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Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces

(NUOS): A case study on Rod El Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo

Article  in  AEJ - Alexandria Engineering Journal · September 2019

DOI: 10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011

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Place making as an approach to revitalize

Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case
study on Rod El Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo
Nehad S. Abd El Gawad a,*, Khalid S. Al-Hagla a,b, Dina M. Nassar a

a
Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Al-Shatby, Alexandria, Egypt
b
Faculty of Architectural Engineering, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon

Received 22 May 2019; revised 10 August 2019; accepted 22 August 2019

KEYWORDS Abstract In recent decades, urban renewal policies and continuous economic demand have caused
Neglected Urban Open the urban fabric of cities to become disorganized and detached, thus creating socially and econom-
Spaces; ically inefficient spaces. These spaces are increasing, unoccupied, and purposeless, although they
Leftover space; have so many potentials in terms of location, size, and history. They are military sites, vacant plots,
Place-making; industrial sites, deteriorated waterfronts, leftover space, oversized streets, and socially inefficient
Revitalization & successful green spaces. All of the aforementioned spaces are called ‘‘Neglected Urban Open Spaces” (NUOS).
spaces This paper places emphasis on using a place-making approach to revitalize the NUOS, particularly
‘‘Leftover Space (LS)”. Such revitalization shall be accomplished through following the principles
and forms of Place-Making, which proved that the integration of more than one form of place-
making can achieve intertwined multiple social, economic, and environmental benefits. Besides, it
highlighted that each section of place-making criteria does not have an equal interconnectedness
with the main objective of Place-making, which is to ‘‘create successful spaces”. Thus, this result
is considered as a methodological way to be generalized on the whole Egyptian community to
develop NUOS particularly ‘‘Leftover Space, no matter how different the properties, characteris-
tics, and circumstances of its population were. Finally, to demonstrate the validity of this approach,
the paper applies it to Rod El Farag Flyover in Egypt, Cairo, Shoubra district as a case study of
Leftover Space.
Ó 2019 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction

One of the major issues that give rise to underused or neglected

spaces is that architectural design and city planning are sepa-
* Corresponding author. rately outlined. These spaces can fall under many terms, such
E-mail address: nehadabdelgawad@gmail.com (N.S. Abd El Gawad). as urban voids, dead, or forgotten spaces, which are anti-
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria spaces, without a distinctive shape and definition, with hardly
University.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
1110-0168 Ó 2019 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
2 N.S. Abd El Gawad et al.
any measurement [15] Thus they either lack the sense of bal-
ance, well-being, cues of environment, or lose their memories
and meanings [16] On the ground, this terminology includes
‘‘leftover spaces, highways voids, vacant land, deteriorated
waterfront, sunken plazas, and vast parking lots”. On the
sociability level, they include parks, streets, and public green
spaces, which no longer serve as a social place for the commu-
nity [15,17]. Recent inclinations seek to exploit and develop
such unused spaces to serve the best interest of the public
realm, through the direct involvement of the community,
whereas public engagement is the key to the success of any pro-
ject. One of the successful development mechanisms is ‘‘Place-
making (PL)”, which could convert these urban voids to strong
elements within the urban fabric, rather than using them for
dumping debris and encroachments. This renovation trend
isn’t a new concept, where it is drawn from the Place Theory,
which aims to understand the places within their urban context
to add identity and image to the city. Thus this paper investi-
gates Place-making as an approach to develop NUOS specifi-
cally leftover space (LS) existing next, along, or beneath
mobility elements like highways and railways [14] in harmony
with the needs of the community. It also addresses the interre-
lationships between the four sections of Place-making’s crite-
ria: ‘‘Access & linkages, Image & Comfort, Uses &
Activities, and Sociability” through analyzing this LS and
defining the most challenging barrier, along with shedding
light on the key factors to overcome this barrier. Afterward,
it explores the relationship between each section of place-
making’s criteria and the main objective of the PL process.
This paper follows a methodology that encompasses several
inquiry approaches, which are illustrated as follows:
It reviews the literature on a place-making approach based
on its ability to achieve urban development and the need for
the Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS) for development.
The paper uses the findings of a questionnaire as a part of
the analytical study of the research. This questionnaire is care-
fully developed to capture the perceptions of local stakeholders
towards the Leftover Space of Rod El Farag Flyover in Shou-
bra - Cairo. The questionnaire consists of two parts: the first
part was designed to evaluate the impact of highway construc-
tion on the surrounding environment in terms of ‘‘movement,
safety, accessibility, pollution, and privacy”. The second was
designed to measure the four sections of PL’s criteria, which
are Access & linkages, Image & Comfort, Uses & Activities,
and Sociability” to investigate the required improvements to
be made to this Leftover Space.
2. Place making as an approach to be adopted for urban
revitalization of NUOS (Galdini, 2016) and [6]
Conceptually, the term of Urban Revitalization refers to the
improvement of the livability of any urban area by improving
the quality of the environment in parallel with respecting the
socio-cultural aspects and features of the area [5]. Urban Revi-
talization is a multi-dimensional program, which can deal with
three axes ‘‘Place, Community, and Organizations or Rules”
[2] in order to restructure the physical, cultural, social, and
economic aspects of the deprived areas and spaces [6]. Urban
Revitalization can be achieved through four stages; Scoping,
Planning, Implementation, and Financing. Scoping includes per-
forming detailed analysis, while the Planning process aims at
Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
Fig. 1 Shows the role of place-making in creating new social
bonds. Source: [11].
defining the method of handling the problems, which lead to
creating deteriorated places within cities. So this stage implies
two policies: Urban Design by Place-Making Approach and
Cultural Heritage Conservation for the tangible and intangible
aspects of both community and buildings [4], using four tech-
niques ‘‘Conservation, Rehabilitation, Restoration, and Recon-
struction” [12]. The two previous stages are followed by the
processes of Implementation and Financing [3]. The compre-
hensive development can integrate these two policies together
to gain many advantages such as conserving heritage and cul-
ture, providing job opportunities, and improving life quality
[6,5] based on the scale and objectives of these projects.
Urban design has made it possible to achieve urban trans-
formation in many cities by adopting a place-making approach
[4], which is the focus of the study. Whereas Place-making has
proved its aptitude for renovating existing spaces or creating
newly livable, and meaningful places that offer various activi-
ties, through creative design and landscaping [11]. This tech-
nique depends on a fundamental principle ‘‘Community is the
expert” to promote the social involvement in all of the devel-
opment planning stages ‘‘Discovery, Planning, Design, Man-
agement, and Programming”. Additionally, this technique
relies on observing the environment and questioning the sur-
rounding people to explore their demands and needs [8,9].
Through this participatory planning, inhabitants can gain
many skills concerning communication, representation, man-
agement, and problem-solving to understand their setting in
a better way and modify the public realm to meet their needs
(Govender, 2015). Such participation shall form social bonds
among individuals towards a particular place ‘‘Place
attachment, place identity, and place dependence” Fig. 1 [11].
Thus the designed places shall have a strong emotional connec-
tion and value for the people [7].
Each city faces some urban challenges, such as lack of pub-
lic space within the urban context, and lack of public spaces
planning due to considering these spaces as areas within the
commercial malls and private buildings. Further challenges
such as lack of participation & poor design can be encountered
owing to the lack of an integrated program that includes differ-
ent stakeholders [10]. Thus Place-making program has a trans-
Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS) 3

formative agenda that is customized based on these challenges.

