Blessed with excellent climate, the Nile, and a vibrant urban life, Cairo has tremendous potential to contribute new solutions to urban problems such as population growth, urbanization, traffic, and water and air pollution. In this workshop, students create long-term plans to contribute to a vision of what Cairo can be, both as a healty, urban environment for its residents' daily lives, and as one of the most important cities in the Middle East region.

The workshop, held in Cairo in January 2011, brought together 23 graduate students from Cairo University, the American University in Cairo, and the University of California at Berkeley. Working together in interdisciplinary teams, students developed plans and designs for creating increased access to the Nile waterfront, pedestrian pathways, attractive public spaces, and environmental improvements by thinking long-term into the future to inform the Cairo 2050 planning process. Students worked collaboratively to
complete a systematic field inventory of conditions along the Nile banks in Cairo, measured levels of
atmospheric particulate matter along the existing heavily-traveled corniche and along alternative
riverbank trail routes, and developed a strategic plan for a longitudinally continuous trail network, along
with detailed plans for two key zones. Drawing on the synergy of their diverse academic disciplines and
diverse backgrounds, the interdisciplinary/ cross-cultural student teams developed a strategic plan and designs to create livable spaces along the river, thinking long-term into the future, and considering
visual access, transportation (on land and water), and landscape values.

Workshop results will be compiled into a report, with key insights summarized in a jointly-authored paper for publication in an international journal. Download the program for the Conference:

CONNECTING CAIRO TO THE NILE:
Renewing Life and Heritage on the River
Sunday, 16 January 2011
AUC Campus, New Cairo

• Participate in an international collaborative workshop to exchange interdisciplinary ideas about two Cairo planning projects to improve public spaces and environmental infrastructure of the city.

• Develop a series of research data and planning proposals onsite and present these proposals to representatives of universities, local communities, and the government.

• After the workshop ends, compile results and expand upon workshop ideas.

• Produce a publication (to be available online) within six months of the workshop summarizing background research, collected data, workshop results, concept plans and follow-up analysis.

• Summarize the workshop process and results  in a paper (by Cairo and Berkeley co-authors) for submission to an international journal, for presentation at conferences, and for use as a reference for future collaborative workshops.