1. RESEARCH TEAM
Principal Investigators (PIs)
PI (Bauhaus University, Weimar): Prof. Dr. Frank Eckardt
PI (Cairo University): Assoc. Prof. Aliaa AlSadaty
Cairo University Research Team
Prof. Dr. Sahar Imam
Dr. Tamer ElSerafi
Nervana Hisham
Moataz Hasanein
Ereny Samir
May Loaay
Salah ElMouled
Bauhaus University, Weimar Research Team
Laura Semper
Nele Ilic
Sophie Erman
Viola Majdanszic
2. PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE STUDIES
This research project aims at exploring the physical and non-physical aspects of urban forms focusing mainly on commercial settings in historic districts. It seeks to generate a framework that helps read the physical and social aspects of historic commercial urban areas including historic commercial streets, commercial urban areas, and commercial infrastructures. These commercial urban areas are selected as they represent a direct reflection and obvious manifestation of the economic, social, and cultural processes that produced them and are venues where it is possible to investigate the layers of change of the physical and non-physical aspects through time.
Commercial settings are at the forefront of areas that could play a significant role in downtown revitalization. A thing that also calls for the urgent need for integrated interventions and approaches to preserve their physical dimensions of heritage value and urban character for future generations and at the same time provide effective and responsive intervention for changing socio-cultural and economic needs.
Toward the research aim, a network of German-Egyptian actors is created to elaborate the assessment framework and to explore patterns of relationship between the physical and non-physical aspects in commercial urban areas in historic districts in selected Egyptian and German cities. Through highlighting patterns of similarities and differences across the studied contexts, the research will draw a set of recommendations useful for decision-makers and urban designers in architectural or urban interventions or their attempts for the regeneration and revitalization of commercial urban areas in historic contexts in both countries. Several historic commercial urban districts in major Egyptian and German cities are selected for this investigation.