In an attempt to address various issues facing the urban development of Cairo, the Institut Francais d’Egypte has been hosting a series of lectures by international experts.
During the final installment Sunday night, South African expert Carin Smuts examined sustainability as a tool for empowerment and community integration, rather than governance and urban management.
“Sustainable development is about loving and empowering people by providing them with the tools to satisfy their basic human needs while facilitating communication in order to eliminate cultural barriers and fear,” said Smuts, who won the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2008.
Although her work and presentation was focused on South African townships, the equivalent of Egypt’s informal settlements, her message applies to many developing countries, including Egypt.
Despite the fact that urban development depends on a variety of social, economic and environmental factors, Smuts said, its sustainability lies strongly with how and why such factors are addressed.
Urban planning should almost always be bottom-up as it establishes a sense of involvement and participation that is essential to the sustainability of a given community, she said.
“People are far more inclined to preserve and look after their community when they feel that they are the ones who envisioned and built it,” said Smuts. “Simple, but rarely done.”
This sits in stark contrast to top-down approaches that often allow politicians or developers to manipulate or take advantage of the community for their own enrichment.
“[Urban development] goes askew when it enters the political sphere or when there’s the dominance of a strong politician, as this allows for corruption and the abuse of weaker communities,” Smuts said.
Projects that start from the top without consulting the community about its needs can create social barriers that hinder development. These barriers then lead to the development of informal communities that feel the need to take matters into their own hands.
With approximately 60 percent of Egypt's population living in informal settlements, according to a 2009 population census, this problem is very relevant to the country’s growing urban landscape.
“True development is a matter of humbling oneself [to the desires of a community], rather than inflating one’s ego,” Smuts added.
Bottom-up solutions inspire community participation and help break down barriers, which fosters a heightened sense of dignity, involvement and empowerment that leads residents to preserve their own communities.
In this vein, Smuts advocated that there must be a change in urban planning ethics and that development should include knowledge sharing, workshops, interviews and public meetings in order to ensure participation, empowerment and sustainability.
“Sometimes the least likely and least educated people have the best advice,” continued Smuts, who explains that “urban planners shouldn’t try to make everything the way they see it.”
Engaging community members fosters discussions such as how much space should be between each building, what materials are preferred, the number of rooms each household needs or how sunlight and natural wind paths can be incorporated.
One example Smuts gave about South Africa involved installing kitchens as the first room in local houses, which allowed mothers to watch their kids in the street and protect their homes, seeing as that security is low and the father typically works during the day. Other lessons were as simple as placing the communal water facilities under a streetlight.
Smuts advocated that often what a community wants or needs is something small or idiosyncratic, such as an art program or a gym. If developers listen to these needs and accommodate the community’s desires, it establishes trust that allows for constructive communal development.
“Urban planning is about handing power over to a community,” Smuts concluded. “Workshops, education, personal relationships and persistence are the keys. You have to inspire the community energy, rather than trying to instill your own vision.”
