German University In Cairo

With the exhibition WADI URBANISM - FROM THREAT TO RESOURCE we aim to show the potential of wadis when it comes to climate adaptation through arid landscape regeneration as a tool for urban flood management, local food production and sustainable urban development together with different projects and partners working in the field.
Together we are looking at Wadi urbanism from three different perspectives: (1) Wadi Cities, (2) Learning From the Desert (3) Retrofitting Existing Cities.

With the theme of the 12th World Urban Forum “Starting at Home” with a focus on “Cities and the Climate Crisis” working with the specific landscape conditions on site, in this case the dynamic qualities of the natural desert topography, offer magnificent nature-based systems. These have the capacity to provide multiple economic, ecological and cultural benefits - as of yet largely untapped. With this exhibition we would like to advocate for a “Wadi Urbanism” to create new urban developments in the desert that are sustainable, inclusive and beautiful.

The project is a collaboration between the GUC Architecture and Urban Design Program, Cairo University, Faculty of Urban and Regional Planning and Umeå University School of Architecture with project examples from the National Desert Research Center in Egypt, the Al Baydha project in Saudi Arabia as well as blue-green flood adaptation measures for New Cairo and is linked to the publication Landscaping Egypt- From the Aesthetic to the Productive, Jovis Publishers, 2020.

Format of the exhibition will be a screen presentation and round table discussion with Phd researcher Yosra Malek (GUC) together with supervisors Prof. Dr. Hussam Salama (GUC), Prof. Dr. Cornelia Redeker (Umeå University), Prof. Dr. Abbas El-Zafaraany (Cairo University), and other invited experts together with GUC students.