with neighborhoods in addition to studying the relation between them and the communities.

Understanding the current context of the Sultanate from its geographical, historic, political, economic, and finally it’s legislative structure is a step required for further development of recommendations. Here, a look at Muscat, along with its Wilayat and subdivision, allows for a deeper comparison of neighborhood formations along the city. Criteria extracted from main objectives and assisted with the selection of a neighborhood to further analyze the formation of communities within them along with the usage of unbuilt spaces by their residents. The selection of the two neighborhoods, Al Khoud and Al Mouj, provides a contrast in the planning structure and designing process of the neighborhood, despite how relatively similar the morphological and distribution of land uses within them were. Hence, a set of intensive analysis with the approach of understanding the “thoughts,” “movements,” and “traces” of the community living within these neighborhoods provides a set of guidelines that can be followed by local urban planners in the aim of retrofitting strategies of development of new areas.

A look at the current scheme of plot allocation raises a question on the new neighborhoods formed as old neighborhoods reach the full capacity of distributed lands. Hence, with focus on the local context and looking for opportunities, one should wonder if urban extensions are always the solution. Perhaps, we should consider it less and look at the potentials that current cities offer.

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Berger, P. and Neuhaus, R. (1996). To empower people. Washington (D.C.): The AEI Press.

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Duany, A. and Plater-Zyberk, E. (1994). The Neighborhood, the District and the Corridor. 1st ed. [ebook] pp.1-10. Available at: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/shawg/courses/154/articles/TNU2.pdf [Accessed 1 Apr. 2015].

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Dunham-Jones, E. and Williamson, J. (2011). Retrofitting suburbia. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.

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Source: Dominic Chavez, World Bank

Collaborative Urban Practices in Greater Cairo Understanding the Impact of Commercial Sharing Practices on the City Author: Noran Abdou Supervisor 1: Prof. Dr. Mohammed Salheen, Professor of Integrated Planning and Design, Ain Shams University Supervisor 2: Prof. Dr. Daniel Schönle, Professor of Urban Planning, University of Stuttgart Supervisor 3: Dr. Ayat Ismail, Assistant Professor of Urban Design and Planning, Ain Shams University Sharing and collaboration have been present among small communities throughout history. Yet, the development of collaborative technology has led to the re-invention of sharing as we know it. Collaborative technology has strongly impacted the urban settings. It also plays a fundamental role in the boom of the sharing economy. This research defines “Collaborative Urban Practices” as the practices developed in the city as a consequence of collaborative technologies. While there is a developing body of research on sharing economy, there is a gap of knowledge on the impact of sharing economy on the city.

The research aims to understand the impact of sharing economy on the city, Greater Cairo Region (GCR), through three interlinked parts. The research starts by theoretical investigation and qualitative analysis that end with the development of a framework for the categorization of sharing economy practices. Then, it moves to practical investigation of sharing practices in GCR. The research ends with an evaluation of sharing the economy’s impact on the city based on both theoretical and imperial knowledge acquired in parts one and two of the research. In part three, the dichotomies of sharing cities are defined and GCR’s stance on each dichotomy is evaluated. This is done on eight analysis levels: policy, planning, economic, environmental, urban infrastructure, socio-cultural, technological, and strategic levels. For each of the levels, contextual conclusions and recommendations that address policy makers and/or fellow researchers are developed. The research outcomes are highly beneficial to GCR for they would not only help the city promptly react to the rapidly rising phenomenon of sharing economy, but also guide it on how to strategically utilize the phenomenon to tackle its increasing urban challenges on the long run.

Keywords: Collaborative Urban Practices – Sharing City – Collaborative Technology – Sharing Economy – Ridesharing – Commercial Sharing

Introduction The turn of the century has brought about technological advancement that has led to the reinvention of sharing and collaboration as we know it. The technological advancements, particularly the development of web 2.0, facilitated two-way exchanges and collaboration between strangers (Belk, 2014). Collaborative technology has influenced not only individuals’ life styles, but also cities and urban settings. Collaborative urban practices that are highly dependent on technology are spreading both globally and locally. One of the major effects this has had on economy is the development of what is known as sharing economy or the collaborative economy. GCR has seen a rise in sharing economy practices that need to be studied and evaluated to fully comprehend their current impact and their future implications on the city. Some scholars argue that sharing economy and the shift from the ownership of assets to access to assets is indeed the benchmark for the start of a post ownership era (Belk, 2014). Some cities and governments have found potential in sharing economy and started to plan their cities’ future based on leveraging these practices and adopting a sharing city vision, while others chose to condemn sharing practices altogether (Saunders and Baeck, 2015). A body of literature on sharing economy is developing rapidly, yet, there is lack of research on the potential, the challenges, and the impact of sharing economy on cities and on urban planning. There have been few scholars addressing the topic of “sharing cities” (Agyeman et al., 2013; McLaren and Agyeman, 2015; Cohen and Munoz, 2016). Yet, even this small body of literature often focuses on the global north with little attention paid toward the nature and impact of sharing economy in developing world context. This, in turn, carries challenges to governments, policy makers, and regulators for they have little to no guidance on how to react to the rapidly growing sharing economy. The gap of knowledge as well as the observation of a rising phenomenon are the main problems that intrigue this research.

The research’s main aim is to evaluate the impact of sharing economy on the city in its current status, its triggers, as well as its potential benefits and future implications. To achieve the main aim, four interim research aims are developed. First, the research aims to develop a conceptual framework for categorizing sharing economy practices. Second, the research aims to understand and comprehend the current status of sharing economy in GCR. Third, it aims to define and evaluate dichotomies of sharing cities as well as their potential and limitation. Furthermore, it aims to evaluate GCR’s stance within these dichotomies. Fourth and finally, the research aspires to draw a set of recommendations on how GCR could capitalize on sharing economy to address urban challenges.

Plan of Approach The research consists of three interlinked parts (Figure 1). The first part of the research is mainly theoretical investigation. It requires qualitative analysis that capitalizes on existing literature and draws critical conclusions on the debates in literature. The second part of the research is based on practical investigation and field study that build on the framework developed to explore and analyze sharing practices in general and ridesharing in specific in GCR. The third part builds on the theoretical knowledge acquired in part one and the practical knowledge in part two to critically draw conclusions on the impact of sharing economy on the city, deducing

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shortcomings, and developing recommendations. The research is based on both primary and secondary sources.

The development of the arguments in relation to the chapters and the main topics discussed is presented in (Figure 2). The base of the triangle starts with a wide scope leading to a narrow focus or a certain conclusion and vice versa. Figure 2 also highlights the main research outcomes.

Figure 1: Research Theoretical Framework (Abdou, 2017)

Figure 2: Research type, divisions, arguments, and expected outcomes (Abdou, 2017)

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Research Focus The research starts by coining the term collaborative urban practices to refer to practices in the city that are developed as a consequence of collaborative technologies. They include collaborative action, collaborative knowledge, and the collaborative economy (Abdou, 2017). Sharing economy practices are the focus of this research for they have a strong presence in cities and take most of the research and media attention given to collaborative urban practices. The research focuses further on the “for-profit” commercial sharing practices for they are the most demanding for urgent intervention either on the policy and regulation level or on the city planning level. Furthermore, true sharing has been part of the urban context specially among the more vulnerable groups. However, the “for-profit” sharing is more recent, raises more concerns, and requires more research attention when compared to the “not-for-profit” sharing practices (Codagnone and Martens, 2016).

Further focus is put on peer-to-peer commercial sharing practices for they are considered “the main focus of both controversies and policy-relevant issues” (Ibid.). The research focuses on GCR. Consequently, the primary data set in this research is the for-profit / commercial sharing practices in GCR, whereas the secondary data set is the ridesharing practices in GCRi. Figure 3 shows the decision tree and the narrowing down of research focus throughout as well as the justifications and criteria for each decision.

Figure 3: Research Focus (Abdou, 2017)

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1. Sharing Economy – Collaborative Economy 1.1. Terminology and Associated Debates The terms “sharing economy,” “collaborative economy,” “access-based consumption,” and “collaborative consumption” are often used interchangeably in literature to refer to the same phenomenon (Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015; Codagnone and Martens, 2016, Greene and McGinty, 2016). The term “sharing economy” is claimed to be first coined by the Harvard Law professor, Lawrence Lessig, in 2008 (Kim, Yoon, & Zo, 2015).

