Email this article 
Hide
Show all
Islamic Contemporary Architecture as an Approach for Social Sustainability in the Urban Parks Development
Abstract
Reviving Islamic urban heritage while enhancing contemporary identity is an important goal in all Islamic countries. Historical places can be an important part of society instead of being a burden, and they can be redeemed as cultural assets that can be used for their original function. Accordingly, this study focuses on the Al-Azhar Park project, considered one of the pioneering sustainable urban development projects recently opened in Cairo, Egypt. It is a promising restoration attempt to establish public parks by improving the cultural, social, and economic aspects of the adjacent Islamic historical area. Hence, this study aims to highlight a potential approach for designing sustainable parks by documenting one of the leading Islamic contemporary urban development projects. The study follows a descriptive and analytical research method by analyzing the integrity between architectural features in Al-Azhar Islamic Park and the historic Islamic urban around it. The aim is to show how landscape design can be used as a tool to enhance behavioral responses and activities. The results show that the bottom-up development method is the most effective strategy that prioritizes the local community's needs while restoring the Islamic historical sites and creating new functions suitable to generate the necessary income for the buildings and respond to the local community needs.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
U. Nassar, Landscape as a Tool to Enhance Behavioural Response and Activities: An Evaluative Methodology to Historic Urban Parks - Al-Azhar Park, Cairo, Egypt: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 2013.
A. M. SALAMA, "Media coverage and users' reactions: Al Azhar park in the midst of criticism and Post occupancy evaluation", METU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture, Vol. 25, No.1, pp. 105-125, 2008.
E. Danielsson, "Cultivating social sustainability through urban community gardens – Evaluating urban community gardens as a planning strategy to foster social sustainability in socio-economic vulnerable neighbourhoods". Master’s thesis, Linköping, Sweden: Linköping University, 2022.
K. A. Ismail, "Comprehensive Analysis of Al-Azhar Park Project, Cairo, Egypt: A Tool for Sustainability", UMRAN conference, KAED, IIUM, 2009.
S. Mazzetto, "Heritage conservation and reuses to promote sustainable growth", Materials Today: Proceedings, Vol. 85, pp. 100-103, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2023.05.269.
M. Itma, S. Monna, "The Role of Collective Spaces in Achieving Social Sustainability: A Comparative Approach to Enhance Urban Design", Sustainability, vol.14, pp. 8756, 2022, https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148756
S. Woodcraft, T. Hackett, & L. Caistor-Arendar, Design for social sustainability A framework for creating thriving new communities, UK: The young foundation, 2011.
S. Abdussamad, "Islamic Perspectives: An Alternative to the Existing Model of Social Sustainability in Architecture", Astrolabe: A CIS Student Research Journal, Vol. 3, pp. 1-29, 2021.
M. Moscatelli, "Rethinking the Heritage through a Modern and Contemporary Reinterpretation of Traditional Najd Architecture, Cultural Continuity in Riyadh," Buildings, vol. 13, no. 6, p. 1471, Jun. 2023, doi: 10.3390/buildings13061471.
I. M. Lami and B. Mecca, "Assessing Social Sustainability for Achieving Sustainable Architecture", Sustainability, Vol.13, No. 1, pp. 142, 2021. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13010142
E. Eizenberg, and Y. Jabareen, "Social sustainability: A new conceptual framework", Sustainability, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 68, 2017. DOI: 10.3390/su9010068
A. Korolova, and S. Treija, "Urban gardening as a multifunctional tool to increase social sustainability in the city", Architecture & Urban Planning, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 91–95, 2018. DOI: 10.2478/aup-2018-0012
C. Glennie, "Growing together: Community coalescence and the social dimensions of urban sustainability", Sustainability, Vol. 12, No. 22, pp. 9680, 2020. DOI: 10.3390/su12229680
C. G. Wadumestrige Dona, G. Mohan, and K. Fukushi, "Promoting urban agriculture and its opportunities and challenges – A global review", Sustainability, Vol. 13, No. 17, pp. 9609, 2021. DOI: 10.3390/su13179609
M. Krier, Urban space. London, UK: Academy Editions, 1990.
M. H. Masridin and Al. S. Ismail, "Critical Regionalism Approach for Djami Mosque Design Towards The Aesthetics of Sustainability", Journal of Islamic Architecture, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 220-232, 2022. doi: https://doi.org/10.18860/jia.v7i2.17135
J.O. Simonds, Landscape Architecture. N.Y.: Mc Graw, Hill Book Company, 1984.
