Examination of the spatial organization of some historic city centres appears to show a more inte... more Examination of the spatial organization of some historic city centres appears to show a more integrated relationship between the ideological dimensions of city life and the physicality of city fabric. When city planning and design development separates ideological and physical dimensions there is evidence to suggest that this can lead to detrimental impacts on the well-being and the physicality of the city fabric. This paper explores an analytical method that helps to understand urban spatial morphology and its relation to the ideologies of city life. Therefore, it analyses how the ideological model, as a collective of religious, political and cultural values lying beneath the physicality of the city, develop through three phases into aesthetical conventions. In this regard, the paper documents the agreements and disputes between people as an advanced step towards the refinement of these conventions. In this context, the authors explain the aspects of the conventions: the valuable, the tactical and the aesthetical aspects. In addition, they discuss how the tactical aspect, together with aesthetical aspect, plays the key role in maintaining social sustainability and characterize urban spatial morphology within this social sustainability. As a result, this approach contributes the planning education process by providing essential knowledge and the analytical base for the site analyses, design process of urban spaces and the conservation of urban fabrics in contexts that have multi layers of historic development. This exploration, ongoing at the time of writing, contributes to PhD research that will ultimately develop and describe a fuller anatomical approach for the analysis and design of such urban settings.
This book explores different meanings and practices of green infrastructure (GI). In particular, ... more This book explores different meanings and practices of green infrastructure (GI). In particular, it examines the scope for GI in the Greater Cairo Region (GCR)of Egypt. In a number of countries, especially in North America and Europe, the nature of GI is increasingly well established and there have been some successful attempts at implementation. However, practice in Egypt appears to be encountering a number of problems. These are principally associated with the aridity of the country, weaknesses of planning and implementation procedures, rapid urbanisation and pressure for land, and weak integration of the green-space resource. However, there are also some promising opportunities associated with social and cultural functions of open space, recent planning visions, and a range of natural environmental assets. This book focuses on three main case studies in the GCR with specific criteria, such as location, scale, urban features and associated activities. The book concludes that impro...
International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning, 2011
This paper explores a form of 'pattern language', which has entirely evolved within the framework... more This paper explores a form of 'pattern language', which has entirely evolved within the framework of Islamic tradition, to illuminate the relationship between the ideological and physical dimensions of spatial morphology in Middle Eastern urban contexts, particularly Cairo and North Africa. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to highlight the indeterminate margin between the top-down and bottom-up conventional decisions and the role of each of them in reforming the macro and micro levels of urban forms. This form of pattern language maintained and protected social and urban sustainability by solving spontaneously the disputes and the pragmatic, chronic confl ict between the top-down decisions represented in the central authority and their representatives such as professionals and the bottom-up decisions represented in the local residents. In this regard, this form of pattern language is conceptualised in a unifi ed framework, called the anatomical approach, which is composed of two working models, an ideological model and a physical model. In this context, the paper will focus on the role of the ideological dimension in regenerating conventional decisions, whether top-down or bottom-up. Also it explores how the mechanism of decisions-making was operationalised via changes in the responsibility rules of different parties causing signifi cant changes in the urban spatial morphology. This process has been conceptualised in the fi ne-tuning of the built environment. This pattern language, therefore, contributes to the planning education process by providing essential knowledge and a base for site analysis, the design process for urban spaces for professionals who have responsibilities for space management and urban conservation in contexts that have multi-layers of historic development.
International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, 2012
This paper introduces a new concept that might help in reading both social life and urban process... more This paper introduces a new concept that might help in reading both social life and urban process, showing how they are interlocked in a way that clarifies ideologies and their implications for the physical form of the city. This reading is capable of envisioning and analysing the relationship between the cohesive social pattern language of traditional built environment and its physical expression, relying on a new reflective and exploratory concept, the edge environment. This illuminates the relationship between the values hidden beneath the physical edges of spatial morphology in Middle Eastern urban contexts like Cairo, and allows those values to be understood in terms of modern ideologies relating to the human community. The concept of edge environment might help in the design education particularly in conservation and upgrading processes, as an analytical tool and as a design method by careful interventions at edges by fine tuning of the edge environment.
This article outlines the significant role of ideologies and values that lie beneath the physical... more This article outlines the significant role of ideologies and values that lie beneath the physicality of the city, in reforming urban spatial morphology within a framework of social sustainability. We focus on the urban morphology of Middle Eastern cities, which have evolved within the ...
This article discusses a new concept that may help professionals and specialists read the “urban ... more This article discusses a new concept that may help professionals and specialists read the “urban code” of Middle Eastern traditional contexts that was developed from the mix of social aspect and spatial morphology, illustrating how these elements are interconnected in a way that highlights the values and qualities and their reflections on the physicality of the city. This urban code envisions and analyses the relevance of the social pattern language of the traditional context to its urban manifestation, leaning on the “edge environment” as a new generative concept. It outlines the relationship between the ideologies buried underneath the walls of the spatial form of traditional built environment such as Cairo and sheds light on those ideologies in a way that helps us read them within the context of modern values pertained to the sense of community. The notion of the edge environment may contribute to design education restoration, preservation, and upgrading processes as design toolk...