Sharing economy is defined as “an economic system based on the sharing of underused assets or services, for free or for a fee, directly from individuals” (Botsman, 2015; Greene & McGinty, 2016). Belk (2010) makes a distinction between “true sharing” and “pseudo sharing.” To Belk (2014) “Collaborative consumption is people coordinating the acquisition and distribution of a resource for a fee or other compensation,” whereas “true sharing” entails access instead of ownership to assets without compensation. The term “collaborative consumption” is prompted by Botsman and Roger (2010) to refer to activities such as “bartering, lending, gifting, and swapping.” They divide the collaborative consumption into three main categories: “product service systems,” “redistribution markets,” and “collaborative life style.” Sharing economy and/or the collaborative consumption are also referred to as “access-based consumption” (Bardhi and Eckhardt, 2012). They define “access-based consumption” as “transactions that can be market mediated but where no transfer of ownership takes place” (Ibid.). Schor and Fitzmaurice (2015) have referred to sharing economy as connected consumption to “emphasize its social and digital dimensions.” They describe connected consumption as “predicated on peerto-peer exchanges rather than existing market actors to mediate exchange” (Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015).

Similarly, Azevedo and Maciejewski (2015) have highlighted that sharing economy “allows people to share goods and services by using internet platforms and ICT applications.” To them, the value of sharing economy is creating matches between consumers owning an asset to consumers who are in need for that asset (Azevedo and Maciejewski, 2015). Sharing economy is also referred to as “an explosion of practices … made possible by platforms that connect supply and demand at the peer-to-peer level” (Orsi et al., 2013). This goes along the same lines of Botsman’s argument on the collaborative economy. Collaborative economy is defined as “an economic system of decentralized networks and marketplaces that unlocks the value of underused assets by matching needs and haves, in ways that bypass traditional middlemen” (Botsman, 2015). Schor and Fitzmaurice argue that bypassing the middleman is an innovation in re-allocating the wealth in the value chain away from the middleman and toward the small producers and consumers. Sharing economy was also defined as “consumers or firms granting each other temporary access to their under-utilized physical assets, possibly for money” (Meelen and Frenken, 2015). Saunders and Baeck (2015) highlight the importance of sharing economy to the limited resources in cities. They define the collaborative economy as “connecting distributed groups of people, using the internet and digital technologies, to make better use of goods, skills, and space” (Saunders and Baeck, 2015).

“Commercial sharing systems” refer to “systems that provide customers with the opportunity to enjoy product benefits without ownership” (Lamberton and Rose, 2012). Also, some authors criticize sharing economy and refer to it as crowd-based capitalism (Sundararajan, 2016) and Neoliberal Capitalism (Martin, 2016).

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1.2.Role of Technology Sharing economy is essentially dependent on technology (Botsman and Roger, 2010; Belk, 2014; Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015; Codagnone and Martens, 2016). Technology enabled sharing economy to create networks of asset providers and consumers. It allowed for their interactions to be of an on-demand nature. Technology also allows sharing economy companies to create platforms that efficiently match supply and demand based on preference and geographic proximity. Some of the key pillars upon which sharing economy is based – rating and online trust – are a product of the use of technology (Ibid.).

1.3.Trust, Rating, and Self-Regulation Technology is a key for enabling “trust” in exchanges between strangers within the scope of sharing economy (Botsman, 2015). Sharing economy is driven by the trust and reputation of the involved parties (Botsman and Rogers, 2010; Lamberton and Rose, 2012; Kim, Yoon, and Zo, 2015; Sundararajan, 2016). Trust in sharing economy is a combination of “users’” attitudes and of how such attitudes are effectively leveraged by online reputational rating systems and liability insurance schemes” (Codagnone and Martens, 2016). Technology enabled trust to be quantified through online ratings. Rating is also referred to in literature as reputation indicator (Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015). Reputational capital is a term that Botsman developed to refer to the phenomenon of online rating which she defines as “the sum worth of what a community thinks of you” (Botsman, 2015). Self-regulation is the dependence on trust and rating as a means of regulating sharing economy transactions. It is often argued that self-regulation raises liability and safety concerns (Codagnone and Martens, 2016). Consequently, there is a lot of debate in literature on the role of policy makers regarding selfregulationii (Abdou, 2017).

1.4.Benefits of the Sharing Economy The benefits of sharing economy on cities vary from economic, social, to environmental benefits (Agyeman et al., 2013; Mclaren and Agyeman, 2015; Saunders and Baeck, 2016). Cost savings, job creation, and supplementing incomes are some of the main economic benefits argued for in literature (Agyeman et al., 2013; Greene and McGinty, 2016). Cost of ownership is a significant barrier to vulnerable groups which could be overcome through the adoption of sharing economy, where ownership is replaced by access (Bardhi and Eckhardt, 2012; Agyeman et al., 2013; Greene and McGinty, 2016; Pluess et al., 2016). As for the city, sharing economy could potentially reduce service provision costs (Agyeman et al., 2013). On the social level, sharing economy and the use of the internet helps extend sharing resources beyond the traditional closed sharing circles (Agyeman et al., 2013).

Thus, potentially, it offers wider social circles and more resources for sharing (Ibid.) as well as potentially creating enhanced community bonds (Pluess et al., 2016). Resource efficiency, energy savings, and enhanced asset utilizations are some of the main environmental benefits of sharing economy (Belk, 2010; Agyeman et al., 2013) 1.5. Criticism of the Sharing Economy

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Sharing economy, without proper regulations, poses a threat for erosion of labor rights (Codagnone and Martin, 2016). Unclear liability of the involved stakeholders poses a threat on consumers (Greene and McGinty, 2016).

Thus, governments and policy makers are often skeptical about consumer safety and protection (Codagnone and Martin, 2016), which has led to multiple occurrences of legal bans for sharing economy practices globally (Rauch and Schleicher, 2015). The relation between sharing economy and capitalism is another criticism. While there is a strong debate that sharing economy is mainly an extension of the capitalist system (Martin, 2015; Sundararajan, 2016), other scholars argue that “the restructuring of capital-investment in digital networks” is partly reversing the effect of capitalism (Yochai, 2004).

1.6.Policy Challenges Some of the main policy challenges facing cities with active sharing economy companies include concerns regarding liability, labor rights, welfare of consumers, conflicts with traditional economy players, as well as fair taxations (Azevedo and Maciejewski, 2015; Codagnone and Martens, 2016). Many of the sharing economy players operate “informally” or without proper regulations and, consequently, without proper taxations nor financial obligations (Azevedo and Maciejewski, 2015; Codagnone and Martens, 2016). This leads to unfair competition with other tradition economy players (Ibid.). Liability concerns are also a main issue where some of sharing economy practices view themselves as an “intermediary and not direct service provider” which puts the liability and the welfare of the consumers at question (Codagnone and Martens, 2016). When it comes to building and enforcing new policies, one of the main challenges facing policy makers is how to regulate these new market innovations without limiting their potential (Ranchordas, 2015; Sunil and Noah, 2015; Codagnone and Martens, 2016).

1.7. Sharing Cities Cities and sharing are closely intertwined. Cities are platforms and venues for sharing assets – space, goods, and services (Agyeman et al., 2013; McLaren and Agyeman, 2015). The advancement in technology has amplified the role of the city as “platforms for sharing” (Orsi et al., 2013). Cities are where sharing economy is most growing (Agyeman et al., 2013) and they also are where sharing economy is most needed (McLaren and Agyeman, 2015; Cohen and Munoz, 2016). Sharing economy nourishes in cities because of dense population and high technological penetration: ICT, smart phones, and high-speed internet (Agyeman et al., 2013). It is also argued that sharing economy flourishes in urban agglomerations (Yochai, 2004). Furthermore, cities are often faced with scarce resources that require innovation in consumption methods which sharing economy offers (McLaren and Agyeman, 2015; Cohen & Munoz, 2016). The term “sharing cities” has emerged to highlight the reflection of sharing economy on the urban context (Agyeman et al., 2013; McLaren and Agyeman, 2015). Cities have also started to adopt sharing cities’ strategy where Seoul, South Korea, was the first city to announce itself a sharing city. Seoul aims to capitalize on sharing economy to tackle environmental challenges, resource constraints, and social challenges (Cohen and Munoz, 2016). Sharing city networks have also started to mobilize for the promotion of sharing in cities globally (Cohen and Munoz, 2016). Amsterdam sharing city/Amsterdam, a sharing city, is another example of cities that adopted sharing economy plans to tackle urban challenges. It could

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be argued that while Seoul is a policy-driven sharing city, Amsterdam sharing city was initiated and lobbied for on the grassroots level (Abdou, 2017).

