Political drifts:implications upon urban space and place with special reference to Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Cities and Towns are living creatures; their organic nature is evidenced by its incremental growth and continuous change over the years. Many dynamics affect the direction, size and nature of its growth. Politics is one of the factors that carry a lot of clout, which consequently has its implications upon the change in built environment and the sense of place. Built environment, especially urban spaces, have always been an allusion to political power and ideologies. Governments realized and acknowledged the supremacy of the spatial experience, however, sometimes communities have been indulgent and responsive, agitated and rebellious. In the public realm, people have their own comprehension/perception of urban open spaces, which is reflected in the way they use them. Politics and public apprehensions is the larger grassland of this paper. Public urban spaces are the fields of public activities. These spaces mirror clearly the identity of the community, re-render cultural dimensions and intensify the meaning of the space and place This paper debates the interrelations between the characteristics of urban open spaces/places, sovereignty, and political shifts. It also examines the phenomena of change, subsequent with public pressure results from correlated community dynamics. Socio-economical factor is always a subject of change in political shifts, especially in developing countries. Such concerns may seem particularly appropriate if we observe the political shifts in resent Egyptian history. Public urban spaces are the fields of public activities. Those spaces mirror clearly the identity of the community, re-render cultural dimensions and intensify the meaning of the place.