Beschreibung:
The modern industries of the 19th and 20th centuries had multiple effects on the spatial transformation of cities and regions. The past decade has witnessed increasing scholarly and governmental attempts toward conserving modern industrial heritage in the so-called Global North, with the goal, among others, of leveraging this heritage as a driver for urban economic development. In Egypt, the process continues to lag behind; on the one hand, this is due to the perplexing official recognition of the (in)tangible witnesses of modern industries. On the other hand, the official recognition and previous publications focus predominantly on weighing the significance of industrial structures based on their monumental architectural aesthetics. Their historical urban role and spatial attributes as part of urban heritage have yet to be seriously acknowledged. Accordingly, this hinders the integration of the extant industrial sites into the broader debate surrounding urban conservation, leaving them vulnerable to decay and destruction. This dissertation steers away from the singular investigation of selective modern industrial sites to recall their historical spatial development on a city scale. This is effected by investigating a case study - the Egyptian port city of Alexandria. With the limited secondary data available on modern industries in Alexandria, this dissertation relied predominantly on primary sources. The author collected and leveraged both quantitative and qualitative data to recontextualize modern industries in terms of their spatial dynamics, order, and rationale within cities’ transformation. By recalling historical spatial development in Alexandria, the contribution of this dissertation lies in highlighting what the author refers to as the Omitted Heritage. This is defined by the modern industries in Egypt that are intentionally, unintentionally, and forgetfully excluded in terms of physical documentation, evaluation, appreciation, and integration within urban development plans. The method used excavated the richness of the established modern industries in Alexandria in terms of their quantity and diversity, which would have otherwise remained largely forgotten. The contextualization of modern industries unveiled spatial periodization, spatial dynamics, and conceptual development. The study draws on important analytical aspects that transcend the sites’ boundaries, elevating their significance to the municipal, regional, national, and even global levels. Its recommendations for further research are also divided into those levels.