Heritage Buildings’ Façades as Facilitators for Local Sustainable Development: The Case of Cairo’s El Korba Area

Abstract

Previous research has highlighted the correlation between the design of the built environment and sustainable development, underscoring how buildings have the potential to accelerate the realization of the SDGs. However, the specific contribution of built heritage to the SDGs have been seldom studied, and little research has attempted to link built heritage architectural features with sustainable development. This research examines how heritage façades, and the street-level activities they instigate, contribute to local sustainable development. The researchers build on existing knowledge to develop a framework that links façade features with the SDGs. The framework is used to re-examine several case studies in El Korba, located in Heliopolis, Cairo (Egypt). Many researchers have studied this area architecturally, historically, and socially, but no research has studied its possible contribution to local sustainable development. The findings highlight how those heritage façades serve as a means for sustainable development on the social, economic, and environmental levels. The paper also underscores how the deterioration of this built heritage location risks diluting the architectural features that drive their contribution to the SDGs. The findings also substantiate several of the connections in the framework, which enables future researchers to link the design features of heritage building façades and the SDGs and document how different built heritage locations support sustainable development.

Keywords

• architectural character
• façades
• enclosure
• ground-floor use
• El Korba
• permeability