2.

Framework

for

Categorization

of

Sharing Economy Practices There is no shared consensus on the categorization of the practices that make up a sharing economy (Codagnone and Martens, 2016). Examining literature, it seems that there are Figure 4: Framework for Categorization of Sharing Economy Practices in the City (Abdou, 2017)

three approaches scholars follow when attempting to categorize sharing economy practices. These three approaches are sectorial divisions; ex: (Ganksy, 2014; Owyang, 2016), conceptual categorization; ex: (Botsman and Rogers, 2010; Agyeman et al., 2013; Schor,2014; Codagnone and Martens, 2016); and/or conceptual models and frameworks; ex: (Lamberton and Rose, 2012; Cohen and Munoz, 2016; Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015; Codagnone & Martens, 2016).

This research builds on the work of Schor and Fitzmaurice, (2015) and Codagnone and Martens (2016) to develop a conceptual model of sharing economy practices. They categorize

Figure 6: Highlight of For-Profit / Commercial Sharing Practices - Framework for Categorization of Sharing Economy Practices (Abdou, 2017)

sharing economy practices on a two-dimensional scale: “NotFor-Profit vs. For-Profit” and “Peer-to-Peer vs. Business-toConsumer”iii (Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015; Codagnone and Martens, 2016). This research adds a third dimension to the model which is the type of asset being accessed “Tangible vs.

Intangible” (Figure 6). Analyzing sharing economy practices based on the nature of assets being accessed is crucial for city governments and planners for it helps them move a step forward toward understanding sharing and collaborative cities’ schemes. It gives a better understanding of the space and infrastructure implications and requirements of a sharing or a

Figure 5: Model for For-Profit / Commercial Sharing Practices (Abdou, 2017)

collaborative city. The framework takes a step forward toward sharpening the understanding of the current “explosion” of sharing economy practices (Orsi et al., 2013) which is crucial for policy makers and future research (Zieger, 2011; Codagnone and Martens, 2016).

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2.1. Business Delivery Models of Sharing Economy Practices: Peer-to-Peer and Business-toConsumer Peer-to-peer sharing practices revolve around the interaction between the intermediary, the provider, and the consumer. The provider role refers to a person with a tangible or intangible asset that is underutilized or has potential for further utilization and is open to offer that asset for access by consumers in Figure 8: P2P Business Model (Abdou, 2017)

Figure 7: B2C Business Model (Abdou,2017)

return for a certain amount of money.

The term provider (Codagnone and Martens, 2016) is sometimes referred to in literature as owner or worker (Greene and McGinty, 2016). The consumer is a person who is in need for a tangible or an intangible asset and would rather pay an amount of money to access that asset for a specific amount of time instead of purchasing and owning it. The intermediary, also referred to as the platform (Codagnone and Martens, 2016), is an entity that often depends on technology to connect and match providers and consumers. Technology is crucial for the intermediary role for it enables it to ensure efficiency of matching, location-wise and preference-wise, to be of an on-demand nature and to build trust between strangers using the online rating systems (Botsman, 2015).

There are key differences between P2P and B2C sharing practices. In P2P sharing practices, the three roles of commercial sharing practices are distinct and clear. However, in B2C sharing practices, the role of the intermediary and the provider are often mixed where the intermediary role is underdeveloped or not developed.

The business owner plays the role of the assets’ provider as well as the intermediary role. The intermediary does not own the assets to be shared but rather connects the providers to the consumers.

3. Collaborative Urban Practice in GCR GCR is one of the fastest growing urban agglomerations in the world (Euromonitor International, 2017). “Rapid urban growth throughout the developing world has seriously outstripped the capacity of most cities to provide adequate basic services for their citizens” (Cohen, 2006). In fact, social disparities, poverty, urban sprawl, scarcity of resources, and unemployment are some of the main challenges facing Egypt (GOPP, 2012). GCR further faces challenges of air pollution, high densities, “unmanageable patterns of growth,” and traffic congestion (Abdelhameed, 2004). As a result of these urban challenges, GCR is in an “overload system” status (Ibid.). Furthermore, the recent devaluation of the Egyptian pound, the high inflation rates, and the government’s plan for subsidy removal makes it even more challenging for the inhabitants of GCR to afford asset ownership (El-Shenety, 2017). “In an age of increasing austerity in cities …, the ability for government to address resident needs may be constrained at the same time as the overall level of need is growing” (Freedman Consulting, 2016). Thus, alternative solutions that are not government-centric, and are highly based on

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collaboration by citizens or private stakeholders are increasing. Many of these practices are influenced by the rise of sharing economy.

3.1.Primary Data Set: The primary research starts by focusing on the rise of sharing economy practices in GCR through the lens of the framework for categorization of sharing economy practices, specifically the for-profit sharing practices for three main reasons. First, the for-profit sharing practices raise more controversy and conflicts in practice. Second, forprofit sharing practices have recently ignited a lot of debates in research and literature. Third, they have proven to induce more urgency in terms of regulations and legal reforms.

The research applies the knowledge gained from the literature and from the developed framework for the categorization of sharing economy to examine the for-profit sharing economy practices in GCR both for P2P and B2C. The context and dynamics of each of these practices are studied, and the challenges associated are identified with special focus on the policies and regulations governing sharing economy in GCR (Abdou, 2017).

3.2.

Secondary Data Set:

This research focuses further on peer-to-peer commercial sharing practices because they raise most of the challenges that are often associated with sharing economy. These challenges include concerns over the liability of the involved stakeholders, labor rights, safety of consumers, and taxations. Furthermore, the research is interested in peer-to-peer commercial sharing of tangible assets. This is due to their significant impact on the urban fabric of the city. Peer-to-peer sharing of tangible assets represent the most significant intersection between sharing economy and the sharing city. Thus, they require further research from the urbanism field.

In GCR, peer-to-peer exchanges over tangible assets include the sharing of mobility vehicles and sharing of living spaces (Abdou, 2017). Airbnb is the only example of technology-dependent, peer-to-peer commercial sharing of living spaces practice in GCR. The number of active rentals in GCR is quite low compared to other cities around the world (AirDNA, 2017). On the other hand, peer-to-peer commercial sharing of mobility vehicles is dominated by a wide spectrum of companies. The research will further focus on ride sharing for further investigation because of the following reasons: they are the oldest examples of peer-to-peer commercial sharing in GCR; they are greater in size (in terms of number of peers participating and number of platforms in the market); and they have the widest spatial spread around GCR. Furthermore, ridesharing has grasped the attention of media and policy makers in the GCR as well as public attention. Therefore, peer-to-peer commercial ridesharing practices in GCR are the focus of the research; secondary data set.

3.3.

Research Information and Background for Ridesharing in GCR

The study of ridesharing in this research is mainly based on primary research sources with the support of few secondary sources (local literature and press). These primary sources include interviews, whether structured, semi-structured, or unstructured. The structured and semi-structured interviews targeted some of the ridesharing intermediaries in GCR. The unstructured interviews were directed to the drivers of ridesharing platforms and were mainly used to further understand the dynamics, the process, and the local challenges of

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ridesharing in GCR. Two surveys were also conducted. One survey addressed drivers at the ridesharing platforms (n=61) and the other addressed users of ridesharing platforms (n=45). Both surveys are Google forms that were distributed online and, at the same time, through social media platforms. The survey to drivers of ridesharing platforms was distributed in closed social media groups for drivers of ridesharing platforms in GCR.

