Al-Azhar Park
Al-Azhar Park Programme Brief
Type
report
Year
2004
The origins of the Al-Azhar Park project date to 1984, when the Aga Khan Award for Architecture organised a conference on the subject of The Expanding Metropolis: Coping with the Urban Growth of Cairo. At that time, the city was confronted by the array of contemporary development challenges faced by many cities, not least population pressures, a decline in the quality of housing and the attendant problems these conditions create. Despite these challenges, the question of how to reconcile conservation and development was a fairly new one.
It was clear that Cairo needed more green space. One study found that the amount of green space per inhabitant is roughly equivalent to the size of a footprint. It is one of the lowest proportions in the world. It was on the occasion of the conference that His Highness the Aga Khan announced his decision to finance the creation of a park for the citizens of the Egyptian capital. The only central location which was of suitable scale and which lent itself to rehabilitation was the derelict Darassa site, a 30-hectare (74 acre), 500-year-old mound of rubble in the inner city, between the eastern edge of the 12th- century Ayyubid city and the 15th-century Mamluk "City of the Dead".
While the neighbouring district of Darb al-Ahmar was poor, it featured one of the richest concentrations of Islamic art and architecture in the world. The challenge was to revitalise this heritage in ways that turned traditional notions about cultural monuments on their head-that rather than being a drain on resources, they could be a stimulus for social and economic development. The Park project was therefore intended to be a case study for a variety of development challenges, ranging from environmental rehabilitation to cultural restoration. The objective was to create models of development that could be replicated in many other settings, and in particular in the historic cities of the Islamic world. Almost one-third of historic cities on UNESCO's list of world heritage sites are in the Islamic World. Many face pressures similar to those of Cairo.
It was clear that Cairo needed more green space. One study found that the amount of green space per inhabitant is roughly equivalent to the size of a footprint. It is one of the lowest proportions in the world. It was on the occasion of the conference that His Highness the Aga Khan announced his decision to finance the creation of a park for the citizens of the Egyptian capital. The only central location which was of suitable scale and which lent itself to rehabilitation was the derelict Darassa site, a 30-hectare (74 acre), 500-year-old mound of rubble in the inner city, between the eastern edge of the 12th- century Ayyubid city and the 15th-century Mamluk "City of the Dead".
While the neighbouring district of Darb al-Ahmar was poor, it featured one of the richest concentrations of Islamic art and architecture in the world. The challenge was to revitalise this heritage in ways that turned traditional notions about cultural monuments on their head-that rather than being a drain on resources, they could be a stimulus for social and economic development. The Park project was therefore intended to be a case study for a variety of development challenges, ranging from environmental rehabilitation to cultural restoration. The objective was to create models of development that could be replicated in many other settings, and in particular in the historic cities of the Islamic world. Almost one-third of historic cities on UNESCO's list of world heritage sites are in the Islamic World. Many face pressures similar to those of Cairo.
Citation
Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme (formerly Historic Cities Support Programme). 2004. Al-Azhar Park Programme Brief.
Associated Sites
Authorities
Copyright
Aga Khan Trust for Culture
Language
English
Keywords
Al-Azhar Park Programme Brief
Type
report
Year
2004
The origins of the Al-Azhar Park project date to 1984, when the Aga Khan Award for Architecture organised a conference on the subject of The Expanding Metropolis: Coping with the Urban Growth of Cairo. At that time, the city was confronted by the array of contemporary development challenges faced by many cities, not least population pressures, a decline in the quality of housing and the attendant problems these conditions create. Despite these challenges, the question of how to reconcile conservation and development was a fairly new one.
It was clear that Cairo needed more green space. One study found that the amount of green space per inhabitant is roughly equivalent to the size of a footprint. It is one of the lowest proportions in the world. It was on the occasion of the conference that His Highness the Aga Khan announced his decision to finance the creation of a park for the citizens of the Egyptian capital. The only central location which was of suitable scale and which lent itself to rehabilitation was the derelict Darassa site, a 30-hectare (74 acre), 500-year-old mound of rubble in the inner city, between the eastern edge of the 12th- century Ayyubid city and the 15th-century Mamluk "City of the Dead".
While the neighbouring district of Darb al-Ahmar was poor, it featured one of the richest concentrations of Islamic art and architecture in the world. The challenge was to revitalise this heritage in ways that turned traditional notions about cultural monuments on their head-that rather than being a drain on resources, they could be a stimulus for social and economic development. The Park project was therefore intended to be a case study for a variety of development challenges, ranging from environmental rehabilitation to cultural restoration. The objective was to create models of development that could be replicated in many other settings, and in particular in the historic cities of the Islamic world. Almost one-third of historic cities on UNESCO's list of world heritage sites are in the Islamic World. Many face pressures similar to those of Cairo.
It was clear that Cairo needed more green space. One study found that the amount of green space per inhabitant is roughly equivalent to the size of a footprint. It is one of the lowest proportions in the world. It was on the occasion of the conference that His Highness the Aga Khan announced his decision to finance the creation of a park for the citizens of the Egyptian capital. The only central location which was of suitable scale and which lent itself to rehabilitation was the derelict Darassa site, a 30-hectare (74 acre), 500-year-old mound of rubble in the inner city, between the eastern edge of the 12th- century Ayyubid city and the 15th-century Mamluk "City of the Dead".
While the neighbouring district of Darb al-Ahmar was poor, it featured one of the richest concentrations of Islamic art and architecture in the world. The challenge was to revitalise this heritage in ways that turned traditional notions about cultural monuments on their head-that rather than being a drain on resources, they could be a stimulus for social and economic development. The Park project was therefore intended to be a case study for a variety of development challenges, ranging from environmental rehabilitation to cultural restoration. The objective was to create models of development that could be replicated in many other settings, and in particular in the historic cities of the Islamic world. Almost one-third of historic cities on UNESCO's list of world heritage sites are in the Islamic World. Many face pressures similar to those of Cairo.
Citation
Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme (formerly Historic Cities Support Programme). 2004. Al-Azhar Park Programme Brief.
Associated Sites
Authorities
Copyright
Aga Khan Trust for Culture
Language
English
Keywords