One of the issues listed in this agenda is building community
through transportation by improving streets to serve as a public
space for social and economic exchange while respecting the
hierarchy of the mobility paths. The second issue on this
agenda is building local economies through establishing Public
Markets, which are more dynamic and productive places for
achieving social interactions and helping small businesses to
grow. The third is creating public multi-use destinations, such
as ‘‘Parks, greenways, recreational areas, Plazas, and squares
with ‘‘performances and events” to build civic pride and social
connections, based on the style of design and management [7].
The fourth is establishing community anchors & architecture of
place by providing the community with beneficial places like
libraries, civil buildings, religious institutions, and cultural
institutions, ‘‘theaters & museums”. This civic activity shall
increase the liveliness between the adjacent neighborhoods.
The fifth is linking a public health agenda to public space by
paying attention to improving the basic infrastructure such Fig. 2 Shows types of place-making. Source: [7], modified by the
as; clean water, facilities, sewage treatment, the psychological author.
need for safety, and encouraging the walkability principle. the place vision on the bases of the ‘‘selected form of place-
making and missing activities” while respecting the value of
2.1. Forms of place-making for the urban revitalization of the space simultaneously. This also activates an experimental step
NUOS based on the triangulation principle. The last step is ‘‘On-
Going re-evaluation & Long Term Improvements”, which is
The contents of the previous transformative agenda are applied accomplished through running continuous evaluation to reas-
based on four forms of place-making, which are different in sure stakeholders and develop a long–term management and
terms of funding, problems, and outcomes. These forms inter- maintenance plan [9].
sect together at a focal point creating ‘‘Successful Places”. The
first type is ‘‘Standard place-making”, which aims to ‘‘improve 2.2. The criteria of place-making approach to create successful
space” for communities, which suffer from lack of livable pub- places
lic spaces, by promoting many separate long-term small
projects or activities [9,13,7]. The second type is ‘‘Strategic By evaluating many cases of vital public spaces around the
Place-making”, which seeks to achieve a specific goal, such as world, Project for Public Spaces (PPS), which is a nonprofit
‘‘an economic or infrastructural development” to attract or organization and the central hub of the global place-making
revive the business, in addition to the main aim, which is to movement, and it managed to use the outcomes of this evalu-
‘‘improve Space” [7]. It targets central locations that can serve ation to formulate this criterion to create vibrant places [9].
as projects of green pathways, waterfronts, entertainment facil- PPS developed the Place Diagram of this criterion to include
ities, or social gatherings places, and constructs rapid transit four sections which are ‘‘Access & Linkage, Comfort & Image,
lines [13]. The third type is ‘‘Creative Place-making”, which
depends on promoting and restoring the community’s identity,
through the creation of an artistic environment via cultural
activities of structures and streetscapes, such as museums, art
exhibitions, and outdoor public art displays [13,7]. The last type
is ‘‘Tactical place-making” which is appropriate for communi-
ties suffering from lack of funding. It hinges on small-scale
developments, along with adopting a new policy of low-cost
‘‘experimentation”- without any political and financial commit-
ments [1] such as promoting outdoor events in town, squares,
and pop-up cafes [7]. Furthermore, the three specialized forms
can be applied simultaneously to gain more benefits; each form
intersects with the other at a specific point thus creating the
elements to be adopted to develop NUOS, as in Fig. 2.
All of these forms of Place-making pass through four main
steps depending on the holistic vision of the community [9].
The first step is to Define Place & Identify Stakeholders to
detect the main concerns, obstacles, and different stakeholders,
such as residents, organizations, and civil bodies. The second
step is to Evaluate Space & Identify Issues by holding an
observation workshop to define the current use of space, its Fig. 3 Shows place-making criteria required to create successful
dimensions, and how to develop it. The third step is to outline places. Source: www.pps.org.

Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
4 N.S. Abd El Gawad et al.

Uses & Activities, and Sociability”, and they serve as the

cornerstone of place-making application, as in Fig. 3.
The First section is Access & Linkage, which is concerned
with how space is connected to its surroundings both visually
and physically. A successful public space has a clear and visible
approach that can be seen from a far. It has to be well- con-
nected to the surrounding buildings through sidewalks, streets
to heighten the perception of the users and passers towards the
place. The section of Access & Linkage investigates the diver-
sity of transportation options including: bus, train, vehicles,
bicycle, etc. to facilitate access to the leftover space.
The second section is Comfort & Image, which is related to
the success of the space. When a space is comfortable, it can
represent itself well and leave a good image in people’s minds.
Consequently, this section includes how individuals feel
towards the LS, in terms of safety and cleanliness, in addition Fig. 4 Shows the location of Rod el Farag flyover between
to the individuals’ perception of the adjacent buildings and the neighborhoods to connect them together .Source: Google- Earth
place’s character. Furthermore, this section involves the avail- modified by the author- 2019.
ability of seats and their location near the sun and shade to
attract users to use it. As for Uses & Activities, they are con-
sidered the main reason why do people often visit and use a
space. Activities can convert any space into a different new
spot, that is distinguishable among the city’s other public
spaces based on their diversity, and the opportunities provided
to users to participate in them. These activities must achieve a
good balance between the genders of users (males/females) of
all ages to ensure the continuity of utilizing them throughout
the day. The last section is Sociability, which cannot be easily Leftover Space
obtained within LS. Sociability involves the feeling of readi- Aghakhan Park
ness to interact comfortably with people, particularly stran- Green Club
gers. It investigates the impacts of the social classes of users Shoubra St.
on their sense of place and attachment. In addition, this sec- Landmark
tion identifies how people use the space as groups, or individ- (Khazendar Mosque,
Mohamed Ali Palace
ually, and whether people know each by name through using
& Saint Teresa
the space. Finally, it is concerned with users’ participation in Church
keeping the space in a good condition [9].

