الفهرس 
Urban DevelopmentOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
In many modern cities automobiles are convenient and sometimes necessary to move easily. When it comes to automobile use, there is an escalating effect where traffic congestion produces the ’demand’ for more and bigger roads and removal of ’impediments’ to traffic flow, such as pedestrians, signalized crossings, traffic lights, cyclists, and various forms of street-based public transit, such as trams.
These measures make automobile use more pleasurable and advantageous at the expense of other modes of transport, so greater traffic volumes are induced. Additionally, the urban design of cities adjusts to the needs of automobiles in terms of movement and space. Buildings are replaced by parking lots. Open air shopping streets are replaced by enclosed shopping malls. Walk-in banks and fast-food stores are replaced by drive-in versions of themselves that are inconveniently located for pedestrians.
These kinds of environments require automobiles to access them, thus inducing even more traffic onto the increased road space. This results in congestion, and the cycle continues. Roads get ever bigger, consuming ever greater tracts of land previously used for housing, manufacturing and other socially and economically useful purposes. Public transit becomes less and less viable and socially stigmatized, eventually becoming a minority form of transportation. People’s choices and freedoms to live functional lives without the use of the car are greatly reduced. Such cities are automobile dependent.
Global trends indicate that automobile dependency is increasing at a tremendous pace especially in developing countries – much faster than the provision of roadway and transport infrastructure.
Cairo, as a rapid growing city, has been experiencing major urban change since the introduction of the “New Administrative Capital” project in 2015. This rapid urbanization has resulted in the remarkable transformation of its urban environment and the disappearance of traditional neighborhoods that were replaced by modern mega real-estate developments, public buildings, and infrastructure projects. Currently a mega development project; the Greater Cairo urban planning and development project, is introducing new infrastructure projects; roads and bridges, that are expected to impact the city in an unprecedented way. Automobile oriented projects are intended to provide generous opportunities to reduce traffic congestion while linking Giza and west Cairo areas to east Cairo suburbs and the new administrative capital through a network of roads and bridges.
Among these projects was the Heliopolis district development project that started acting in September 2018. The project reshapes the traffic axes that connect Heliopolis to Suez in the east, to prepare them for the fast-growing traffic movement to New Cairo and Egypt’s New Capital now under construction 40km east of Cairo. The project implements 11 bridges (at the time of this study) that cross over Heliopolis main squares substituting for the roundabouts in favor of a free-connection district.
Since the beginning of this project, it has been controversial with views in favor and others against. Major changes with issues of walkability, land-use, safety, noise levels, image and identity of the district have raised resilience from residents who felt they were losing their home place in favor of an auto-dependent district rather than a multi-modal district (as was originally planned). On the other hand, there were optimistic views that the project will raise the quality of an old district through upgrading its infrastructure network.
from a professional point of view the Heliopolis development project introduces the following questions: What is the expected impact of these auto-oriented projects on the quality of life of neighborhood residents, especially neighborhoods with a cultural heritage? And how do we evaluate such a model in order to come up with urban design strategies and legislation that are needed to achieve maximum benefit from this vast investment?
To address these concerns, the research investigates the concept of “automobile dependency” and compares it against “transit-oriented development” approach. Furthermore, the research investigates how these approaches impact the “quality of life”. Quality of life is a complex, multidimensional construct that requires multiple approaches from different theoretical perspectives. To relate this concept to the case at hand, quality of life domains are investigated to deduce a number of indicators that are closely related to urban life, and which can be referred to as “quality of urban life” indicators. These indicators are subsequently used to assess the quality of urban life in Heliopolis; the district selected for the case study.
The case study approach is selected to investigate the impact of urban development in a district with rich cultural heritage, Heliopolis/Cairo, on neighborhood satisfaction. Neighborhood satisfaction is chosen as an indicator of the quality of urban life. The methodology incorporated in this study is divided into two phases. The first phase was concerned with data collection using two tools: first, a site survey to document the changes that have been made to the urban fabric, and second, an online survey to assess neighborhood satisfaction within seven domains: The physical built environment, travel, social life, walkability and physical activity, safety and security, leisure, and subjective well-being. Data gathering is then followed by a thematic analysis of the statistical results to explain frequencies and trends in social behavior, as well as correlations between the physical environment and physical as well as mental well-being.
Findings suggest that cultural heritage, whether tangible (built) or intangible (intellectual), is a key component of subjective well-being and consequently neighborhood satisfaction. Demographic factors such as age, physical ability, and social status have a strong impact on neighborhood satisfaction. Furthermore, Place identity, accessibility, safety, and perceived quality of space have all shown positive correlations to neighborhood satisfaction.
Since Egypt is going to be highly urbanized in the recent future, more and more “Quality of life” research is needed to streamline the future urban development of the country. It is essential for policymakers to recognize the possible challenges of urban development and the need for creating effective and equitable regeneration policies.