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A typological approach to maintain character in historic urban areas

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Abstract

The typological approach has been used as a method to study urban forms and their change through time. Despite its wide use for theoretical analysis in the western world, empirical applications of typological approach are still limited for both developed and developing countries. In Cairo, several historic areas have been under pressures of drastic change. Through consultation of archival documents and field-based cartographic surveys, this paper illustrates a typological analysis of Bulaq Abul-Ela, a historic port-quarter of Cairo. Findings reveal a stratification of types over time, and highlight drastic changes threatening the urban character of Bulaq Abul-Ela’s historic core. The study shows that the dialectic of continuity and change between old and new types is missing, and supports the argument that typological applications can be used to inform development control regulations so that new built forms adapt to aspirations and changing demands of communities while retaining much-valued character of the context.

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Notes

  1. Hammams, or public bathhouses represented one of the major building typologies of Bulaq Abul-Ela. Despite their large numbers and significances in historic Cairo, this building typology however is vanishing from the urban tissue of the city with an alarming rate.

  2. A Wikala, or a Caravanserai (also known as a khan or fondouk in other regions) is an inn that includes accommodation units designed around an inner courtyard where merchants (caravanners) might stay in permanently or could use its units to spend one or more nights if they are travelers. A wikala typology usually hosted commercial facilities on the ground level, and accommodation units in upper floors.

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  1. The Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

    Aliaa AlSadaty

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AlSadaty, A. A typological approach to maintain character in historic urban areas. Urban Des Int 27, 198–210 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41289-022-00181-1

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