3. Case study of a leftover space (LS) in Egypt ‘‘Cairo City-

Shoubra district
Actually, Cairo has many flyovers, which created physical bar-
riers that obstruct the continuity of the city’s physical form.
The formed wasted outdoor spaces were used for criminal
activities, or as landfills, and parking lots. Therefore the anal-
ysis of the case study of the leftover space of Rod El Farag fly-
over at Shoubra District in Cairo was created to prove its
potentials for various community facilities. This analysis was
created based on place-making criteria, ‘‘Access & Linkage,
Comfort & Image”, &Uses & activities and Sociability”, by
the author during site observations and local interviews to
apply the Standard Place-making form aiming to improve its
current condition.
The purpose of this bridge is to connect Shoubra district to
the following districts: Imbaba, Al-Warraq, and Giza, as in
Fig. 4. So this LS is located between two neighborhoods ‘‘El
Sahel & Rod El Farag‘‘. Generally, this district has a vital
architectural value since it encompasses many unique histori-
cal buildings, such as: ’Mohamed Ali, Omar Toson Palace,
Saint Teresa Church, Khazandar Mosque, and Aghakhan
Park (Currently demolished), as in Fig. 5.
Fig. 5 Shows the location of LS between the surrounding
landmarks. Source: Google- Earth modified by the author-2019.
3.1. Researcher’s observations
 Access & linkage
The first criterion ‘‘Access and Linkage” aims at describing
the accessibility relationship between the leftover space of Rod
El Farag flyover and the surrounding environment to define
its approach. Whereas the urban form of Shoubra district is
essentially represented by the main street ‘‘Shoubra St.”, which
expands and intersects with other streets to create an integrated
pattern of grid and irregular ‘‘tree” form. Following the survey
and observation method, it was found that the flyover space of
Rod El Farag is surrounded by six squares, and accessed by
all means of transportation, including: ‘‘Metro, bus, microbus,
minibus, and railways” to pick up people from and to different
destinations as in Fig. 6. Thus the traffic volume of the sur-
rounding streets varies between high to moderate or over-
crowded at low speed, but the speed ranges tend to increase to
high within the parallel streets. The pedestrian movement is dif-
ficult due to the lack of pedestrian sidewalks and pavements.

Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS)
Fig. 6 Shows The surrounding accessibility’s forms ‘‘streets,
paths, mobility’s elements” and traffic speed. Source: Urban
Planning Authority- modified by the author-2019.
 Comfort & image
The criterion of Comfort & Image concerns with the sense of
comfort in terms of safety, cleanliness, the availability of seats
within, and surrounds the leftover space of Rod El Farag,
besides the typology of the surrounding environment to leave
a good impression within users’ minds [9]. The leftover space
‘‘LS” is divided into two parts with different scales, with a total
area of 8 acres, as in Fig. 7. The first part includes an unplanned
waterfront promenade populated by homeless people. The other
part is a vacant space overlooking a waterfront and used as a
warehouse for the remains of Abu El Ella Bridge, under the
supervision of the ‘‘Armed Forces‘‘. This LS suffers from lack
of maintenance, and cleanliness, besides there are no seats
within it as a whole. As for the surrounding buildings, they are
in a deteriorated state, in specific, Souq Al Balah w Al-Ghelal
(Dates and Crops Market), which is used as stores, and serve
as the district’s commercial zone (Urban Planning Authority).
 Uses & activities
It depends on how often do people of both genders and all
ages tend to participate in activities within this LS, either indi-
vidually or in groups [9]. Initially, the first part of the LS is an
unplanned waterfront promenade that lost its social role as an
entertainment space because of the poor design and the lack of
landscape facilities that alienate people to use it; as in Fig. 8.
The second part of this promenade is used as parking lots
for public transport. Generally, this promenade is used only
as a transportation platform for the public, with not so many
frequent users. As for the second part of the LS ‘‘vacant
space”, it doesn’t have any active current activity or use, where
it’s only used as a store as stated in the previous point. More-
over, by observing the layout of vacant space, there are some
light poles and some spots of green spaces with different trees,
as in Fig. 8. On the other hand, this part of the LS ‘‘vacant
space” is surrounded by passive green open spaces, and boat
marina and the surrounding buildings mostly have residential
and commercial activities.
Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
5
Fig. 7 Shows LS, which is divided into two parts with different
scales. Source: Google- Earth modified by the author-2019.
 Sociability
The last section is ‘‘Sociability”, which refers to the social
life of people, who belong to different categories in terms of
age, gender, and class, to instill a strong sense of place and
attachment among them towards their community. Firstly,
the leftover space is considered as an abandoned space, spe-
cially the second part of it (promenade). This promenade failed
to bring people closer to the Nile, whether in groups or indi-
vidually, because of the solid fences that hinder establishing
visual connection between the people and the waterfront as
in Fig. 8. By observation, it was found that the dominant gen-
der around the perimeter of the leftover space is mostly males.
Then the presence of women and children start to increase
around the residential area. As for the surrounding environ-
ment, the typology of the prevailing activity, a namely com-
mercial activity that represented by vendors, shops, and
malls- could give people the opportunity to interact together
and introduce themselves to others.
Indeed Shourba district had a variety of social classes over
the time. In the past, the population structure of this district
included different classes ranging from royal families to aristo-
cratic class members, who had a strong sense of place and
attachment towards their community. Nowadays almost all res-
idents are workers, displaced peasants, and wealth holders, who
are concerned with sharing the economic structure of ‘‘private-
business owners” rather than enhancing the sense of place and
attachment. So, private business owners represent 70.2% and
35.2% of the population of the two selected neighborhoods
‘‘El Sahel & Rod El Farag”, as per (Urban Planning Authority).
3.2. Interviews analysis
As an integral part of the analytical studies, a field study-
including survey interviews and questionnaires with the
residents.
 Access & linkage
In the past, the first part of the LS ‘‘vacant space” could be
accessed through the stairs of the promenade, located beside
the gate before its closure, as in Fig. 8. Nowadays, this part
of the LS is closed and access is forbidden. As for the pedes-
6 N.S. Abd El Gawad et al.

