Legitimizing Everyday Tradition: The Spatial Narrative of Modernity in Cairene Old Quarters

This article examines the path being taken toward legitimizing a modern spatial quality in Bulaq, one of Cairo’s oldest quarters. It documents how its historic fabric, elements of which date to the fourteenth century, is being progressively refashioned according to policies and visions that have engendered debate about the management and control of heritage. Specifically, the article questions the extent to which official attempts to create a new spatial quality in the quarter conflict with more popular appreciation of and concern for the quarter’s long history, traditional qualities, and structure. By investigating government correspondence and meeting reports, and through interviews with area residents, the article seeks to uncover the divergent meanings of legitimation with regard to officially “undesirable” areas of authentic urban fabric in the city.