4. Impact of Sharing Economy on the City, GCR Sharing the economy’s impact in its current status-quo lacks unbiased empirical evidence in the economy literature (Cohen & Muñoz, 2016). Therefore, it is even more difficult to anticipate how a sharing economy would impact the city as well as to anticipate its future prospects. The future of businesses and economies is open for contemplation, but one thing that is clear is that sharing economy has established a strong impact on both the local and the global levels (Cohen & Muñoz, 2016). Shifting from ownership to access is the benchmark for the start of the post-ownership era (Belk, 2014). Yet, the implication of sharing on cities and the creation of “sharing cities” is overall under-researched (Cohen and Muñoz, 2016).

The lack of research on the impact of sharing economy on cities is a challenge for many cities. Therefore, cities across the world have different approaches dealing with sharing economy ranging from banning and encouraging to fully adopting a sharing city vision. The aim of this section is to understand and evaluate the role sharing economy plays toward GCR and the role of the city toward sharing economy practices in the GCR is the main discussion of this section. In other words, this section is concerned with projecting the impact sharing economy has had and is expected to have on GCR as well as analyzing how sharing economy could be of benefit to the city. This is done through cross-referencing literature and field work, both primary and secondary data (Figure 1). The impact of sharing economy on the city is studied on eight different levels where the dichotomies of sharing cities are discussed in detail, reflecting directly on GCR and evaluating its stance within each dichotomy (Figure 9). Recommendations to policy makers and areas for further investigation are drawn as part of the conclusions of each dichotomy discussion. In the following section, the summary of the dichotomies is presented. However, the full discussion could be found in the full thesis dissertation (Abdou, 2017).

Figure 9: Dichotomies of Sharing Cities (Abdou, 2017)

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4.1. Summary of Impact of Sharing Economy on GCR Policy Level: Smart co-regulation is needed for the peer-to-peer commercial sharing practices and a regulatory framework for the business-to-consumer sharing practices need to be conducted in a time-efficient manner with the participation of all involved stakeholders.

Urban Infrastructure Level: It is vital to evaluate and comprehend the role the commercial sharing practices play with respect to urban infrastructure in the city. Sharing practices could spill over benefits to the deficiencies in urban infrastructure and could capitalize on the existing idle assets. However, this has to be studied strategically.

Economic Level: It is crucial to ensure the protection of traditional economy stakeholders without restricting the innovation of sharing economy practices through enforcing fair taxations to both parties. Also, sharing economy is a double-edged weapon where, on the one hand, it provides democratization of supply, yet on the other, creates large new capitalist companies that monopolize the market.

Planning Level: It is argued by some scholars that sharing economy would re-write the planning discourse and the urban fabric through a shift from separation of function to sharing of functions; an area which requires further research.

Socio-Cultural Level: Inclusion of all socio-economic groups in sharing economy is vital for decreasing the barrier to entry for the low-income groups through replacing ownership by access, maximizing the benefits of sharing economy through increasing the number of peers and increasing the poll of assets to be shared, and harnessing environmental benefits since less assets are to be underutilized.

Technology Level: Collaborative technologies could have a positive effect on the urban context in GCR through expanding sharing beyond the close kin and communities, and it would allow more assets to be accessible for sharing among wider groups of people.

Environmental Level: Further research needs to be conducted to evaluate the rebound effect of sharing economy in GCR and whether it has led to more consumption of assets or better utilization of assets.

Strategic Level: Business-to-consumer models could have high potential for the already existing idle facilities and spaces in the city if appropriately regulated.

4.2.

Recommendations to Policy Makers

Smart Co-Regulation for P2P Commercial Sharing Practices: Smart co-regulation is the best practice for P2P commercial sharing practices. Smart C0-regulation would ensure consumer safety, preserve labor right, and settle liability issues without restricting innovation. As a result of its participatory nature and the inclusion of the roundtable of all involved stakeholders, it guarantees a fair market competition where fair taxations is imposed to sharing economy players as compared to traditional economy players. It would also ensure the inclusion of all vulnerable groups as both providers and consumers.

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Regulatory Framework for B2C Commercial Sharing Practices: It is recommended to develop a regulatory framework for the B2C commercial sharing practices. This framework would develop appropriate license types for the B2C sharing practices to minimize informality. It would also offer incentives to business owners to encourage offering underutilized assets for access.

Time Efficiency and Urgency of Regulations: In both P2P and B2C sharing practices, it is vital for the regulation to be developed in a timely manner. Time efficiency and urgency in developing regulations is critical because sharing economy has a fast-developing nature and it is necessary for the regulations to cope up.

Technology Infrastructure: To become an inclusive sharing city, a technology infrastructure cross city, and specially in low income settings, is necessary to boost access to collaborative technology from all income groups, specially the vulnerable.

Urban Infrastructure: Sharing practices could spill over benefits to the deficiencies in urban infrastructure and could capitalize on the existing idle assets, though this has to be studied strategically. While it has been found that sharing economy could help relieve pressure on the urban infrastructure of the city, it is necessary to strategically plan the role of sharing economy practices that are linked to urban infrastructure in order for problems not to escalate.

4.3.

Recommendations for Further Research

For more accurate evaluation on the impact of sharing economy on GCR, it would be vital for the following research to be conducted.

Low-Tech Sharing: Most of sharing economy literature focuses on the global north where technology is more accessible. For Egypt as a developing country, it would be vital to study and evaluate not only the hi-tech sharing and collaboration practices but also the low-tech ones. Therefore, it is recommended to profile existing nontechnology-dependent sharing and collaboration practices in the GCR (or “in GCR” without “the” as written throughout the document?) to evaluate the impact of both.

Rebound Effect: To fully understand the environmental consequences of sharing economy in the GCR, it is vital to study the rebound effect in GCR. Evaluating the rebound effect of sharing economy in GCR would enable a better judgment of whether it has led to more consumption of assets or better utilization of assets.

Sharing Infrastructure: It is important to evaluate the role sharing economy currently plays in supplementing the urban infrastructure and to strategically project its role within the urban infrastructure development plans of GCR.

References Abdelhameed, H. (2004). Urban change in Cairo. Environmental Challenges in the Mediterranean 2000–2050, 37, 331–344. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-007-0973-7_20 Abdou, N. (2017). Collaborative Urban Practices in Greater Cairo. Understanding the Impact of Commercial Sharing Practices on the City (Master Thesis). Ain Shams University; University of Stuttgart.

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Agyeman, J., McLaren, D., & Schaefer-Borrego, A. Sharing Cities: Linking sharing politics to sharing economies to deliver more livable cities (Big Ideas).

Azevedo, F., & Maciejewski, M. (2015). Social, Economic And Legal Consequences Of Uber And Similar Transportation Network Companies (TNCS). European Parliament.

Bardhi, F., & Eckhardt, G. M. (2012). Access-Based Consumption: The Case of Car Sharing: Table 1. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(4), 881–898. https://doi.org/10.1086/666376 Belk, R. (2010). Sharing. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(5), 715–734. https://doi.org/10.1086/612649 Belk, R. (2014). You are what you can access: Sharing and collaborative consumption online. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), 1595–1600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.10.001 Botsman, R. (2015). Defining The Sharing Economy: What Is Collaborative Consumption and What Isn’t?

Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/3046119/defining-the-sharing-economy-what-iscollaborative-consumption-and-what-isnt Botsman, R. (2015). Where does loyalty lie in the Collaborative Economy? - Collaborative Consumption.

Retrieved from http://www.collaborativeconsumption.com/2015/02/22/brand-loyalty-and-thecollaborative-economy/ Botsman, R., & Rogers, R. (2010). What's mine is yours: The rise of collaborative consumption: Harper Collins.

Codagnone, C., & Martens, B. (2016). Scoping the Sharing Economy:: Origins, Definitions, Impact and Regulatory Issues (JRC Technical Reports).

