Saviour Urbanism

by Moataz Faissal Farid

 

A simple Nile valley peasant or worker refusing the idea of planning his village, is a fact that might surprise us. Yet it might be difficult for him to understand the proposed terminology ‘Strategic planning’ or ‘sustainable development’. And I am quite sure that he wouldn’t even consider accepting the idea of being a citizen of a 900 km city with a population of 26 millions! And this might not only be his opinion; the elite might also think so – with right – and see the idea as unrealistic and unpractical. We can only agree that this beautiful egyptian piece of land desperately needs care, order and development, that it reached the point where classic solutions are unthinkable, and that radical interventions appear as the only possible solution. The situation is dramatic, analytically and practically speaking. The Nile Valley's ignorance of the previous and current masterplans and of classic European planning discipline results from the unusual condition of the place. How could planners propose projects and plans that appeared ‘reasonable’ and ‘advanced’ only on papers, while they inherently collided against the reality of the Nile Valley? How can we even expect that these bright plans will work in a context that completely refuses its core concepts? This refusal is of course not intentional but happens spontaneously; it somehow corresponds to the will of becoming numb towards existing problems.

The ideas presented in this project do not result from imported urban theories, on the contrary, the proposal is based on the particular – and unusual – context of the Nile Valley. The aim of the Nile City project is not – as some might think – to bring us in or out of a circle of ancient bureaucratic complications. It is instead an aggressive simplification of a series of enormously annoying and repeating problems, it is a reasonable simplification leading to a set of solutions with which these kind of problems might be avoided. Who is responsible for our problems in Egypt? It can be resumed to one of my colleagues' sincere comment: “You in Egypt don’t realize that your problems are indeed problems”. The complexity of the situation is increased by the dual identity of the problem-makers; who are both the users and the planners at the same time. Are we really not able to diagnose our problems (like the indifferent patient's attitude)? Does our reliance on traditional treatments compromise the effect of the remedy (like the stubborn doctor's attitude)?

The seemingly visionary idea suggested by this project is actually based on a very detailed and precise documentation. A very long period of the research was dedicated to the analysis of the reality of the Nile
Valley, and it was first documented in a 500 pages volume including an accurate and comprehensive survey dealing with population, national economy, infrastructures, land, water and agricultural resources. The research later developed into a detailed study on Sohag Governorate and Monshaa’ town, producing also a schematic scenario of the future state, in case the conditions of the Nile Valley remained the same. The larger part of this second volume was dedicated to a complete survey of the natural and urban landscape elements composing the Nile Valley. The book analyzed the desert landscape, the borders and the valley's landscape with its private and public buildings, its vacant areas and public housing, its squares and bus stations, its train intersection, markets, coffee shops, sports centers, canal routes, garbage collecting method and its cattle pens. The Nile banks' landscape included its avenues, parks, regular and informal vacant lands, fishing boats and water pumps systems, and finally its swamps and islands, its transport boats, dams and bridges. All these elements were later represented as abstract icons into a 100 km sample sector of the Nile Valley, to give an idea of the overall landscape composition. The evidence accumulated in this section of the project provides the basis for the entire proposal. The survey performed didn’t only note building heights and uses, but provided a precise reading of the urban and natural landscape in the valley. This detailed analytic foundation thus makes the proposal absolutely reasonable.

Another reason contributing to the credibility of this work is its collaborative character. The research has been the fruit of the collaboration of many individuals, institutions and organizations from different specialization, experience and location. They were called in action according to the requirement of the project, each adding an element to the whole work. The initial visit and concept proposal were developed by the students of ETH Studio Basel and Berlage Institute Rotterdam. Comments and analytical writing were the scientific committee’s tasks. Creative documenting and live reporting were provided by the professional photographers and filmmakers. The Egyptian professors and students provided local expert knowledge. Everyone explored the place from his own perspective, and added his specific and independent vision to the work. The rule was ‘Everyone is right, but no one is correct’: it is not about meeting on one opinion, as each of them has for sure shown a different solution, but everyone assumed his own task in his own field. What groups them is simply practical thinking, accomplishment responsibility, and the awareness of the problem.

Design solutions started to appear in the last phase of the research. The project is divided into 3 scales: The first scale (Valley) proposed a reasonable and controlled extension of the urban mass with the aim of directing it towards the already planned new cities. It seeks to limit the chaotic expansion of villages and cities in the old fabric, as well as avoiding the foolish rush to build desert edge ghost towns. The second level (City) developed and updated the design of the new Sohag City adopting densification concepts, which might save the recently built city that is now filled with concrete and bricks but not with population or social services. The proposal also reduces the bizarre contrast in building shapes, heights, proportions or empty spaces between this new desert cities and the classic valley towns. Finally, the third level (Village) proposes the introduction of some technical and architectural solutions, which are basically a set of tools with ancient concept but advanced in technique, aiming at organizing and facilitating basic life needs in the Valley. These devices have been proposed on the base of an equation with variables: water consumption, agriculture and population, and supported by elements like: education, energy production and transportation.

The transformation of the Nile Valley into the Nile City doesn’t mean that we need to start thinking of the colors of the official flag or of the unified symbol. This transformation is basically a sober organizational process aiming at saving what can be saved in a reality that misses – and to an incredible extent – the understanding of the problems of its urban and natural environment. The proposal adopts an easy and repeated strategy, following the extreme geographical, climatic and socioeconomic similarity between cities and villages of the Valley. If problems are similar, then solutions are again similar. The Nile City project doesn’t propose genius solutions, the intelligence of the proposal lies in its core knowledge of solution finding.

After being exhibited and published worldwide; it was inevitable to present this work in Egypt, inviting experts, decision makers and the whole society to get to know the project and to discuss it through the exhibition, the conference as well as this book. We imagine that this publication will be crucial especially because we are currently living in a time where the society is desperately seeking guidance to face reality and to improve its condition, not to be promised with fantasies, but to seek up what is new and practical, and not what is chronic and delusionary.