Can I please have assistance with the following? It should be one page and include references.
Sustainability is the conversion and (hopeful) balance of social, economic and environmental elements. Do you think preserving the heritage of a community by historical preservation and conservation is important as part of sustainable community development? How can this be balanced with the potential progression, growth, or evolution of a community? Do you have any examples of cities, communities, or developments that have done this well?
ORIGINAL ARTICLE A framework for architects’ role in attaining sustainable community development in heritage areas Al-Darb AL-Ahmar, Islamic Cairo, Egypt as a case Hend A. Alana a,b, *,1 , Khalid S. Al-hagla b,c , Asmaa E. Hasan b aDepartment of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, Egypt b Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Al-Shatby, Alexandria, Egypt c Faculty of Architectural Engineering, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon Received 9 September 2018; accepted 28 November 2018 Available online 24 January 2019 KEYWORDS Sustainable community development; Heritage; FHPGS; Architects’ practices; Al-Darb AL-Ahmar; Framework Abstract Heritage areas fall under many urban pressures, due to the disparity between its old physical structures and their inhabitants’ needs. However, heritage assets represent the main potential for such areas to achieve urban development. Architects play a pivotal role in materializing these potentials, through their role and practices, which serve as the cornerstone of the development process. This paper outlines a framework for architects’ intervention, in order to attain the prospects and improvements of a sustainable community development, and achieve the goals of revitalization in heritage areas. To achieve its goals, this paper investigates three aspects of architect’s intervention in heritage areas: Physical, Economic and Social Revitalization. In addition to these aspects, the framework covers the practices and indicators followed by architects to achieve sustainable community development. Finally, the applicability of this framework is investigated using the outcomes of the heritage conservation and community development project initiated by ‘‘Friends of Historical and Public Gardens Society” (FHPGS) in (Al-Darb Al-Ahmar district, Historic Cairo). 2018 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). 1. Introduction Heritage is an important source of tradition and inspiration. It contributes to the formation of national and local community identity [1]. There are great opportunities for community development, through identifying the cultural and natural heritage assets. As a common responsibility, this development shows the way for each partner to direct the needed change. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: hindali_27992@yahoo.com (H.A. Alana). 1 Address: Faculty of Engineering, Kafrelsheikh University, 5 Elgeish Street, P.O. Box 0473109533, Kafrelsheikh, Egypt. Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Alexandria Engineering Journal (2019) 58, 333–343 HOSTED BY Alexandria University Alexandria Engineering Journal www.elsevier.com/locate/aej www.sciencedirect.com https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2018.11.015 1110-0168 2018 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND licel and economic aspects. To formulate these aspects to adapt to heritage trail, Keiner and UNIDO addressed the interaction between heritage, and sustainable community development to conclude the aspects that developers should follow to address the required development [7,8]. Sustainable community development discusses the environmental aspect as a requirement for the human development, through the optimal use of the environmental and natural resources. It deals with the fundamental needs for human survival, so it is regarded as the most tractable dimension. In addition, it focuses on addressing the pressing problems related to maintaining the fabric of built environment [9]. The economic aspect is regarded as the most significant prerequisite for the real fulfillment of human needs and raising living standards of a community. It refers to economic growth in general, through the role of built environment [10]. The social aspect calls for the improvement of the quality of life of a given community through: satisfying its needs, increasing social equality, and raising the levels of well-being [11]. Depending on these visions of the three general aspects of sustainable community development, Al-Hagla and ElSorady concluded three parallel aspect namely: Physical Conservation and Rehabilitation, Local-Economic Development, and Social Revitalization [5,12]. Thus creating a ‘vicious circle of development’ in areas of historical assets [13] as shown in Fig. 1. 2.1. Indicators of sustainable community development Investigating the indicators of sustainable community development is the focus of many literature [14,15,12]. Four indicators are concluded from these studies which are: Participation, Social Capital, Quality of Life, and Security. To insure the compatibility of these indicators with the needs of community, they were compared to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. As a consequence, this paper suggested adding a fifth indicator, 334 H.A. Alana et al. arranged from bottom to top as follows: Quality of Life, Security, Participation, Social Capital, and Social Welfare, as shown in Fig. 2. Quality of life stands as the base of these indicators. At this point, enhancement of cultural heritage can significantly contribute to the improvement of citizens’ conditions. This belief is particularly based on the projects of historic neighborhoods and cities undergoing rehabilitation, often accompanied by improvement in historical built environment [1]. The second indicator, security, which can be enhanced through rehabilitation and development of historical sites, whereas deterioration of these sites leads to