Cohen, B. (2006). Urbanization in developing countries: Current trends, future projections, and key challenges for sustainability. Technology in Society, 28(1-2), 63–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2005.10.005 Cohen, B., & Muñoz, P. (2016). Sharing cities and sustainable consumption and production: Towards an integrated framework. Journal of Cleaner Production, 134, 87–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.07.133 El-Shenety, O. (2017). Are the reforms paying back? Retrieved from http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/20846.aspx Freednab Consulting, LLC & Bloomberg Philanthropies. (2013). The Collaborative City: How partnerships between public and private sectors can achieve common goals.

Frenken, K., Meelen, T., Arets, M., & Glinde, P. (2015). Smarter regulation for the sharing economy. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2015/may/20/smarter-regulation-for-thesharing-economy Gansky, L. (2014). The Mesh: Why the Future of Business Is Sharing // The mesh: Why the future of business is sharing. New York: Portfolio.

GOPP. (2012). Greater Cairo Urban Development Strategy: Part 1: Future Vision and Strategic Directions.

Retrieved from http://gopp.gov.eg/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/1CFV-EN.pdf Greene, S., & McGinty, J. (2016). What if Cities Could Create a Truly Inclusive Local Sharing Economy?

Kim, J., Yoon, Y., & Zo, H. (Eds.) 2015. Why People Participate in the Sharing Economy: A Social Exchange Perspective. Paper 76.

Lamberton, C. P., & Rose, R. L. (2012). When is Ours Better Than Mine? A Framework for Understanding and Altering Participation in Commercial Sharing Systems. Journal of Marketing, 76, 109–125.

Martin, C. J. (2016). The sharing economy: A pathway to sustainability or a nightmarish form of neoliberal capitalism? Ecological Economics, 121, 149–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.11.027 McLaren, D., & Agyeman, J. (2015). Sharing cities: A case for truly smart and sustainable cities / Duncan McLaren and Julian Agyeman. Urban and industrial environments. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Orsi, J., Eskandari-Qajar, Y., Weissman, E., Hall, M., Mann, A., & Luna, M. Policies for Shareable Cities: A Sharing Economy Policy Primer for Urban Leaders.

Pluess, J. D., Kim, L. E., Lee, M., Pelaez, P., Allison-Hope, D., Cramer, A.,. . . Rothmeier, B. (2016). An inclusive sharing economy: Unlocking Business Opportunities to Support Low-Income and Underserved Communities.

Ranchordas, S. Does Sharing Mean Caring? Regulating Innovation in the Sharing Economy.

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Rauch, D. E., & Schleicher, D. Like Uber, but for Local Government Law: The Future of Local Regulation of the Sharing Economy. Ohio State Law Journal, 76:4, 902–963.

Saunders, T., & Baeck, P. (2015). Rethinking Smart Cities From The Ground Up. Schor, J. (2014). Debating the Sharing Economy. Great Transition Initiative.

Schor, J. B., & Fitzmaurice, C. J. (Eds.). (2015). Collaborating and connecting: the emergence of the sharing economy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Sundararajan, A. (2016). The sharing economy: The end of employment and the rise of crowd-based capitalism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

Sunil, J., & Noah, Z. (2015). Policymaking for the Sharing Economy: Beyond Whack-A-Mole.

Yochai, B. (2004). Sharing Nicely: On Shareable Goods and the Emergence of Sharing as a Modality of Economic Production. The Yale Law Journal Journal Company, Inc., 113(2), 273–358. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4135731?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents

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Source: Dominic Chavez, World Bank

Collaborative Urban Practices in Greater Cairo Understanding the Impact of Commercial Sharing Practices on the City Author: Noran Abdou Supervisor 1: Prof. Dr. Mohammed Salheen, Professor of Integrated Planning and Design, Ain Shams University Supervisor 2: Prof. Dr. Daniel Schönle, Professor of Urban Planning, University of Stuttgart Supervisor 3: Dr. Ayat Ismail, Assistant Professor of Urban Design and Planning, Ain Shams University Sharing and collaboration have been present among small communities throughout history. Yet, the development of collaborative technology has led to the re-invention of sharing as we know it. Collaborative technology has strongly impacted the urban settings. It also plays a fundamental role in the boom of the sharing economy. This research defines “Collaborative Urban Practices” as the practices developed in the city as a consequence of collaborative technologies. While there is a developing body of research on sharing economy, there is a gap of knowledge on the impact of sharing economy on the city.

The research aims to understand the impact of sharing economy on the city, Greater Cairo Region (GCR), through three interlinked parts. The research starts by theoretical investigation and qualitative analysis that end with the development of a framework for the categorization of sharing economy practices. Then, it moves to practical investigation of sharing practices in GCR. The research ends with an evaluation of sharing the economy’s impact on the city based on both theoretical and imperial knowledge acquired in parts one and two of the research. In part three, the dichotomies of sharing cities are defined and GCR’s stance on each dichotomy is evaluated. This is done on eight analysis levels: policy, planning, economic, environmental, urban infrastructure, socio-cultural, technological, and strategic levels. For each of the levels, contextual conclusions and recommendations that address policy makers and/or fellow researchers are developed. The research outcomes are highly beneficial to GCR for they would not only help the city promptly react to the rapidly rising phenomenon of sharing economy, but also guide it on how to strategically utilize the phenomenon to tackle its increasing urban challenges on the long run.

Keywords: Collaborative Urban Practices – Sharing City – Collaborative Technology – Sharing Economy – Ridesharing – Commercial Sharing

Introduction The turn of the century has brought about technological advancement that has led to the reinvention of sharing and collaboration as we know it. The technological advancements, particularly the development of web 2.0, facilitated two-way exchanges and collaboration between strangers (Belk, 2014). Collaborative technology has influenced not only individuals’ life styles, but also cities and urban settings. Collaborative urban practices that are highly dependent on technology are spreading both globally and locally. One of the major effects this has had on economy is the development of what is known as sharing economy or the collaborative economy. GCR has seen a rise in sharing economy practices that need to be studied and evaluated to fully comprehend their current impact and their future implications on the city. Some scholars argue that sharing economy and the shift from the ownership of assets to access to assets is indeed the benchmark for the start of a post ownership era (Belk, 2014). Some cities and governments have found potential in sharing economy and started to plan their cities’ future based on leveraging these practices and adopting a sharing city vision, while others chose to condemn sharing practices altogether (Saunders and Baeck, 2015). A body of literature on sharing economy is developing rapidly, yet, there is lack of research on the potential, the challenges, and the impact of sharing economy on cities and on urban planning. There have been few scholars addressing the topic of “sharing cities” (Agyeman et al., 2013; McLaren and Agyeman, 2015; Cohen and Munoz, 2016). Yet, even this small body of literature often focuses on the global north with little attention paid toward the nature and impact of sharing economy in developing world context. This, in turn, carries challenges to governments, policy makers, and regulators for they have little to no guidance on how to react to the rapidly growing sharing economy. The gap of knowledge as well as the observation of a rising phenomenon are the main problems that intrigue this research.

The research’s main aim is to evaluate the impact of sharing economy on the city in its current status, its triggers, as well as its potential benefits and future implications. To achieve the main aim, four interim research aims are developed. First, the research aims to develop a conceptual framework for categorizing sharing economy practices. Second, the research aims to understand and comprehend the current status of sharing economy in GCR. Third, it aims to define and evaluate dichotomies of sharing cities as well as their potential and limitation. Furthermore, it aims to evaluate GCR’s stance within these dichotomies. Fourth and finally, the research aspires to draw a set of recommendations on how GCR could capitalize on sharing economy to address urban challenges.

Plan of Approach The research consists of three interlinked parts (Figure 1). The first part of the research is mainly theoretical investigation. It requires qualitative analysis that capitalizes on existing literature and draws critical conclusions on the debates in literature. The second part of the research is based on practical investigation and field study that build on the framework developed to explore and analyze sharing practices in general and ridesharing in specific in GCR. The third part builds on the theoretical knowledge acquired in part one and the practical knowledge in part two to critically draw conclusions on the impact of sharing economy on the city, deducing

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shortcomings, and developing recommendations. The research is based on both primary and secondary sources.

The development of the arguments in relation to the chapters and the main topics discussed is presented in (Figure 2). The base of the triangle starts with a wide scope leading to a narrow focus or a certain conclusion and vice versa. Figure 2 also highlights the main research outcomes.

