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1. Introduction
Sir Patrick Geddes remarked that a city is a living organism, which experiences birth, growth, maturity, decline, decay and rebirth (Welter and Biopolis, 2002). Many cities around the world have historic quarters that enrich them with a sense of place and foster their identity. These historic quarters constitute an integral element of the city's image and identity. Within the current competition between cities in attracting investment and creative class, urban heritage plays an important role in differentiating one city from another and building its strong image (Zenker, 2011).
For decades, dealing with conservation in developing countries has faced numerous challenges. First, heritage was perceived as a way of attracting cultural tourism and generating an economic gain. Thus, it was concerned with individual buildings or clusters of monuments that are visited by tourists isolated from its urban and social context. This approach presented mere conservation that led to the “museumification” of some areas of the city. The adoption of this isolated conservation strategy proved not to bring considerable economic nor social development for the local community. Moreover, it has created a great contrast between the new development and the conservation of existing urban spaces within the historical areas (Sedky, 2009).
The application of sustainable urban regeneration in its holistic meaning, encompassing the social and the physical dimensions of the place, is limited within the Middle East. When it comes to the historic urban landscape (HUL), the concept of cultural landscape preservation is practically limited in Egypt, despite its richness with historically valuable cultural landscape, leading to the neglect and decay of these valuable parks and gardens from our contemporary urban setting (Abd el Rahman, 2015).
This research will address the importance of dealing with public education about modern urban conservation policies to maintain the historic character and the old urban pattern of the city. In such historical areas, new buildings should be planned concerning monumental elements setting and the old urban fabric of the historical context (Bandarin and Van Oers, 2012). The research will focus on highlighting the importance of applying sustainable urban conservation and HUL policies to improve quality of life as well as to strengthen the cultural identity and the sense of place within the historical urban area. It also aims to...