Examination of the spatial organization of some historic city centres appears to show a more inte... more Examination of the spatial organization of some historic city centres appears to show a more integrated relationship between the ideological dimensions of city life and the physicality of city fabric. When city planning and design development separates ideological and physical dimensions there is evidence to suggest that this can lead to detrimental impacts on the well-being and the physicality of the city fabric. This paper explores an analytical method that helps to understand urban spatial morphology and its relation to the ideologies of city life. Therefore, it analyses how the ideological model, as a collective of religious, political and cultural values lying beneath the physicality of the city, develop through three phases into aesthetical conventions. In this regard, the paper documents the agreements and disputes between people as an advanced step towards the refinement of these conventions. In this context, the authors explain the aspects of the conventions: the valuable, the tactical and the aesthetical aspects. In addition, they discuss how the tactical aspect, together with aesthetical aspect, plays the key role in maintaining social sustainability and characterize urban spatial morphology within this social sustainability. As a result, this approach contributes the planning education process by providing essential knowledge and the analytical base for the site analyses, design process of urban spaces and the conservation of urban fabrics in contexts that have multi layers of historic development. This exploration, ongoing at the time of writing, contributes to PhD research that will ultimately develop and describe a fuller anatomical approach for the analysis and design of such urban settings.
This book explores different meanings and practices of green infrastructure (GI). In particular, ... more This book explores different meanings and practices of green infrastructure (GI). In particular, it examines the scope for GI in the Greater Cairo Region (GCR)of Egypt. In a number of countries, especially in North America and Europe, the nature of GI is increasingly well established and there have been some successful attempts at implementation. However, practice in Egypt appears to be encountering a number of problems. These are principally associated with the aridity of the country, weaknesses of planning and implementation procedures, rapid urbanisation and pressure for land, and weak integration of the green-space resource. However, there are also some promising opportunities associated with social and cultural functions of open space, recent planning visions, and a range of natural environmental assets. This book focuses on three main case studies in the GCR with specific criteria, such as location, scale, urban features and associated activities. The book concludes that impro...
International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning, 2011
This paper explores a form of 'pattern language', which has entirely evolved within the framework... more This paper explores a form of 'pattern language', which has entirely evolved within the framework of Islamic tradition, to illuminate the relationship between the ideological and physical dimensions of spatial morphology in Middle Eastern urban contexts, particularly Cairo and North Africa. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to highlight the indeterminate margin between the top-down and bottom-up conventional decisions and the role of each of them in reforming the macro and micro levels of urban forms. This form of pattern language maintained and protected social and urban sustainability by solving spontaneously the disputes and the pragmatic, chronic confl ict between the top-down decisions represented in the central authority and their representatives such as professionals and the bottom-up decisions represented in the local residents. In this regard, this form of pattern language is conceptualised in a unifi ed framework, called the anatomical approach, which is composed of two working models, an ideological model and a physical model. In this context, the paper will focus on the role of the ideological dimension in regenerating conventional decisions, whether top-down or bottom-up. Also it explores how the mechanism of decisions-making was operationalised via changes in the responsibility rules of different parties causing signifi cant changes in the urban spatial morphology. This process has been conceptualised in the fi ne-tuning of the built environment. This pattern language, therefore, contributes to the planning education process by providing essential knowledge and a base for site analysis, the design process for urban spaces for professionals who have responsibilities for space management and urban conservation in contexts that have multi-layers of historic development.
International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, 2012
This paper introduces a new concept that might help in reading both social life and urban process... more This paper introduces a new concept that might help in reading both social life and urban process, showing how they are interlocked in a way that clarifies ideologies and their implications for the physical form of the city. This reading is capable of envisioning and analysing the relationship between the cohesive social pattern language of traditional built environment and its physical expression, relying on a new reflective and exploratory concept, the edge environment. This illuminates the relationship between the values hidden beneath the physical edges of spatial morphology in Middle Eastern urban contexts like Cairo, and allows those values to be understood in terms of modern ideologies relating to the human community. The concept of edge environment might help in the design education particularly in conservation and upgrading processes, as an analytical tool and as a design method by careful interventions at edges by fine tuning of the edge environment.
This article outlines the significant role of ideologies and values that lie beneath the physical... more This article outlines the significant role of ideologies and values that lie beneath the physicality of the city, in reforming urban spatial morphology within a framework of social sustainability. We focus on the urban morphology of Middle Eastern cities, which have evolved within the ...
This article discusses a new concept that may help professionals and specialists read the “urban ... more This article discusses a new concept that may help professionals and specialists read the “urban code” of Middle Eastern traditional contexts that was developed from the mix of social aspect and spatial morphology, illustrating how these elements are interconnected in a way that highlights the values and qualities and their reflections on the physicality of the city. This urban code envisions and analyses the relevance of the social pattern language of the traditional context to its urban manifestation, leaning on the “edge environment” as a new generative concept. It outlines the relationship between the ideologies buried underneath the walls of the spatial form of traditional built environment such as Cairo and sheds light on those ideologies in a way that helps us read them within the context of modern values pertained to the sense of community. The notion of the edge environment may contribute to design education restoration, preservation, and upgrading processes as design toolk...
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Papers by Gamal Mohammed