Course: Selected Topics in Architecture and Urban Design
Supervised by: Prof. Dr. Momen El-Husseiny
Co-Author: Shereen El-Garhy.
Poster done along with a 13 page thesis paper.
The Utopian Promise, Again?
A comparison between the discourse of utopian promises used in marketing Gated Communities and Downtown Cairo.
Intro:
This paper documents, analyzes, and compares the different utopian promises made by marketeers for the ongoing investment projects in Downtown Cairo as well as private gated communities. This comparison is stemming from the argument that all development typologies have a similar basis of promising a better quality of life, better amenities etc.,, in order to fill a gap that was left by the inaptitude of a central government. Due to the lack of suitable, long term, and efficient planning strategies, these projects’ promises are analysed according to advertisements, published documents, flyers, websites, personal statements from stakeholders, etc.,, all in an attempt to grasp the mission and vision of every project, as well as portray said promises in a comparative manner.
These projects differ greatly in scale (both geographical and temporal), that was taken into consideration when writing and comparing the projects, the ownership of projects is also a very important piece of information to consider when reading the paper, as the ownership seems to coincide with how detailed the planning schemes are, who the target client is as well as the motives for development.
These projects differ greatly in scale (both geographical and temporal), that was taken into consideration when writing and comparing the projects, the ownership of projects is also a very important piece of information to consider when reading the paper, as the ownership seems to coincide with how detailed the planning schemes are, who the target client is as well as the motives for development.
