Book Review: Living with Heritage in Cairo

In reviewing Ahmed Sedky's Living with Heritage in Cairo, I am reminded of the many questions I have asked myself -- or posed to others -- over many years, concerning the deficiencies -- should I say apparent lack of planning -- behind the restoration and/or conservation of historically important zones in Egypt. I speak in particular of Luxor, Aswan, and Old and Mediaeval Cairo.

Was there a philosophy behind the decisions being made, I asked. Who was making them? What was the incessant talk about "facelifts" in reference to historical or archaeological zones, when what it really meant was that they were being cleared of the living fabric for the ever-growing tourist market? Who, I asked, was behind the erection of the pseudo-Roman walls in Old Cairo, or the superficial beautification of the frontages of the buildings in Muezz Street and elsewhere, presumably in the belief that this would make them more palatable to tourists? And why was interaction with local people not encouraged when it was clear that there could be no meaningful conservation of historical zones without commitment to preserve the framework, which touches equally on history, architecture, and residents. Without doubt some areas are over- populated, but by stripping them of what gives them character, and taking foreign visitors to tour-approved restaurants and encouraging them to make purchases at tour-guide- approved commercial outlets, is to lose the very spirit of the area.

I noted that whenever there was a press report of an area being developed as an "Open Air Museum" -- whether Giza, Fustat or Fatimid Cairo -- what it really meant was that the local population was being systematically moved out of the area.

I asked (in articles in Al-Ahram Weekly and in PowerPoint presentations) whether this was really necessary. As Nawal Hassan, chair of the Association for the Urban Development of Islamic Cairo, pointed out during a Cairo symposium in 2002, "Thousands of families' livelihoods will be affected by the plan to seal off the mediaeval city and turn it into an open-air museum. Wholesale and retail shops will lose their clients if they have to reach their destination on foot or from perpendicular streets." She added that tourists anyway showed little interest in mediaeval buildings with newly-stuccoed walls, marble panelling applied to the interior of mediaeval courtyards, mashrabiya windows that looked newly fabricated, and cobbled streets paved with tiles. Foreign visitors, she declared, wanted to explore "the heart of a living city 1,000 years old, with its still dynamic population".

I have keenly followed the praise and the criticism of archaeological and conservation practices in Cairo, and have tried to understand the strategy behind decision-making. I have joined others in my concern for the monuments, the people, and the long-term effects of pedestrianising Al-Azhar Street, and diverting traffic underground through a tunnel running its full length. And finally I came to the conclusion that there was in fact no integrated planning and development programme; and that decisions taken at "the highest level" were considered final and tended to overrule the views of all lower strata of power and public opinion. This, of course, begged further questions: Why was the historical and cultural integrity of historical sites being compromised, and by whom? By the heads of districts under the control of the governor of Cairo who receives direct orders from the presidency? By the Waqf authority, who owns most of the deteriorated buildings in historic Cairo? And what part did the SCA, the Supreme Council of Antiquities, play in the whole conservation scenario, or was it under the direct control of the Ministry of Culture as I suspected? Where did the planning of highways fit into the picture, not to mention the distinction between "polluting" and "non-polluting" workshops?

Then I receive this excellent and insightful book for review and it answers my every question. Living with Heritage in Cairo fully explains the concepts and processes influencing area conservation of Egypt's capital, the commercial and industrial centre since the end of the 19th century with the highest concentration of mediaeval monuments in the world where traditional lifestyles continue until today.