El‐Barmelgy, I. (2012). LANDSCAPE PRINCIPLES FOR SPACE DESIGN IN HARSH ENVIRONMENT: REVIEWING THE CASE OF EGYPT’S NEW TOWNS. Journal of Urban Research, 9(1), 71-89. doi: 10.21608/jur.2012.94059
Ingy Mohamed El‐Barmelgy. "LANDSCAPE PRINCIPLES FOR SPACE DESIGN IN HARSH ENVIRONMENT: REVIEWING THE CASE OF EGYPT’S NEW TOWNS". Journal of Urban Research, 9, 1, 2012, 71-89. doi: 10.21608/jur.2012.94059
El‐Barmelgy, I. (2012). 'LANDSCAPE PRINCIPLES FOR SPACE DESIGN IN HARSH ENVIRONMENT: REVIEWING THE CASE OF EGYPT’S NEW TOWNS', Journal of Urban Research, 9(1), pp. 71-89. doi: 10.21608/jur.2012.94059
El‐Barmelgy, I. LANDSCAPE PRINCIPLES FOR SPACE DESIGN IN HARSH ENVIRONMENT: REVIEWING THE CASE OF EGYPT’S NEW TOWNS. Journal of Urban Research, 2012; 9(1): 71-89. doi: 10.21608/jur.2012.94059
LANDSCAPE PRINCIPLES FOR SPACE DESIGN IN HARSH ENVIRONMENT: REVIEWING THE CASE OF EGYPT’S NEW TOWNS
Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University
Abstract
The current situation in the Egyptian new town spaces is a critical and an accumulated dilemma as there is no respect for the principles of a harsh environment. The spaces, especially in the low‐income public housing have turned to be "a no‐man land" or neglected areas. The main problem facing the designers of public spaces rehabilitation within lowincome public housing projects, is that these spaces are mostly unlivable environments and their design are not appropriate neither to the local environment of the town nor to the behavior of their dwellers. This leads us to the main aim of this paper, which targets urban designers, developers, and consultants to promote harmony, safety, activeness and compatibility in the development to the environment, through the set of design guidelines, principles for space generation levels, and standards regarding the landscape. To achieve this aim, the paper consists of three parts. Part one, clarifies the theoretical basis for space generation at the three levels of design, finalizing each level by the main principles required for space generation with respect to a harsh environment. Part two, reviews lowincome public housing project spaces in four new towns in Egypt, highlighting the problems related to form generation especially the irrelevant landscape. The third part concludes the paper's findings related to 'space generation process guidelines' for a contextual level, space morphology level, and sensation and effects for users. Recommendations to achieve the desired spaces in terms of users’ image, perception, senses to their spaces have been suggested.