280218_Luxor-Egypt SECAP Final_revised

4.2 Sustainable Urban Design analysis.
Context and Distinctive character
The studied zone’s location and accessibility are elaborated in section 2. Its geographical character is best
described as a valley flanked by the River Nile and the mountain, with a vast desert behind. The mountain
contains some of the most important world heritage sites. Some archaeological activities and missions have
been conducting their excavation for more than a century in the mountain and in some pockets in the valley.
The rest of the valley is used to exhibit Upper Egyptian rural environmental features, of mud architecture.
Image 10: Mud Architecture in AlQurna
Al-Qurna itself was a mountain village that was relocated in 1940s to a new Qurna village of mud architecture
designed by the renowned architect Hassan Fathi.
Image 11: Al Qurna’s Architecture
Since the turn of the 19 th century, the area was regularly visited by individuals and groups of cultural tourists,
all contributing to the distinction of the present phenomenon, predominantly rural with archaeological and
cultural tourism.
Urban Development
The previously common and predominantly rural character of the studied area punctuated by the monuments
and temples, and bounded by the mountain has witnessed great challenges, mainly under the pressure of
tourism development without any strategy that would define the types and extent of development. The
distinctive urban character eroded with time. The more environmentally compatible mud/ vernacular
architecture was replaced by reinforced architecture. Given the absence of any urban and rural development
strategy, the area witnessed alteration of the heights and the Floor Area Ratio (FAR).
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