Figure 1: Research Theoretical Framework (Abdou, 2017)

Figure 2: Research type, divisions, arguments, and expected outcomes (Abdou, 2017)

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Research Focus The research starts by coining the term collaborative urban practices to refer to practices in the city that are developed as a consequence of collaborative technologies. They include collaborative action, collaborative knowledge, and the collaborative economy (Abdou, 2017). Sharing economy practices are the focus of this research for they have a strong presence in cities and take most of the research and media attention given to collaborative urban practices. The research focuses further on the “for-profit” commercial sharing practices for they are the most demanding for urgent intervention either on the policy and regulation level or on the city planning level. Furthermore, true sharing has been part of the urban context specially among the more vulnerable groups. However, the “for-profit” sharing is more recent, raises more concerns, and requires more research attention when compared to the “not-for-profit” sharing practices (Codagnone and Martens, 2016).

Further focus is put on peer-to-peer commercial sharing practices for they are considered “the main focus of both controversies and policy-relevant issues” (Ibid.). The research focuses on GCR. Consequently, the primary data set in this research is the for-profit / commercial sharing practices in GCR, whereas the secondary data set is the ridesharing practices in GCRi. Figure 3 shows the decision tree and the narrowing down of research focus throughout as well as the justifications and criteria for each decision.

Figure 3: Research Focus (Abdou, 2017)

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1. Sharing Economy – Collaborative Economy 1.1. Terminology and Associated Debates The terms “sharing economy,” “collaborative economy,” “access-based consumption,” and “collaborative consumption” are often used interchangeably in literature to refer to the same phenomenon (Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015; Codagnone and Martens, 2016, Greene and McGinty, 2016). The term “sharing economy” is claimed to be first coined by the Harvard Law professor, Lawrence Lessig, in 2008 (Kim, Yoon, & Zo, 2015).

Sharing economy is defined as “an economic system based on the sharing of underused assets or services, for free or for a fee, directly from individuals” (Botsman, 2015; Greene & McGinty, 2016). Belk (2010) makes a distinction between “true sharing” and “pseudo sharing.” To Belk (2014) “Collaborative consumption is people coordinating the acquisition and distribution of a resource for a fee or other compensation,” whereas “true sharing” entails access instead of ownership to assets without compensation. The term “collaborative consumption” is prompted by Botsman and Roger (2010) to refer to activities such as “bartering, lending, gifting, and swapping.” They divide the collaborative consumption into three main categories: “product service systems,” “redistribution markets,” and “collaborative life style.” Sharing economy and/or the collaborative consumption are also referred to as “access-based consumption” (Bardhi and Eckhardt, 2012). They define “access-based consumption” as “transactions that can be market mediated but where no transfer of ownership takes place” (Ibid.). Schor and Fitzmaurice (2015) have referred to sharing economy as connected consumption to “emphasize its social and digital dimensions.” They describe connected consumption as “predicated on peerto-peer exchanges rather than existing market actors to mediate exchange” (Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015).

Similarly, Azevedo and Maciejewski (2015) have highlighted that sharing economy “allows people to share goods and services by using internet platforms and ICT applications.” To them, the value of sharing economy is creating matches between consumers owning an asset to consumers who are in need for that asset (Azevedo and Maciejewski, 2015). Sharing economy is also referred to as “an explosion of practices … made possible by platforms that connect supply and demand at the peer-to-peer level” (Orsi et al., 2013). This goes along the same lines of Botsman’s argument on the collaborative economy. Collaborative economy is defined as “an economic system of decentralized networks and marketplaces that unlocks the value of underused assets by matching needs and haves, in ways that bypass traditional middlemen” (Botsman, 2015). Schor and Fitzmaurice argue that bypassing the middleman is an innovation in re-allocating the wealth in the value chain away from the middleman and toward the small producers and consumers. Sharing economy was also defined as “consumers or firms granting each other temporary access to their under-utilized physical assets, possibly for money” (Meelen and Frenken, 2015). Saunders and Baeck (2015) highlight the importance of sharing economy to the limited resources in cities. They define the collaborative economy as “connecting distributed groups of people, using the internet and digital technologies, to make better use of goods, skills, and space” (Saunders and Baeck, 2015).

“Commercial sharing systems” refer to “systems that provide customers with the opportunity to enjoy product benefits without ownership” (Lamberton and Rose, 2012). Also, some authors criticize sharing economy and refer to it as crowd-based capitalism (Sundararajan, 2016) and Neoliberal Capitalism (Martin, 2016).

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1.2.Role of Technology Sharing economy is essentially dependent on technology (Botsman and Roger, 2010; Belk, 2014; Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015; Codagnone and Martens, 2016). Technology enabled sharing economy to create networks of asset providers and consumers. It allowed for their interactions to be of an on-demand nature. Technology also allows sharing economy companies to create platforms that efficiently match supply and demand based on preference and geographic proximity. Some of the key pillars upon which sharing economy is based – rating and online trust – are a product of the use of technology (Ibid.).

1.3.Trust, Rating, and Self-Regulation Technology is a key for enabling “trust” in exchanges between strangers within the scope of sharing economy (Botsman, 2015). Sharing economy is driven by the trust and reputation of the involved parties (Botsman and Rogers, 2010; Lamberton and Rose, 2012; Kim, Yoon, and Zo, 2015; Sundararajan, 2016). Trust in sharing economy is a combination of “users’” attitudes and of how such attitudes are effectively leveraged by online reputational rating systems and liability insurance schemes” (Codagnone and Martens, 2016). Technology enabled trust to be quantified through online ratings. Rating is also referred to in literature as reputation indicator (Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015). Reputational capital is a term that Botsman developed to refer to the phenomenon of online rating which she defines as “the sum worth of what a community thinks of you” (Botsman, 2015). Self-regulation is the dependence on trust and rating as a means of regulating sharing economy transactions. It is often argued that self-regulation raises liability and safety concerns (Codagnone and Martens, 2016). Consequently, there is a lot of debate in literature on the role of policy makers regarding selfregulationii (Abdou, 2017).

1.4.Benefits of the Sharing Economy The benefits of sharing economy on cities vary from economic, social, to environmental benefits (Agyeman et al., 2013; Mclaren and Agyeman, 2015; Saunders and Baeck, 2016). Cost savings, job creation, and supplementing incomes are some of the main economic benefits argued for in literature (Agyeman et al., 2013; Greene and McGinty, 2016). Cost of ownership is a significant barrier to vulnerable groups which could be overcome through the adoption of sharing economy, where ownership is replaced by access (Bardhi and Eckhardt, 2012; Agyeman et al., 2013; Greene and McGinty, 2016; Pluess et al., 2016). As for the city, sharing economy could potentially reduce service provision costs (Agyeman et al., 2013). On the social level, sharing economy and the use of the internet helps extend sharing resources beyond the traditional closed sharing circles (Agyeman et al., 2013).

Thus, potentially, it offers wider social circles and more resources for sharing (Ibid.) as well as potentially creating enhanced community bonds (Pluess et al., 2016). Resource efficiency, energy savings, and enhanced asset utilizations are some of the main environmental benefits of sharing economy (Belk, 2010; Agyeman et al., 2013) 1.5. Criticism of the Sharing Economy

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Sharing economy, without proper regulations, poses a threat for erosion of labor rights (Codagnone and Martin, 2016). Unclear liability of the involved stakeholders poses a threat on consumers (Greene and McGinty, 2016).

Thus, governments and policy makers are often skeptical about consumer safety and protection (Codagnone and Martin, 2016), which has led to multiple occurrences of legal bans for sharing economy practices globally (Rauch and Schleicher, 2015). The relation between sharing economy and capitalism is another criticism. While there is a strong debate that sharing economy is mainly an extension of the capitalist system (Martin, 2015; Sundararajan, 2016), other scholars argue that “the restructuring of capital-investment in digital networks” is partly reversing the effect of capitalism (Yochai, 2004).

