SEA   1917 1من اصل3

(SOCIETY OF EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTS)CITY SOUL
Prepared by: sheriff   abbassi & abbassi & seif  alnaga
Dose the city have a soul? Yes indeed! Thriving and livable cities do. Its sustainability is
the mission of its highly educated and enlightened populaces; in addition to the vision
of all of its local – tions , members of the private sector and government officials .
Livable, vibrant, sustainable and resilient cities are absolutely critical to our prosperity.
They are where the bulk of our economic growth can be found… and they in themselves
are economic assets .
If we are searching for the past and soul of a place we must consider how the town or
city grew. People coming together for worship, then   defence , then trade, their lives
carefully balanced with the   resources that could be brought within the walls. The city
allowed the exchange of ideas, of goods, and of culture which reinforced the
surrounding territory, and which, prior to the industrial revolution, stood in (often
enforced) balance with the surroundings .
But what the city has become in the industrial, and post – indus   trial, periods is evidence
enough of how far we have moved from a sustainable, and easily understood, urban
form, there are   basic resources for survival available in the urban core, but originating
we know not where .
The city still survives but at a price. Experts seldom start in the   sity  as a focus for
sustainable development. The urban environ – ment   offers the ultimate challenge in
terms of re- ordering our lives for survival .
So, if we are to reconstruct the city, recognizing the important cultural and economic
benefits which result from coming together, then it is to the future we must look in
terms of understanding and making places which reflect more fully any emerging belief
in a sustainable future .