Fig. 8 Shows some shots of the leftover space of Rod El Farag flyover ‘‘taken by the author’s camera-2019”.

trian movement, it is not safe enough because of the traffic
congestion due to the movement of vehicles and popular trans-
portation ‘‘Tok-Tok”. There are insufficient pedestrian side-
walks and pavements around LS. Consequently, crossing the
parallel streets to reach the LS, the promenade in specific,
exposes the pedestrians to danger. Besides, people can’t iden-
tify the approach of LS’s location from theses streets. On the
other hand, almost all of the residential streets have a strong
connection with the streets parallel to the LS to facilitate
access to it as in Fig. 6.
this leftover space has no effective social use, and turning into
a vacant space without users, as in Fig. 8. In addition, the lack
of comfort leads to a low density of walkability activity in the
first part of the LS (promenade). On the other hand, this left-
over space has a large area of non-used space, which qualifies it
to be a part of the public realm through converting it to be a
new vital livable social space, capable of restoring the relation-
ship between the individuals and the great Nile. Thus to make
this LS lively, there is a need to add activities, and programs
for all age groups throughout the day, and weekends.

 Comfort & image

Firstly, the leftover space suffers from lack of cleanliness,

and security because of the spread of criminals and drug deal-
ers, who can access it through the upper stairs of the bridge.
Generally, people don’t have a sense of comfort because of
some certain reasons; lack of seats, installing metal fences on
the railings in front of the waterfront, the poor condition of
the structure of bridge, the disgraceful condition of the Nile’s
water with random green plants, the deterioration of the
waterfront building’s features (Materials and windows), and
the widespread presence of beggars in the LS, particularly in
the promenade as in Fig. 8. These negative specifics had
impacts on the impression of the LS within residents’ minds
in specific women and children- who can’t approach the LS,
especially at night. On the other hand, the overlapping
between the upper tracks of this flyover creates leftover space
with a variation of sunlight and heights overlooking the Nile’s
waterfront. Besides, it is considered the start point of the Nile
front in Cairo for passers, with strong access to the main road
‘‘El Corniche‘‘.

 Uses & activities

The previous prevailing activity of LS before the construc-

tion of the flyover was providing entertainment and artistic
activities for residents, including a marina for boats, 8 open- Fig. 9 Shows the previous use of the Leftover space as boats
air artistic theatres, cafes, and casinos, as in Fig. 9. Nowadays, marina and cafes. Source: http://www.tadamun.com.

Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS)
 Sociability
In the past, the previous activity made people choose it reg-
ularly to eat, enjoy and relax to relieve the pressures of life.
The mixing of various activities at LS could bring people of
different ages, and ethnic groups to interact together. Also,
this leftover space holds previous artistic value and memories
in residents’ minds. Now the presence of people is dwindling,
especially women and children, due to lack of activities and
facilities within the LS and the poor design of the layout of
the parallel street in terms of ‘‘street lighting, furniture, trees,
etc”. Thus, the LS is not an attractive and safe space for all
gender of all ages. At the end of the interview, people showed
their desire and ability to volunteer, which is considered as a
helpful point in improving the LS and enhancing the sense
of place and attachment.
3.3. Discussion
Initially, the questionnaire was conducted on a sample of 100
residents representing the local community of Shoubra district,
on the bases of the main place-making principle. The sample
included a huge range of the various categories available among
community members, with a variety of criteria. The participants
in the questionnaire were asked to answer five groups of ques-
tions. The first group aimed at gathering general information
about them, including gender, age, education, and their relation
to the district. The second group of questions investigated the
impact of the construction of this flyover on all of the district’s
aspects in terms of safety, movement, activity, buildings, and
waterfront. The third group investigated the four indicators
of place-making approach ‘‘Accessibility, Image & Comfort,
Activities & Sociability” to look at people’s vision and aspira-
tions toward developing this neglected space. Every section
was scored according to Likert Scale, which is a five-level assess-
ment tool to score the residents answers. The results of the sur-
vey showed that the average ratings of the four indicators were
2.9077, 3.1423, 3.1195, 3.1808 (Out of 5), and 3.4769 for the fifth
indicator (the impact of the constructed flyover).
Other questions were asked regarding the activities indica-
tor in order to determine and arrange the desired activities.
Besides, five community-related questions were asked about
place-making interventions. The questions were as follows:
 How do you feel about the concrete form of bridge’s com-
ponents? How can you develop it?
 What’s you evaluation of the stairs? How can we deal with
it in terms of design?
 Would you like to add interactive items and landscape ele-
ments to the space?
 How would you like to manage this LS? How to implement
this management method??
 Do you prefer to hold celebrations and events in this area?
Answers to the questions showed that 42.6% of the partic-
ipants were in favor of ‘‘adding activity”, while 49.5% were in
favor of having an open air structure. 52.5% of the respon-
dents were feeling ‘‘distressed” about the concrete form, while
52.5% supported the use of billboards. 38.6% of the respon-
dents evaluated the stairs as a ‘‘hazard source”, and 52.5%
supported ‘‘demolishing” it. As for interactive items, 62.4%
Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
7
of the participants liked the suggestion, and 59.5% accepted
the idea of using the space to hold events. At the end of the
questionnaire, they were asked about ‘‘How to manage the
new LS”. The majority of the respondents (37.6%) supported
assigning the management of the new LS to a private sector,
while 32.7% were in favor of leasing the LS in return for a
monthly rent.
The responses asserted that the community needs to re-
revitalize this leftover space of Rod El Farag flyover instead
of leaving it in such deteriorated condition. Table 1 indicates
the applicability of social discussion based on a questionnaire
about Place-making of the space of rod El Farag flyover.
74.2% of the respondents expressed their overall dissatisfac-
tion with the current state of this LS, and how such LS could
create many NUOS with negative impacts on the surrounding
environment in terms of safety and environmental pollution
(The Nile’s water), which affected the numbers of pedestrians
enjoying this waterfront.
As for the four indicators of ‘‘Comfort & Image, ‘‘Access &
Linkage”, ‘‘Sociability”, and ‘‘Uses & activities”, 61.4% of
the respondents expressed their acceptance of the dimensions
of LS, and its surroundings because of its previous image
and memories. Yet the setting suffers from uncleanness and
insecurity. Such non-cleanliness, and insecurity leave a bad
impression in their minds and have an adverse influence also
on the real estate value of the surrounding waterfront, which
requires making many modifications to attract people again
to the Nile’s life. As for Accessibility, 45.5% of respondents
denoted the visibility of LS’s approach from the main road
thus facilitating the access to means of transportation from dif-
ferent destinations. Hence, this LS is highly accessible.
As for ‘‘Activities”, 60.4% of the respondents expressed
their need for commercial, social, cultural, and recreational
services as in Table 1. The following are the desired activities
arranged by the priorities of the respondent’s as in Figs. 10
and 11; recreational activities, walking & biking lanes, perfor-
mance theaters, clubs, boating, and skating. As for the social
activities, they included ‘‘Open space, Park, Playground,
Theme park, and Clubs”. As for the Economic aspect, the sug-
gested activities were: Restaurants, Cafes, Malls, Local mar-
ket, Vendors spaces, Plant nurseries, and florist shops. The
Cultural suggestions included: Theatres & Cinemas, Occasions
Hall, Exhibitions, Cultural Arts Center, and Museums. As for
Construction, the desired structures were: hotels, residential
units, and administrative buildings and services. All of these
choices were arranged respectively.
The last indicator ‘‘Sociability”: all of the respondents
approved the need for the development of the LS, which
affects their feeling of pride as residents or even passers. Such
development shall have positive effects on the social behaviors
and attitude towards the Nile. Actually, there is a pressing
need to regenerate the environment in different ways. More-
over, 57.4% of respondents linked their feeling of attachment
and sense of place to the process of improving this leftover
space. This proved the credibility of place-making outcomes
such as: creating new relations and achieving social bonds
and cohesion through making this new space available for
the public. The respondents were in support of the idea of
mixed activities to spread a new spirit of hospitality and attract
social network. All respondents expressed their desire to par-
ticipate in this process by criticizing, developing, and voting
on the proposals.
8 N.S. Abd El Gawad et al.

