Historic Cairo

• Earthquake in 1992 (issue resolved)
• Inappropriate restoration works (issue resolved)
• Rise of the underground water level
• Dilapidated infrastructure
• Neglect and lack of maintenance
• Overcrowded areas and buildings
• Uncontrolled development
• Absence of a comprehensive Urban Conservation Plan
• Absence of an integrated socio-economic revitalization plan linking the urban and the socio-cultural fabric of the city core
• Housing
• Lack of a management system

Total amount granted: Special Account for the safeguarding of the cultural heritage of Egypt: USD 2,203,304 for the project Urban Regeneration of Historic Cairo (URHC).

For details, see page https://whc.unesco.org/en/activities/663

On 30 January 2022, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, a summary of which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/89/documents/. This addresses a number of issues highlighted by the Committee at its previous sessions, as follows:

● A draft Retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value (RSOUV) and minor boundary modification proposal have been submitted; these will be evaluated separately by ICOMOS;

● A Management and Conservation Plan (MCP), including an integrated plan for the restoration and conservation of registered monuments, is under development and will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre in December 2022;

● In line with recommendations in the second stage of the Urban Regeneration Project for Historic Cairo (URHC), the Prime Minister of Egypt in Decree No. 388 FY 2021 has approved a Steering Committee for the Historic Cairo World Heritage property to execute an integrated strategy for the preservation and urban regeneration of Historic Cairo, which will comprise high-level representation from relevant stakeholders;

● Substantive financial resources and technical support have been allocated to conserve and restore the property’s registered monuments and urban fabric, as well as to revive local arts and traditional handicrafts;

● Under the heading ‘Preserving Urban Landscape and Developing Local Community’, overall mechanisms of urban intervention in the urgent areas of the URHC are outlined, and under the ‘Regeneration Projects for Historic Cairo‘, details are provided of three current and planned conservation projects for Bab Zweila, Al-Hakim Mosque and Darb Al-Labbanah areas, in addition to information concerning on the architectural rehabilitation of historic streets;

● Studies on urban conservation, restoration and adaptive reuse, including on how to determine the value of buildings in the property, have been produced through the URHC;

● Several projects for the restoration and adaptive reuse of registered monuments and for urban rehabilitation and development have been undertaken, with more ongoing and planned;

● Demolition permits within the property remain paused by Decree 1097, and amendments have been made to Unified Building Law No.119 FY 2008, which regulates the demolition of unregistered residential buildings, to address illegal constructions. Penalties for violations, including unlicensed demolitions, have been strengthened through the adoption of Decree 1664;

● A cooperation agreement was signed between the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Urban Development Fund of the Ministry of Culture to produce and fund Heritage Impact Assessments (HIA) for all regeneration and development projects within the property boundaries;

● In response to reports of the construction of a road and related demolition of tombs and mausolea in the Southern and Northern cemeteries, known as the ‘City of the Dead’, the State Party reports that no road has been constructed within the property boundaries and that the World Heritage Centre will be kept informed of any such projects.

In May 2023, several media outlets reported on ongoing demolition of historical structures in the ‘City of the Dead’ to make a way for new main roads and flyover bridges. The World Heritage Centre requested clarification from the State Party in line with the Operational Guidelines.

The formal approval by the Prime Minister of a Steering Committee for the Historic Cairo World Heritage property to execute an integrated strategy for the preservation and urban regeneration of Historic Cairo is welcomed, as is its high-level representation. This is a crucial step towards operationalising a management structure for the property in line with its urgent needs.

Progress is reported on the development of a combined Management and Conservation Plan (MCP), for delivery to the World Heritage Centre, which is awaited and would be a welcomed step.

Meanwhile, the State Party has provided details and helpful plans and visualisations of projects being undertaken under the ’Regeneration Projects for Historic Cairo’. These cover three areas of Bab Zweila, Al-Hakim Mosque and Darb Al-Labbanah and aim to preserve and develop the built fabric, while also addressing intangible heritage and cultural industries. The projects range from simple cleaning and upgrading of public spaces to in-depth spatial analyses and reconfigurations of neighbourhoods, which take into consideration the traditional urban form, the relation between public and private space, local social practices, etc., and which seek to include or enhance the capacities of the local community. This approach is very evident for the Bab al Az’b and Darb el Labbana proposals while the redevelopment of the Masjid al Hakim area appears to encompass in part extensive transformation of the urban fabric, including the demolition and reconstruction of entire blocks that do not appear to follow the traditional urban morphology.

Regarding the projects that pertain to the reconfiguration of public streets and traffic circulation, the information provided is too succinct to allow an appraisal and needs to be submitted with further elaboration, supporting mobility studies, and details of how the circulation relates to the wider context of the city of Cairo, noting that media reports have raised the issue of planned road developments as well as road widening proposals.

While clearly considerable urban revitalisation work is being planned, with these initiatives being welcomed in principle, the overall framework for their development and implementation remains unclear. In 2017, the State Party agreed to the development of the three-phase UHRC Sustainable Development Plan for the revitalisation of Historic Cairo. This ambitious plan involved data collection as Phase 1, the introduction of institutional and legal framework as Phase 2, and the overall Plan as Phase 3. Phases 1 and 2 have now both been addressed. Where information is still needed is on progress with the development of the third and vital stage of the URHC, that is, the Sustainable Development Plan with the approach of the 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) – which the newly-appointed Steering Committee will execute. This is the key document that should draw together the different strands of management and ensure the protection of the OUV of the property integrated with sustainable urban development. Clarification is needed on whether the information provided on the ‘Development Strategy’, as well as the individual regeneration projects are all part of the envisioned ‘Sustainable Development Plan’. As the revitalisation of Historic Cairo is a Herculean task that might take decades, the Sustainable Development Plan, as a high-level strategic document, could provide the essential context for the revival of individual quarters as well as for the necessary infrastructure that needs to be delivered. The Committee may wish to request further details on progress with this overall Plan that was originally scheduled to be completed at the end of 2020.

In relation to the road built at the historic Northern and Southern Cairo cemeteries, the State Party has informed that no road was constructed within the boundaries of the property, and there was no demolition of any tombs or mausolea within the property. Nevertheless, reports circulated by third-parties including in the media during May 2023 are concerning.

The Committee may also wish to reiterate its request for such neighbourhood and road projects to be halted until the overall Sustainable Development Plan has been finalized and approved and a clear vision and principles for the way forward have been set out.

In terms of the legal framework, the State Party submitted a list of laws and decrees, which together should help prevent further degradation of the historic urban fabric from illegal demolition. Demolition permits remain paused in parts of the property. What remains unclear is whether this suite of documents addresses the issue of the protection of unregistered buildings, or demolition permissions issued for safety reasons in the longer term, and once all assessment and studies have been completed.

Despite important steps being taken towards the strengthening of the management system, including an increase in resources, the Sustainable Development Plan, a key element that needs to draw together different disciplines and set out an overall vision and policies for the property, remains to be completed. Concern remains that the specific urban morphology of different neighbourhoods, including their traditional commonplace buildings, which provide the context for listed buildings and contribute to OUV, appear to have little protection. Reassurances are needed that this challenge will be addressed by the Sustainable Development Plan and MCP.