1.6.Policy Challenges Some of the main policy challenges facing cities with active sharing economy companies include concerns regarding liability, labor rights, welfare of consumers, conflicts with traditional economy players, as well as fair taxations (Azevedo and Maciejewski, 2015; Codagnone and Martens, 2016). Many of the sharing economy players operate “informally” or without proper regulations and, consequently, without proper taxations nor financial obligations (Azevedo and Maciejewski, 2015; Codagnone and Martens, 2016). This leads to unfair competition with other tradition economy players (Ibid.). Liability concerns are also a main issue where some of sharing economy practices view themselves as an “intermediary and not direct service provider” which puts the liability and the welfare of the consumers at question (Codagnone and Martens, 2016). When it comes to building and enforcing new policies, one of the main challenges facing policy makers is how to regulate these new market innovations without limiting their potential (Ranchordas, 2015; Sunil and Noah, 2015; Codagnone and Martens, 2016).

1.7. Sharing Cities Cities and sharing are closely intertwined. Cities are platforms and venues for sharing assets – space, goods, and services (Agyeman et al., 2013; McLaren and Agyeman, 2015). The advancement in technology has amplified the role of the city as “platforms for sharing” (Orsi et al., 2013). Cities are where sharing economy is most growing (Agyeman et al., 2013) and they also are where sharing economy is most needed (McLaren and Agyeman, 2015; Cohen and Munoz, 2016). Sharing economy nourishes in cities because of dense population and high technological penetration: ICT, smart phones, and high-speed internet (Agyeman et al., 2013). It is also argued that sharing economy flourishes in urban agglomerations (Yochai, 2004). Furthermore, cities are often faced with scarce resources that require innovation in consumption methods which sharing economy offers (McLaren and Agyeman, 2015; Cohen & Munoz, 2016). The term “sharing cities” has emerged to highlight the reflection of sharing economy on the urban context (Agyeman et al., 2013; McLaren and Agyeman, 2015). Cities have also started to adopt sharing cities’ strategy where Seoul, South Korea, was the first city to announce itself a sharing city. Seoul aims to capitalize on sharing economy to tackle environmental challenges, resource constraints, and social challenges (Cohen and Munoz, 2016). Sharing city networks have also started to mobilize for the promotion of sharing in cities globally (Cohen and Munoz, 2016). Amsterdam sharing city/Amsterdam, a sharing city, is another example of cities that adopted sharing economy plans to tackle urban challenges. It could

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be argued that while Seoul is a policy-driven sharing city, Amsterdam sharing city was initiated and lobbied for on the grassroots level (Abdou, 2017).

2.

Framework

for

Categorization

of

Sharing Economy Practices There is no shared consensus on the categorization of the practices that make up a sharing economy (Codagnone and Martens, 2016). Examining literature, it seems that there are Figure 4: Framework for Categorization of Sharing Economy Practices in the City (Abdou, 2017)

three approaches scholars follow when attempting to categorize sharing economy practices. These three approaches are sectorial divisions; ex: (Ganksy, 2014; Owyang, 2016), conceptual categorization; ex: (Botsman and Rogers, 2010; Agyeman et al., 2013; Schor,2014; Codagnone and Martens, 2016); and/or conceptual models and frameworks; ex: (Lamberton and Rose, 2012; Cohen and Munoz, 2016; Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015; Codagnone & Martens, 2016).

This research builds on the work of Schor and Fitzmaurice, (2015) and Codagnone and Martens (2016) to develop a conceptual model of sharing economy practices. They categorize

Figure 6: Highlight of For-Profit / Commercial Sharing Practices - Framework for Categorization of Sharing Economy Practices (Abdou, 2017)

sharing economy practices on a two-dimensional scale: “NotFor-Profit vs. For-Profit” and “Peer-to-Peer vs. Business-toConsumer”iii (Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015; Codagnone and Martens, 2016). This research adds a third dimension to the model which is the type of asset being accessed “Tangible vs.

Intangible” (Figure 6). Analyzing sharing economy practices based on the nature of assets being accessed is crucial for city governments and planners for it helps them move a step forward toward understanding sharing and collaborative cities’ schemes. It gives a better understanding of the space and infrastructure implications and requirements of a sharing or a

Figure 5: Model for For-Profit / Commercial Sharing Practices (Abdou, 2017)

collaborative city. The framework takes a step forward toward sharpening the understanding of the current “explosion” of sharing economy practices (Orsi et al., 2013) which is crucial for policy makers and future research (Zieger, 2011; Codagnone and Martens, 2016).

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2.1. Business Delivery Models of Sharing Economy Practices: Peer-to-Peer and Business-toConsumer Peer-to-peer sharing practices revolve around the interaction between the intermediary, the provider, and the consumer. The provider role refers to a person with a tangible or intangible asset that is underutilized or has potential for further utilization and is open to offer that asset for access by consumers in Figure 8: P2P Business Model (Abdou, 2017)

Figure 7: B2C Business Model (Abdou,2017)

return for a certain amount of money.

The term provider (Codagnone and Martens, 2016) is sometimes referred to in literature as owner or worker (Greene and McGinty, 2016). The consumer is a person who is in need for a tangible or an intangible asset and would rather pay an amount of money to access that asset for a specific amount of time instead of purchasing and owning it. The intermediary, also referred to as the platform (Codagnone and Martens, 2016), is an entity that often depends on technology to connect and match providers and consumers. Technology is crucial for the intermediary role for it enables it to ensure efficiency of matching, location-wise and preference-wise, to be of an on-demand nature and to build trust between strangers using the online rating systems (Botsman, 2015).

There are key differences between P2P and B2C sharing practices. In P2P sharing practices, the three roles of commercial sharing practices are distinct and clear. However, in B2C sharing practices, the role of the intermediary and the provider are often mixed where the intermediary role is underdeveloped or not developed.

The business owner plays the role of the assets’ provider as well as the intermediary role. The intermediary does not own the assets to be shared but rather connects the providers to the consumers.

3. Collaborative Urban Practice in GCR GCR is one of the fastest growing urban agglomerations in the world (Euromonitor International, 2017). “Rapid urban growth throughout the developing world has seriously outstripped the capacity of most cities to provide adequate basic services for their citizens” (Cohen, 2006). In fact, social disparities, poverty, urban sprawl, scarcity of resources, and unemployment are some of the main challenges facing Egypt (GOPP, 2012). GCR further faces challenges of air pollution, high densities, “unmanageable patterns of growth,” and traffic congestion (Abdelhameed, 2004). As a result of these urban challenges, GCR is in an “overload system” status (Ibid.). Furthermore, the recent devaluation of the Egyptian pound, the high inflation rates, and the government’s plan for subsidy removal makes it even more challenging for the inhabitants of GCR to afford asset ownership (El-Shenety, 2017). “In an age of increasing austerity in cities …, the ability for government to address resident needs may be constrained at the same time as the overall level of need is growing” (Freedman Consulting, 2016). Thus, alternative solutions that are not government-centric, and are highly based on

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collaboration by citizens or private stakeholders are increasing. Many of these practices are influenced by the rise of sharing economy.

3.1.Primary Data Set: The primary research starts by focusing on the rise of sharing economy practices in GCR through the lens of the framework for categorization of sharing economy practices, specifically the for-profit sharing practices for three main reasons. First, the for-profit sharing practices raise more controversy and conflicts in practice. Second, forprofit sharing practices have recently ignited a lot of debates in research and literature. Third, they have proven to induce more urgency in terms of regulations and legal reforms.

The research applies the knowledge gained from the literature and from the developed framework for the categorization of sharing economy to examine the for-profit sharing economy practices in GCR both for P2P and B2C. The context and dynamics of each of these practices are studied, and the challenges associated are identified with special focus on the policies and regulations governing sharing economy in GCR (Abdou, 2017).

3.2.

Secondary Data Set:

This research focuses further on peer-to-peer commercial sharing practices because they raise most of the challenges that are often associated with sharing economy. These challenges include concerns over the liability of the involved stakeholders, labor rights, safety of consumers, and taxations. Furthermore, the research is interested in peer-to-peer commercial sharing of tangible assets. This is due to their significant impact on the urban fabric of the city. Peer-to-peer sharing of tangible assets represent the most significant intersection between sharing economy and the sharing city. Thus, they require further research from the urbanism field.

