Urban Scenarios After The Pandemic-Cairo
The obvious variances in Egypt from landscape and population density form a challenge in managing an urgent crisis facing all over the world such as COVID-19 crisis. That disease which get rid of a lot of people lives, harm other people peaceful life and big countries’ economies.
Egyptian urban communities have different types of urban patterns. Those communities are formed in hierarchal structure. The metropolitan area “Greater Cairo” comes in the top with population over 20 million inhabitants, the second city is Alexandria with more than 5 million inhabitants, there are also other big cities with population more than half million inhabitants, then middle size cities, small size cities, and villages etc. There is a huge variance in population size but generally the Egyptian communities are very crowded. There are also differentiated land natures for cities and villages in Egypt, such as the Nile valley and delta, desert areas and Coastal cities. Those natures were reflected in cites’ landscape.
Cairo as a metropolitan area is a symbol for this variance in urban landscape and population density. The river Nile flows through Cairo, which is positioned in the east and west of the river. Cairo extends over parts of the Nile valley and parts of its delta; it was also expanded east and west over the desert lands.
Cairo is formed of mozaike from different styles of urbanism, where there are traditional areas, old planned areas with high density “in the urban core and business districts”, unplanned areas and modern suburbs which planned with low density.
Cairo is full of historical monuments, which enrich the city not only as the capital of Egypt, but also as a unique and distinct human experience. It represents a journey in time and human culture. In Cairo, there are Pheronic monuments in addition to Coptic era architecture, Islamic urbanism, Renaissance style, Baroque, Bauhaus and modern architecture.
Egypt has taken several procedures to confront the pandemic and reduce injuries, as it announced a 12-hour night ban with the closure of shops, restaurants, theaters, cinemas and cafes. Those procedures reduced crowding rates in order to reduce the incidence of the pandemic. On other hand, some companies stopped their activities and other institutions and companies “in the sectors that can do so” encouraged their employees to work from home.
These procedures coincided with the month of Ramadan, which is an occasion for family gatherings for the majority of Egyptians. The Egyptians largely adhered to these procedures and minimized those gatherings. We are concerned now what will happen after the pandemic?
In the urban sector the development of urbanization and urban planning after Corona is an important question and challenge. Such pandemics throughout the history had affected the shape and pattern of architecture and urbanism. Those historical pandemics “such as flu from 1918–20, Six cholera in the 19th century” changed our built environments. In the 1800s the sewage network infrastructure for Paris and London were built after cholera pandemic. Less ornamentation, pure forms and modern materials at the early of 20s century were used as a responds for bioaerosol pandemics like flu.
Coronavirus effect on urban design and planning may represent some procedures which can be concluded in points related to minimizing transportation crowding, add more urban spaces and upgrade the uses of urban spaces.
Minimizing the transportation crowding in transportation modes can occur by providing more transportation facilities and add more trips especially at rush-hours. This will help to achieve the required separation distances between passengers to obtain healthy trips. Further encouraging walking and use of bicycles instead of traditional transportation modes in short distances, which represent a large percentage of movement within the city. These short distances reach about 1.5 km. Walking or going by bicycles may be helped by creating green axes, which are characterized by a good environment for walking and deliver the basic services for pedestrians on these corridors, especially in heavily congested areas and areas with very high density. Furthermore, long-term investments that make some services and businesses will be done virtually by using information communication technology “ICT”. Those services may help to reduce dealing with transportation modes and reduce clusters to reduce future pandemic risks.
Increasing urban spaces especially in informal areas and manage it for public accessibility this will maximize the solar radiation exposure for the city landscape, which may act as a response for the bioaerosol hazard. While the decay rates for microorganisms in Bioaerosol have a direct relationship with solar radiation and open air, the urban spaces providing more sun radiation and improve air circulation
quality. Those spaces will provide places for physical activities, improve the public health and will give more opportunity for disinfecting and fighting viruses and diseases normally.
Exploiting the urban spaces and encouraging the practice of some activities “that are currently done inside the buildings” to be done inside open urban spaces, where the open spaces are more exposed to sun radiation and air renewal rates faster than those occur inside the buildings, using of urban spaces for indoor activates will also help to achieve the required safe distances between users and each other.
These basic trends may affect the shape and pattern of post-Corona urban sector, especially in cities that currently are lack for large proportion of these principles. Those trends may take priorities with regard to preparing development plans and studies, in addition to giving them importance in various urban development projects and urban management in the era After the Corona.
By: Soliman saad Aborawash
Soliman Saad Aborawash is an Urban planning Consultant, with experience over 17 years in physical planning, GIS, urban designing and environmental management CEO of SUSUR for engineering consulting service
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