Legislation and planning laws and the extent of their impact on the urban identity

Abstract

Some of the Egyptian cities have a distinctive unique urban identity that was formed by a set of values and factors (historical, cultural, socioeconomic, etc..). Despite these factors, the urban identity in the Egyptian cities gradually disappear, in which the encroachment on agricultural land, the vandalism, and destruction of valuable buildings and others increase. Since the planning laws and legislations have a great role in forming of urban identity as it is an effective tool in organizing the movement of urbanization as well as controlling the actions of citizens within the society, the study tacckles the roles of current law (Building Law No. 119 of 2008) which affect the information and clarification of urban identity. The study concludes a set of criteria and suggests a mechanism to revive and strengthen the identity of urban under the umbrella of the laws and planning legislation. Key drivers are to be implemented by limiting the factors that lead to the absence of urban identity in the Egyptian cities, especially the city of Mansoura as a case study which is classified into the main factors and sub-factors as outlined through the analytical study Preserving the urban identity in Egyptian cities is a cultural necessity, and looking at contemporary Egyptian cities, we find that they have lost their urban and architectural identity and their connection with the original historical architecture. Building laws and regulations - along with the schematic style.By reviewing and analyzing global examples, including Arab and foreign cities that have succeeded in preserving the urban identity in light of the laws and planning legislation, the mechanism by which each experiment has succeeded separately and which can be used to develop Egyptian cities and preserve the urban identity in them is deduced.

Keywords

• urban identity
• urban legislation
• culture
• heritage