الفهرس 
HELIOPOLIS from CITY TO DISTRICT
Micro-climate Simulation via Envi-MetOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Losing one piece of the puzzle means failing to complete and see the original picture. That is what exactly happened in Heliopolis-Egypt and finding the reasons behind was the instigator of this study.
This thesis explores some advantages and disadvantages of the latest urban design development and upgrading plan implemented in one of the famous heritage districts in Cairo called Heliopolis. Some of the consequences tend to change the urban identity of the district, especially its green infrastructure which was considered one of the main pillars of the planning concept of Heliopolis. And accordingly, that will affect the other pillars and leads to losing certain factors and relationship of the whole concept formation. Some radical changes have been founded and unwelcoming demerits started to pop up during and after the completion of the development works.
The main aim of the development plan was to get rid of the traffic problems within Heliopolis districts and strengthen the road connections between the east and west of Cairo. Therefore, introducing more vehicle bridges “flyovers”, widening and reforming the right of way of the main and local roads, and changing or removing the roundabouts meanwhile demolishing the existing green areas, were the implemented decisions and actions to complete the upgrading plan in Heliopolis.
Consequently, it seems that open and green areas per capita have dropped down and leading to a significant loss of the green area’s footprint, disappearing the tree avenues and boulevards, destructing the local green structure links, presence of spatial segregation, vehicles dependency, as well as the vanishing of place attachment, values and qualities. On the other hand, high steady traffic flow, short duration of the daily trip, increasing the road capacity of vehicles, effective road network, and low traffic congestion all were achieved successfully.
In fact, specific research methods are used to analyze, assess and evaluate this unwelcoming evidence on different levels; urban, social, and environmental levels. Besides, identifying the key principles of the UGI- Urban Green Infrastructure approach which is adopted in many European countries in order to express the ability to be applied strategically as a problem-solving approach in the Egyptian context in the future.
This thesis adopts an integrated approach between the four research tools used to fill the gaps and avoid missing and linked information. It was important to reduce the limitations usually found by having a cumulative structure of tools. For instance, on the social level, a Delphi Survey is used for two rounds on two different occasions, the first was before the implementation, and the second was after the completion of the work. Consequently, on the urban level, a research “Pilot” project determined to have a field observation took place under different circumstances to validate the surveys’ findings. Afterwards, on the environmental level, a computer-based simulator “Envi-Met Lite Version” has been used in a basic way to verify the possibility of predictive climate change evidence to happen in the future such as UHI – Urban Heat Island effect in this area. The insights and findings gained from this study may be of assistance to solving the current problem and any other upcoming urban development plan that will take place in the future. Some findings have clear solutions to be considered during the planning phase, through the implementation, and after the operation and follow-up phases.