CPHC Online Lecture Series – Part 2 | The Participatory Process of al-Hattaba Development Project

You are cordially invited to the second CPHC online lecture titled, ‘The Participatory Process of al-Hattaba Development Project’ taking place on Monday 26th April 2021 from 9 pm to 10:15 pm.

About Lecture 2: The Participatory Process of al-Hattaba Development Project

Historic Cairo is amongst the largest historical regions within the Arab World in terms of the area of ​​its urban fabric and the number of historic buildings still existing within it. Despite the accumulation of layers of history found in the neighbourhoods of Historic Cairo, and despite the emergence of buildings and structures (both formal and informal) that have led to some urban transformations, Historic Cairo’s neighbourhoods have managed to preserve a general character of value and privacy. Al-Hattaba is one of the neighbourhoods that has been witnessing such historic layers and transformations for more than 600 years, and continues to do so until today.

The lecture will present the outputs of the research and the participatory development proposal, which began in 2018 as an initiative by the Built Environment Collective within the Citizen Participation in Historic Cairo Project. The lecture will include research outputs focusing on the importance, potentials and challenges of the area as a historic, crafts and residential neighbourhood. It will address the participatory process between the residents, government agencies and urban experts of various fields, and will finally present the participatory development proposal which has already obtained initial official approvals.

The lecture will be given by project consultant Ahmed Zaazaa and will be conducted in Arabic.

For registration, click here.

*The lecture will be held via Zoom and a live broadcast will be available on Megawra’s Facebook Page.

About Ahmed Zaazaa

Ahmed Zaazaa is a researcher and urban designer. His work takes a social justice approach to sustainability, informality, climate change, urban design and management practices. Recently, Zaazaa has co-founded several entities, the latest being “10 Tooba: Applied Research on the Built Environment”. Through 10 Tooba, Zaazaa contributed to publishing reports and manuals concerning participatory upgrading fields. Zaazaa is also the co-founder of Madd Platform that works closely with local communities, in participatory research, planning and advocacy.

About CPHC Lecture Series

After the success of Athar Lina’s closing webinar for the Citizen Participation in Historic Cairo (CPHC) Project held in December 2020, and during which we presented the scope of the project and its outputs, we are happy to launch a virtual lecture series focusing on, and discussing in further detail, the project’s main 3 areas within the district of al-Khalifa in Historic Cairo:

• Al-Khalifa Street Area, as an example of a residential neighbourhood along the main Qasaba with a wealth of heritage sites of both cultural and spiritual value, with specific conservation and management guidelines applied to it.
• Al-Hattaba, as an example of historic neighbourhoods listed incorrectly as informal settlements despite their historic fabric and heritage value.
• Zaynhum Housing, as an example of modern public housing projects built for low-income target groups within the historic city with untapped resources.

The areas were chosen to be as diverse as possible. They were also chosen to reflect different types of priorities that synergise with the work that Athar Lina Initiative already does in al-Khalifa. The project was implemented between 2017 and 2020 by Athar Lina Initiative under the umbrella of the Built Environment Collective, in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and funded by the Ford Foundation.

Check out the recording of the closing webinar of CPHC Project, here.

Project consultants will give online lectures presenting one of the three areas, with a focus on each area’s conservation, management, and development. The lecturers will also highlight and reflect on the options and possibilities regarding how to move forward and build on what has already been established.

Each lecture will be followed with a moderated Q&A session, for us to listen to your feedback and input and for all of us to think together on how to move forward and build on this project.