Table 1 Shows the ratios of the answers of the questionnaire (The author by SPSS program-2019).
Questions No Yes Not Mean Std Strength
sure Deviation of
Opinion
Impact of Are you satisfied with the current condition of the LS? 74.2% 17.8% 7.9% 2.02 1.256 Disagree
High way Did the bridge create many NUOS in the urban fabric of the 38.6% 46.5% 14.9% 3.08 1.442 Agree
district?
Did the negative effect of the space under the bridge overpower the 22.8% 58.4% 18.8% 3.47 1.237 Agree
positive effect?
Sections of Comfort Is the LS safe for people, and passers while crossing it? 71.3% 21.8% 6.9% 2.10 1.325 Disagree
PL’s criteria & Image Is there any scheduled cleaning and/or maintenance 60.4% 18.8% 20.8% 2.27 1.273 Disagree
process done at the site from time to time?
Are the dimensions of the LS and its surrounding 33.7% 61.4% 5.0% 3.52 1.466 Agree
environment convenient for you?
Access Can you reach the LS from the surrounding squares? 21.8% 62.8% 15.8% 3.55 1.212 Agree
&Linkages Can you use a variety of transportation means ‘‘train, 34.7% 52.5% 12.9% 3.24 1.3222 Almost
Bus, Metro” to reach LS?
Is it difficult to recognize the LS from the main road? 45.5% 16.8% 37.6% 3.0 1.713 Almost
Uses & Is there a lack of ‘‘commercial, social, cultural, 24.8% 60.4% 14.9% 3.50 1.285 Agree
Activities recreational services‘‘ within the surrounding
environment?
Do you like to mix activities at the same time? 46.5% 34.5% 9.9% 2.86 1.496 Almost
Does the location of the LS affect your choice of the 29.7% 63.3% 6.9% 3.51 1.368 Agree
activity?
Sociability Will renovating the LS restore\increase your feeling of 35.6% 57.4% 6.9% 3.18 1.598 Almost
attachment?
Can the renovation of the LS achieve social interaction 31.7% 90.2% 9.9% 3.297 1.473 Almost
and create new friends?
Do you mind participating in the decision making 45.5% 37.6% 16.8% 1.713 0.739 Almost
process?

Construction
Activity
Cultural Activity
Economic
Activity
Social Activity
Recreational
Activity
0 1 2 3 4

Fig. 10 Shows a chart of the arrangement of the desired

activities. Source: The author by SPSS program-2019.
The correlation between each section of place-making crite-
ria, and the main objective of PL, namely ‘‘creating successful
places”, was detected to determine the statistic impact of each
section on achieving PL’s objective efficiently. By calculating
Pearson correlation coefficient to measure this relationship, it
was found that the correlation coefficient of all sections is sta-
tistically significant with a perfect positive value of 0.01 of level
(2-tailed), whereas 0.01 refers to the error value of the change
of results and opinions, and the p-value of all indicators is
almost (0.00), which is less than (0.01) Table 2. From the pre-
vious table, the most influential section of the place-making
approach is Activities, where Pearson Correlation coefficient
Fig. 11 Shows a chart of the arrangement of the priorities of
activities of the desired activities. Source: The author by SPSS
program-2019.
showed a high value of (0.616), so it has a strong and parallel
relationship with converting the LS to a re-vitalized space. The
following section is Accessibility with a value of (0.542), fol-
lowed by Sociability with a value of (0.432), and finally Image
& Comfort with a value of ‘‘0.376”. Thus, the success of revi-
talizing LS through adopting place-making approach depends
essentially on the arrangement of the sections of PL criteria
respectively. The aforementioned sections can be arranged as
follows: Uses & Activities, Access & Linkage, Sociability,
and Image & Comfort.

Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS)
Table 2 Shows the correlation between each part of Place-
making criteria and the main objective ‘‘Successful places‘‘
(Source: The author by SPSS program-2019).
Indicators of PL’s criteria Pearson P-Value
Correlation
Image &comfort 0.376** 0.001
Access &linkage 0.542** 0.000
Uses & Activities 0.616** 0.000
Sociability 0.432** 0.000
**
Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
4. Conclusion
This paper has discussed Place-making as one of the
approaches of Urban Revitalization, which is used for improv-
ing Neglected Urban Open Space (NUOS) within a specific
Leftover Space. Firstly NUOS can offer multiple chances, such
as improving the economic level and infrastructure of cities,
especially providing communities with successful social zones,
for example, public gathering spaces with attractive activities.
The availability of public spaces and activities shall engage the
people and enrich the public realm with a high level of social
interaction. Thus communities need to take these advantages
of NUOS to overcome the urban challenges.
Secondly, Place-making was discussed to prove its aptitude
for improving NUOS and creating active places while respect-
ing and enhancing community needs. Applying this approach
requires conducting a detailed analysis of the urban form
and socio-economic aspects of the area, in addition to enhanc-
ing community engagement in the development process as a
qualitative and quantitative tool. Place-making has four forms,
which are; Standard PL, Strategic PL, Creative PL, and Tacti-
cal PL, each one of them can provide the community with a
variety of successful places. However, they are different in
terms of the scope and /or purpose of developing the Neglected
Urban Open Space (NUOS). Standard place-making is consid-
ered as a universal form, which aims only to create livable pub-
lic space for a long time. But the others are specialized place-
making forms, which have a main goal besides improving
NUOS. Strategic PL targets NUOS with important locations
to achieve economic outcomes; Creative PL provides the com-
munity with cultural activities to promote its identity. Lastly,
Tactical place-making can create a temporarily active public
space at low cost through small short-term activities and pro-
jects. Thus many profits can be gained by mixing many forms
of place-making to take advantage of their multiple benefits in
developing NUOS. The application of Place-making follows a
criterion, which is divided into four parts Access & linkages,
Comfort & Image, Uses & Activities, and Sociability. Each
part of this criterion aims at increasing the success of improv-
ing NUOS through PL approach.
In general, the leftover space of flyover is one of the urban
open spaces within the city, which needs to be used and man-
aged well. The case of the Leftover Space of Rod El Farag in
Egypt evidenced that this space has a lot of potentials which
can be exploited by applying the standard place-making to
improve this space for people. By studying the four parts of
Place-making criteria ‘‘Access & Linkage, Comfort & Image,
Uses & Activities, and Sociability”, it’s proved that ‘‘Activities
& Accessibility” are the main drives of re-activating this
Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
9
non-used space. Meanwhile, activities must be attractive and
based on the social needs to ensure the continuous use and
increase accessibility within and around this LS. The other
key drives are Sociability, and Comfort & Image, whereas
Order Sociability depends on making LS more welcoming through
design elements and mixed uses to enhance the nightlife and
4 social interaction, and improve the Image and Comfort of
2 the LS to leave a good impression in people’s minds.
1 Furthermore, This case shed light on some of the required
3 points to revitalize this type of NUOS, such as the need for a
comprehensive management plan that encompasses different
stakeholders, such as the Bridge’s Engineers, City’s Leaders,
Local Government, and Urban planning bodies to study the
situation before constructing highway structures to see how
would such structure affect the surrounding environment,
and how to cooperate to take advantage of the leftover space
rather than setting it aside as an abandoned purposeless place.
Attention should be given to some of the raised concerns, for
example; increasing pedestrian movement flow from adjacent
streets with paying attention of disabled people paths,
providing a great deal of safety by installing traffic lights; con-
structing pavements and pedestrian bridges, and adding
enough facilities to the LS and its surrounding borders such
as; lights, enough seats, green areas, toilets, and fences. In
addition to renovating or handling the existing elements at
the leftover space like the upper entrance as in the case study.
Finally, the Nile must be treated as an important urban
waterway and recreational area. Furthermore, continuous
cleanliness programs must be scheduled to take care of its
cleanliness.
Based on the findings of this study, it was found that the
type of NUOS controls the choice of the appropriate Urban
Revitalization technique. In addition, the type of NUOS as a
leftover space can provide communities with a network of suc-
cessful and productive spaces by using the place-making as an
applicable approach to be adopted by city officials and plan-
ning authorities.
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Please cite this article in press as: N.S. Abd El Gawad et al., Place making as an approach to revitalize Neglected Urban Open Spaces (NUOS): A case study on Rod El
Farag Flyover in Shoubra, Cairo, Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.08.011
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