Architectural Design Firms’ Social Role to develop Sustainable Heritage Communities in Egypt

Elweshahy, Dalia A; Othman, Ayman A E

doi:10.1088/1757-899X/974/1/012031

Architectural Design Firms’ Social Role to develop Sustainable Heritage Communities in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Senior Student, Architecture Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, The British University in Egypt, Cairo-Suez Desert Road, El-Shorouk, Cairo, Egypt.

² Professor of construction and project management, head of architectural engineering department, faculty of engineering, The British University in Egypt, Cairo-Suez Desert Road, El-Shorouk, Cairo, Egypt.

10.1088/1757-899X/974/1/012031

Abstract

Cultural heritage buildings are a crucial element for future generations, as they preserve the cultural identity unique to where they are located. Moreover, they create one of the most dominant and memorable architectural achievement that have significant historical and cultural values. However, heritage buildings in Egypt suffer from a surge in demolition due to the deteriorated conditions of their surroundings areas, as well as, the maintenance of only the physical structures without considering the surrounding communities. Egypt constantly encounters many challenges such as poor coordination from the government due to shortage of skilled people, poor heritage awareness of local communities and lack of finance needed for achieving sustainable development. On the other hand, Architecture Design Firms (ADFs) act as a supporting tool for the government as they have a vital role in the local community development; which further act as the cornerstone of developing the historical regions. Hence, in order for the ADFs to achieve such development, they need to activate their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) role which is a driver for developing the heritage community. Consequently, this research aims to develop a matrix that correlates CSR with ADFs as an approach to achieve sustainable heritage communities in Egypt. A research methodology consists of literature review to investigate the topics of CSR, Heritage community development and ADFs. Finally, developing a matrix showing the relation between the architect’s social responsibility and the indicators of sustainable development of local communities.

Keywords