New Design Ideas

Historically, Egypt’s hot arid climate zones have exhibited resilience and adaptability of vernacular urbanism. Yet urbanization, modernization and uncontrolled climatic changes have vitiated the traditional urban design strategies and have a vicious cycle of increasing energy consumption, urban heat island phenomenon and sustainability issues. Because the world is experiencing climate change, this paper proposes a comprehensive systems approach to addressing climate change impacts through the combination of vernacular principles with the current urban planning and architectural strategies. The study evaluates traditional Egyptian urban forms through a multidisciplinary approach, identifies the climatic benefits of such traditional urbanizations and proposes enhancements as modern standards in sustainability. In proposing the framework, passive cooling techniques, material innovations and policy recommendations have been incorporated to guarantee urban resilience. The paper takes ideas from Hassan Fathy and similar thinkers and suggests that green local buildings support both the environment and cultural heritage. The findings underscore the crucial role of policy support in sustainable development and offer policy makers, architects and urban planners ‘directions for action aimed towards achieving sustainability in urban development.