“Governance and Public Awareness” Dilemma in the Conservation of Heritage and Cultural Parks in Egypt

Mennatallah Said Tawfik (1), Sara Essam Ali (2)
(1) Instuctor in architecture and urban design program in GUC ( German University in Cairo ), Egypt, Egypt,
(2) Lecturer Assistant in Menia University, Egypt, Egypt

Abstract

Dealing with heritage in all of its forms is a complex process and comprises many dimensions. Heritage’s scope is wide and folds more than one layer. At the national level, it was found that sharing of interest to heritage is not widely alarmed, especially for historical parks as it faces many challenges related to policies and regulations,
management and evaluation systems, and the operation process. In spite of working as both, open urban areas, historical and valuable cultural spaces; and accordingly the appearances of neglecting the historical and cultural parks are varied, even though it could strongly reflect the community quality of perception and level of interaction
with these urban spaces, which is represented as one of the most important and essential public-spirited aspects.
The paper is tackling the argumentation of urban conservation’s objectives and principles; thinking of public perception
and observations, in relation to public and governance awareness can be considered as two sides of the same coin. The research methodology is focusing on public awareness concern; monitoring and measuring public awareness remains a challenge as it is an intangible phenomenon, and to be raised is vital in heritage conservation plans as it ensures the continuity and sustainability of the urban conservation process.
Public awareness is hypothesized as non-physical vicious loop phenomena, which interacts and is influenced by both tangible and intangible aspects elements. Therefore, the public awareness to be measured and evaluated can be used as a tool to assess the success of current policies – if exist- in dealing with the current condition of heritage
parks and to indicate the variables that could be used to measure, and affect the public and governance awareness with priorities management. Finally, a multi-dimensional assessment method for urban planners, landscaping architects, historical conservation experts, and decision makers could benefit from the outcomes of this study in controlling and defining the management systems and policies to move headed for the conservation of the valuable historic and culture parks in Egypt.

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Authors

Mennatallah Said Tawfik
[email protected] (Primary Contact)
Sara Essam Ali
Tawfik, M. S., & Ali, S. E. (2018). “Governance and Public Awareness” Dilemma in the Conservation of Heritage and Cultural Parks in Egypt. Resourceedings, 1(2), 109–123. https://doi.org/10.21625/resourceedings.v1i2.327

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