Reclaiming residual spaces for the public: a case study from the city of Cairo

Abstract

This paper investigates the potential of revitalizing urban residual spaces and turning them into viable open spaces, as a means to redress the deficiency of open spaces in congested cities. While the population in mega cities continuously increases over a fixed plot of land, the inhabitants' need for open space correspondingly increases and hence cities’ limited land resources can hardly keep up with users’ increasing demands. Furthermore, if vacant plots of land are ever available within congested cities, they are scarcely assigned for public open spaces and more often dedicated to commercial investments. This highlights the need to find innovative ways by which open spaces could be reclaimed. The rationale of this paper is to discuss residual spaces as a potential innovative solution to this problem with a specific emphasis on the city of Cairo. Residual spaces existing within the city are often modified officially by formal bodies or informally by users - to compensate for missing services. This modification is referred to as “appropriation”. Building upon the socio-spatial qualities of residual spaces, interventions are made to fulfill a wide range of users' needs- both necessary and complementary. In that sense, it is argued that appropriation is an indication for the hidden potentials of residual spaces. The paper first discusses how residual spaces are defined in the 1literature to reach an overarching definition for residual spaces. Then, a socio-spatial approach is used to understand qualities of residual spaces. Finally, the paper reviews various initiatives in the Cairene context which succeeded to transform urban residuals into sites of use. This paper concludes that urban residuals comprise dormant potentials and are capable of fulfilling part of the users' needs. Yet, how residual spaces form and how they could be best approached are issues in need for further investigations and public awareness.