A New/Old Neighborhood in Cairo

1 March 2010 - 10:00am

A group of development agencies came together to undertake a historic-preservation and community-development effort in Cairo's Al-Darb al-Ahmar community. The project was such a success that they're still working, by invitation, restoring the area.

Cathryn Drake writes, "Five years after opening, Cairo's Al-Azhar Park has surpassed all expectations. Built by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) on top of an ancient dump, the miraculously lush 74-acre park is among the biggest in a city with 18 million people and one of the world’s lowest ratios of green space per inhabitant. It is also the linchpin of an extensive historic-preservation and community-development effort in Al-Darb al-Ahmar, the vibrant, impoverished neighborhood just across the ramparts of the newly excavated medieval Ayyubid wall."

Full Story: Spirit of Community
Source: Metropolis Magazine, March 1, 2010
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