ABSTRACT
Egyptian planning authorities, for their part, struggle to articulate distinct definitions for delivering quality spaces especially in old quarters of the city. Improving the quality of an urban environment is fundamentally connected to the meaning and values people attribute to their spaces, as well as to the emotions individuals develop, linking their individual or collective experience, on one side, with physical space on the other. The introduction of the Physical Planning Act in 1983 marked the first active method for controlling development plans in Cairo. The act's efficiency in structuring a statuary legal planning framework was acknowledged by its authors, who praised it as a model for change in planning procedures in Egypt in order to develop master plans for areas in need of improvement. Searching for a way out of such confusion and contradictions highlights the need for a redefinition of the working structure of the local planning institution and its tasks.
