Last updated: November 2024
Alexandria is a city with a special charm, known for its beaches and gardens that act as the lungs through which the city breathes, and are considered a haven for its people (1). Unfortunately, in the last ten years, there has been a decrease in green space due to urban expansion and the establishment of Commercial and profitable projects (1). To address the lack of green space in the city, The Governor of Alexandria has stressed the continued efforts to develop, beautify and plant the squares and turn them into attractive civilized facades, as part of Egypts 2030 vision which aims to move towards a greener city and reduce the effects of climate change. (2). To encourage redevelopment of public green spaces, The Governor launched the “Alexandria shines with its squares” competition in 2023, where the top three neighborhoods with the best redeveloped squares would receive a prize of up to EGP 50,000 [928.45 EUR] (6). The First Al Montazah neighborhood participated in the competition by redeveloping Sidi Bishr Mosque Square (2-5). The 700 meter square was completely upgraded with solar energy, a new irrigation system to conserve water, modifications to the sewer network, and planting the garden with plants that suit the environment (3). The greening activities included planting 400 sticks of various crops in the upgraded square (4).
Development of Sidi Bishr Park
Heba Aweida
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Parks and urban forests
- Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Climate change mitigation
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Green space creation and/or management
- Regeneration, land-use and urban development
- Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
- Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
- Social justice and equity
- Sense of community and community engagement
Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)
- Land use and Socio-economic change
- Rapid urbanization
Key priorities
Climate action (adaptation and/or mitigation), Social Justice and community
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Creation of any other green urban spaces, Strategy, plan or policy development, Creation of city-wide or neighborhood green and blue infrastrcuture protection or enhancement strategies/plans, Community-based programs (e.g. "Green Your Laneway Program")
Project objectives
The goals of upgrading the Sidi Bishr Mosque Park were to:
1. Develop, beautify and plant the square and turn it into an attractive civilized facade, as part of the integrated plan that aims to rehabilitate and develop the city (2).
2. Move towards green cities and reduce the effects of climate change as part of Egypts 2030 vision through increasing green space in the city (2).
3. Rebuild the park in a civilized form suitable for environmental development and to foster community engagement (2).
4. Engage in afforestation and planting activities to improve the visual identity (2).
5. Increase green space in the neighborhood to reduce carbon emissions, reduce the urban heat island effect, provide a public space for humans, city animals, and other living creatures, and limit the rapid deterioration caused by the negative effects of climate change (1).
Implementation activities
To address the lack of green space in the city due to rapid urbanization and to contribute to Egypts 2030 climate vision, the project involved:
1. The First Al Montazah neighborhood participating in the Governor's “Alexandria shines with its squares” competition (2-5).
2. Upgrading the entire park with lighting works that are carried out through the use of solar energy, re-establishing an irrigation network to conserve water consumption, modifying the sewage network and planting the garden with plants that suit the environment (2).
3. Planting 400 sticks from various crops in the Garden to contribute to afforestation and planting to improve the visual identity of the park (6).
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Increase urban vegetation cover to reduce urban heat island effect
Climate change mitigation:
- Increase the availability of green urban space for carbon storage (street tree cover)
Communities vulnerable to environmental hazards or climate change impacts
Yes
Specification of climate or environmentally vulnerable communities
Coastal communities, Urban heat islands
Main beneficiaries
- Local government/Municipality
- Citizens or community groups
Governance
Management set-up
- Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- District/neighbourhood association
- Private sector/corporate actor/company
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
- Co-management/Joint management
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
Local government:
-Major General Mohamed El Sherif, Governor of Alexandria, initiated the Alexandria Shines with its Squares” competition, awarding the top three neighborhood squares with financial prizes (2)
-The project involved several actors during development Major General Khaled Gomaa, Secretary General of the governorate, Engineer Jehan Masoud, Assistant Secretary General of the governorate, Mohamed Sahloul, Head of Montazah First Neighborhood (2)
Private sector:
-Engineer Mohamed Abidi, is the designer and implementer of the project (2)
-Engineer Mohamed Shehata, Chairman of the United Housing and Development Company was a part of the implementation (2)
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a national policy or strategy?
Yes
(The project is part of Egypts larger 2030 Climate Vision (2-5). )
... a local policy or strategy?
Yes
(The project took part in the Governor's “Alexandria Shines with its Squares” competition in line with the directives of the political leadership to move towards green cities and reduce the effects of climate change (2). )
Type of enablers
Capacity-building projects, Change agents (individual with major role influence on launching)
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
- Public local authority budget
Type of funding
- Earmarked public budget
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Lowered local temperature
- Expected lowered local temperature
- Enhanced carbon sequestration
- Expected enhanced carbon sequestration
- Environmental quality
- Improved air quality
- Expected improved air quality
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Achieved increased green space area
- Increased number of species present
- Achieved increased number of species present
Economic impacts
- Stimulate development in deprived areas
- Expected stimulate development in deprived areas
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved access to urban green space
- Achieved improved access to urban green space
- Increased opportunities for social interaction
- Expected increased opportunities for social interaction
- Cultural heritage and sense of place
- Protection of historic and cultural landscape / infrastructure
- Achieved protection of historic and cultural landscape / infrastructure
Type of reported impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs
Unknown
References
1.
Human and City for Human and Social Research (2024). What development has done to green Alexandria City Gardens. [Source link];
2.
Heba, A. (2024). The Governor of Alexandria inaugurates the development work of “Sidi Bishr Mosque Park” in the first Montazah district. [Source link];
3.
Bassiouni, A. (2024). On an area of 700 meters.. Details of the development of the garden of Sidi Bishr Mosque in Alexandria. [Source link];
4.
Mounir, A. (2024). The Governor of Alexandria inaugurates the development work of “Sidi Bishr Mosque Park”. [Source link];
5.
Sabry, A. (2023). Planting 400 plants in the garden of Sidi Bishr Mosque in Alexandria. [Source link];
6.
Bassiouni, A. (2023). Within the framework of Egypt’s Vision 2030...full details of the “Alexandria Shines in Its Squares” competition. [Source link];
7.
Mohammed, S., and El Raey, M. (2018). Assesses the Resilience Index to Sea Level Rise Risk of Alexandria Governorate, Egypt. [Source link];
8.
City population (n.d.). Al-Iskandariyah Governorate in Egypt. [Source link];
Development of Sidi Bishr Park
Alexandria - Heba Aweida
Development of Sidi Bishr Park
Alexandria - Ahmed Sabry
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.