ABSTRACT
The first decades of the 20th century were denoted by a huge shift in planning practices worldwide, especially in an Egypt witnessing another movement from town- and spatial-based planning to a more user-friendly and socially led environmental planning. Provision of local maintenance and renewal programmes to regulate the physical patterns and land uses of Bulaq had been a priority of the local planning authorities - the Muhafzah and its planning department - since the 1980s. The preliminary plan involved three principal stages of investigation, preparation and approval by governmental and parliamentary bodies. The fact that the plan had to be coordinated with other public works and infrastructure projects led to concerns among different departments. Prior to the drafting of the plan, there were public complaints about traffic congestion in Cairo, with demands for proactive action to tackle the situation. The improved street network exemplified contrasts between the irregular and regular tissue of the redeveloped lands of the riverfront zone.