In GCR, peer-to-peer exchanges over tangible assets include the sharing of mobility vehicles and sharing of living spaces (Abdou, 2017). Airbnb is the only example of technology-dependent, peer-to-peer commercial sharing of living spaces practice in GCR. The number of active rentals in GCR is quite low compared to other cities around the world (AirDNA, 2017). On the other hand, peer-to-peer commercial sharing of mobility vehicles is dominated by a wide spectrum of companies. The research will further focus on ride sharing for further investigation because of the following reasons: they are the oldest examples of peer-to-peer commercial sharing in GCR; they are greater in size (in terms of number of peers participating and number of platforms in the market); and they have the widest spatial spread around GCR. Furthermore, ridesharing has grasped the attention of media and policy makers in the GCR as well as public attention. Therefore, peer-to-peer commercial ridesharing practices in GCR are the focus of the research; secondary data set.

3.3.

Research Information and Background for Ridesharing in GCR

The study of ridesharing in this research is mainly based on primary research sources with the support of few secondary sources (local literature and press). These primary sources include interviews, whether structured, semi-structured, or unstructured. The structured and semi-structured interviews targeted some of the ridesharing intermediaries in GCR. The unstructured interviews were directed to the drivers of ridesharing platforms and were mainly used to further understand the dynamics, the process, and the local challenges of

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ridesharing in GCR. Two surveys were also conducted. One survey addressed drivers at the ridesharing platforms (n=61) and the other addressed users of ridesharing platforms (n=45). Both surveys are Google forms that were distributed online and, at the same time, through social media platforms. The survey to drivers of ridesharing platforms was distributed in closed social media groups for drivers of ridesharing platforms in GCR.

4. Impact of Sharing Economy on the City, GCR Sharing the economy’s impact in its current status-quo lacks unbiased empirical evidence in the economy literature (Cohen & Muñoz, 2016). Therefore, it is even more difficult to anticipate how a sharing economy would impact the city as well as to anticipate its future prospects. The future of businesses and economies is open for contemplation, but one thing that is clear is that sharing economy has established a strong impact on both the local and the global levels (Cohen & Muñoz, 2016). Shifting from ownership to access is the benchmark for the start of the post-ownership era (Belk, 2014). Yet, the implication of sharing on cities and the creation of “sharing cities” is overall under-researched (Cohen and Muñoz, 2016).

The lack of research on the impact of sharing economy on cities is a challenge for many cities. Therefore, cities across the world have different approaches dealing with sharing economy ranging from banning and encouraging to fully adopting a sharing city vision. The aim of this section is to understand and evaluate the role sharing economy plays toward GCR and the role of the city toward sharing economy practices in the GCR is the main discussion of this section. In other words, this section is concerned with projecting the impact sharing economy has had and is expected to have on GCR as well as analyzing how sharing economy could be of benefit to the city. This is done through cross-referencing literature and field work, both primary and secondary data (Figure 1). The impact of sharing economy on the city is studied on eight different levels where the dichotomies of sharing cities are discussed in detail, reflecting directly on GCR and evaluating its stance within each dichotomy (Figure 9). Recommendations to policy makers and areas for further investigation are drawn as part of the conclusions of each dichotomy discussion. In the following section, the summary of the dichotomies is presented. However, the full discussion could be found in the full thesis dissertation (Abdou, 2017).

Figure 9: Dichotomies of Sharing Cities (Abdou, 2017)

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4.1. Summary of Impact of Sharing Economy on GCR Policy Level: Smart co-regulation is needed for the peer-to-peer commercial sharing practices and a regulatory framework for the business-to-consumer sharing practices need to be conducted in a time-efficient manner with the participation of all involved stakeholders.

Urban Infrastructure Level: It is vital to evaluate and comprehend the role the commercial sharing practices play with respect to urban infrastructure in the city. Sharing practices could spill over benefits to the deficiencies in urban infrastructure and could capitalize on the existing idle assets. However, this has to be studied strategically.

Economic Level: It is crucial to ensure the protection of traditional economy stakeholders without restricting the innovation of sharing economy practices through enforcing fair taxations to both parties. Also, sharing economy is a double-edged weapon where, on the one hand, it provides democratization of supply, yet on the other, creates large new capitalist companies that monopolize the market.

Planning Level: It is argued by some scholars that sharing economy would re-write the planning discourse and the urban fabric through a shift from separation of function to sharing of functions; an area which requires further research.

Socio-Cultural Level: Inclusion of all socio-economic groups in sharing economy is vital for decreasing the barrier to entry for the low-income groups through replacing ownership by access, maximizing the benefits of sharing economy through increasing the number of peers and increasing the poll of assets to be shared, and harnessing environmental benefits since less assets are to be underutilized.

Technology Level: Collaborative technologies could have a positive effect on the urban context in GCR through expanding sharing beyond the close kin and communities, and it would allow more assets to be accessible for sharing among wider groups of people.

Environmental Level: Further research needs to be conducted to evaluate the rebound effect of sharing economy in GCR and whether it has led to more consumption of assets or better utilization of assets.

Strategic Level: Business-to-consumer models could have high potential for the already existing idle facilities and spaces in the city if appropriately regulated.

4.2.

Recommendations to Policy Makers

Smart Co-Regulation for P2P Commercial Sharing Practices: Smart co-regulation is the best practice for P2P commercial sharing practices. Smart C0-regulation would ensure consumer safety, preserve labor right, and settle liability issues without restricting innovation. As a result of its participatory nature and the inclusion of the roundtable of all involved stakeholders, it guarantees a fair market competition where fair taxations is imposed to sharing economy players as compared to traditional economy players. It would also ensure the inclusion of all vulnerable groups as both providers and consumers.

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Regulatory Framework for B2C Commercial Sharing Practices: It is recommended to develop a regulatory framework for the B2C commercial sharing practices. This framework would develop appropriate license types for the B2C sharing practices to minimize informality. It would also offer incentives to business owners to encourage offering underutilized assets for access.

Time Efficiency and Urgency of Regulations: In both P2P and B2C sharing practices, it is vital for the regulation to be developed in a timely manner. Time efficiency and urgency in developing regulations is critical because sharing economy has a fast-developing nature and it is necessary for the regulations to cope up.

Technology Infrastructure: To become an inclusive sharing city, a technology infrastructure cross city, and specially in low income settings, is necessary to boost access to collaborative technology from all income groups, specially the vulnerable.

Urban Infrastructure: Sharing practices could spill over benefits to the deficiencies in urban infrastructure and could capitalize on the existing idle assets, though this has to be studied strategically. While it has been found that sharing economy could help relieve pressure on the urban infrastructure of the city, it is necessary to strategically plan the role of sharing economy practices that are linked to urban infrastructure in order for problems not to escalate.

4.3.

Recommendations for Further Research

For more accurate evaluation on the impact of sharing economy on GCR, it would be vital for the following research to be conducted.

Low-Tech Sharing: Most of sharing economy literature focuses on the global north where technology is more accessible. For Egypt as a developing country, it would be vital to study and evaluate not only the hi-tech sharing and collaboration practices but also the low-tech ones. Therefore, it is recommended to profile existing nontechnology-dependent sharing and collaboration practices in the GCR (or “in GCR” without “the” as written throughout the document?) to evaluate the impact of both.

Rebound Effect: To fully understand the environmental consequences of sharing economy in the GCR, it is vital to study the rebound effect in GCR. Evaluating the rebound effect of sharing economy in GCR would enable a better judgment of whether it has led to more consumption of assets or better utilization of assets.

Sharing Infrastructure: It is important to evaluate the role sharing economy currently plays in supplementing the urban infrastructure and to strategically project its role within the urban infrastructure development plans of GCR.

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Agyeman, J., McLaren, D., & Schaefer-Borrego, A. Sharing Cities: Linking sharing politics to sharing economies to deliver more livable cities (Big Ideas).

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Rauch, D. E., & Schleicher, D. Like Uber, but for Local Government Law: The Future of Local Regulation of the Sharing Economy. Ohio State Law Journal, 76:4, 902–963.

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