C. Tandy, Handbook of urban landscape. London: The Architectural Press, 1991.
S. Dwidar, H. Sirror, A. Derbali, D. Abdelgawad, and A. Abdelsattar,"Importance of Internal Courtyards in Designing Historical and Contemporary Masjid", Journal of Islamic Architecture, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 356-363, 2022. doi: 10.18860/jia.v7i2.16065
N.K. Booth, Basic Elemenys of Landscape Architecture Design. N.Y.: Elsiver Publishing company, 1983.
M. Hocine and C. N. Chabbi, “Reuse of djenane abd-el-tif, an emblematic islamic garden in Algiers”, Journal of Islamic Architecture, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 135-142, 2015, doi: https://doi.org/10.18860/jia.v3i3.2750
S. A. Saad, "Space, Architecture, and Power. The Top-Down and Bottom-Up Place making in Historic Arabic-Islamic Cities", Journal of Islamic Architecture, Vol. 7, No.1, pp. 28-38, 2022. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.18860/jia.v7i1.11730
R. A. Moussa,"A Responsive Approach for Designing Shared Urban Spaces in Tourist Villages", Sustainability, Vol. 15, No. 9, pp. 7549, 2023. doi: 10.3390/su15097549
A. M. Salama, "Media coverage and users' reactions: Al Azhar Park in the midst of criticism and Post Occupancy Evaluation", METU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture, Vol.1, pp: 105-125, 2008.
G. Otte, Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Geneva: The Cultural Agency of the Aga khan development network, 2007
C. Rashti, M. Stino, “Converting a Derelict Site into an Urban Park”, Historic Cities Support Programme, The Azhar Park Project in Cairo and the Conservation and Revitalisation of Darb al-Ahmar, Geneva: The Aga Khan Trust for Culture, 2001
U. Nassar, "Principles to Evaluate Historic Designed Landscape of Urban Parks - Case Study of Al-Azhar Park" Port-Said Engineering Research Journal. Vol.14, pp: 180-193, 2010.
“The Green Lung in the Heart of Cairo”, Al-Azhar Park, Accessed: December 8, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://azharpark.com/,
T. Musgrave, “Al-Azhar Park”, Garden Visit, 2007. Accessed: December 8, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.gardenvisit.com/gardens/al-azhar_park
J. Crane, “Cairo – the Coptic Quarter, Al-Azhar Park, and other sights”, Jonty Travels, 2023, Accessed: December 8, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://jontynz.com/2023/09/14/cairo-the-coptic-quarter-al-azhar-park-and-other-sights/
H. M. Assem, O. S. Tolba, and S. S. Ashour, "The restorative effect of different landscape design settings on adults: the case of al-azhar park in cairo", Journal of Engineering and Applied Science (faculty of engineering, cairo university), Vol. 67, No. 5, pp. 1001-1018, 2020.
“Al-Azhar Park, Picture of Working drawing details”, Egypt Architecture Online. Accessed: December 8, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.egyptarch.net/azharpark/azhardetail.htm
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18860/jia.v8i2.24663
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2024 Journal of Islamic Architecture
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
EDITORIAL OFFICE
Department of Architecture, Faculty of Science and Technology
Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang
Jalan Gajayana 50 Malang, Jawa Timur, Indonesia 65144
Phone (+62) 341 558933,Facsimile (+62) 341 558933
e-mail: journal.islamicarchitecture@gmail.com / jia@uin-malang.ac.id
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.