widespread insecurity, crime, and deterioration of facilities, because of shortage of maintenance. While the participation indicator stands as a pivotal requirement for development, which would be unachievable without the active participation of the local community. Thus, it has become increasingly important to drive local communities to participate positively in decision making [16]. Social capital is the fourth indicator, which points to a significant potential of heritage, in terms of: creating places for community hubs, encounters, and sites of social inclusion and integration. Such places shall function as a source of local pride and identity. It is also concerned with activities of volunteers, NGOs, and common activities [17]. Finally, the fifth indicator, Social Welfare, which focuses on the enhancement of living standards of populations, Empowerment of community members, respecting human dignity, and supporting democratic decisions [9]. 3. Sustainable community development in heritage areas: architects’ practices Architects have undeniable role and responsibility towards community issues, including culture heritage. Beyond their responsibility and professional contractual obligations, they are capable of developing the community through their practices that enhance heritage assets, according to the available aspects of contribution. The first aspect of their intervention is: Physical Conservation and Rehabilitation, which is the most significant need for host communities. Many global organization and architectural codes set rules about the significant role played by architects in the item’s creation, conservation, adaptation, and ongoing management and maintenance [10]. Physical conservation represents the process of improving the condition of the historic built environment and the related environment within it [18]. Furthermore, it sustains the meanings and values of community practices, and environment, including but not limited to: the historical, cultural, artistic, traditional, economic, experiential, environmental functional and social aspects [19]. Actually, this aspect also raises the awareness of local community about heritage and the importance of conservation. The second aspect of intervention is: Local-Economic Development, that has significant impact on local residents, through satisfying their needs, and raising the standard of living [19]. Doratli developed three strategic approaches for economic revitalization, that architect can follow: Functional Restructuring, Diversification, and Regeneration [20]. These approaches seek to invest in historical sites to provide job opportunities, equitable income, and positive impact. According to Archer and Fletcher, this impact was classified to three categories: Direct, Indirect and Induced. Direct impact results from the financial outcome of the direct involveFig. 1 Aspects of sustainable community development in heritage areas. Source: Author based on [5,12]. Social Welfare Social Capital Participation Security Quality of Life Fig. 2 Indicators of sustainable community development. Source: Author based on [14]. Fig. 3 Location of Bayt Yaken. Source: Author’s adaptation of available google maps of Historic Cairo. A framework fgovernorate authorities in order to execute these projects. For example, designing the urban space in front of Hmam Bashtak. The association released architectural competition to design this urban space for the sake of community development. Local Economic Development – Supporting community to enhance the local economy – Architects depend on the flexibility of the restoration of Bayt Yaken, where they can use the house as an exhibition to develop famous traditional crafts and art works. Social Revitalization – Enhancement of social structure – Empowerment of local community to be responsible toward heritage and its development. – Raising the awareness of community members Bayt yaken as a historical place gained attention from community members, so it represents a destination and a proper space of interaction. – The vision of the association work is to encourage residents to take part in decision making. Residents were invited to participate in the restoration of Bayt Yaken, and attend activities and architectural workshops. – An example of community empowerment was the participation of the members of the local community as jury for the competition, set for the development of the urban space in front of Hamam Bashtak. Architects described the projects for residents, then residents voted for the project that serve their best interest. – Architects give lectures to raise awareness about heritage, For example: lectures on the topic of ‘‘Building National Capacities for Managing the Risks Threatening Cultural Heritage in Case of Emergency” to encourage community members to be active participants. A framework for architects’ role in attaining sustainable community development 339 3. How does this activity impact you? Direct or indirect impact? 4. Do you feel that the activity has short or long-term impact? Answers about the most significant activity could be summarized in the following three activities: Preservation of Heritage, Social Activities, and Improvement of the Built Environment. Preservation of heritage was the highlight of the majority of answers, about 76%. At the end of the questionnaire, they were asked to write any notes if they want. The majority of the written notes supported the idea that architects should focus on their goals to preserve heritage, and increase architectural workshops and events. 7. Discussion The responses asserted that the community witnessed development and improvement, because of the appropriate use of such practices (see Table 3). Table 3 indicates the applicability of the suggested framework on a questionnaire discussing the sustainable development of Al-Darb Al-Ahmar community. accessed January 13, 2018). A framework for architects’ role in attaining sustainable community development 343
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