Spaces & Flows: Ninth International Conference on Urban and ExtraUrban Studies

Abstract

In times of oppression, people seek an outlet to practise their right to the city. They strive for spaces where they can freely gather and discuss issues related to substantial ideas. For a long time, Egypt was missing similar spaces where people could pursue their freedom of expression. A Canadian expat found it an opportunity to establish Townhouse-complex, a bohemian thoroughfare frequented by activists and young artists in Downtown Cairo. This vigorous atmosphere helped this urban-pocket to serve as a refuge for protestors during the upheaval in 2011 until it was banned in 2016. The unique nature of this complex influenced the research to undertake intensive key-interviews and field observations reinforced by theoretical reviews. The goal was to unravel the measures that would transform a space to perform as a sociopolitical catalyst. Along the process of research, three parameters were proposed to examine the quality of such spaces; the rational parameter motive, the physical parameter geography and the sensory parameter senses. This paper questions at the end, in a mega-city like Cairo, to what extent a public space that is geographically accessible with the right motives and fulfillment of senses, can simultaneously adhere forced political censorship while practising the right to reclaim the city.