Prof. Ahmed Yehia Rashed: The Alternative Scenario: Revisit the FISC Conference Proceedings

When the Green Sustainable Future was/still a Chance/s 2010 -2110

of Sustainability and the Future is titled:

Future Intermediate Sustainable Cities:

A Message to Future Generations (2)

1- The Future between Developmental Corridor and the Document of the Twenty-First century
It was mentioned in the document of the twenty-first century with regard to some of the questions dealing with the project of developing Southern Egypt.

“Like any new project that must be accompanied by an emotional outburst tends to exaggerate optimism and an opposition tends to dump in pessimism, and between these two parties comes a confident mentality, which begins questioning whether Egypt is able to operate and grow in the old valley alone, leaving 95% of the area unused?

What can happen without a large comprehensive project outside the valley, after a quarter century, for example?

On the other hand, Farouk Al-Baz suggested in his article in September 2005 “the Developmental Corridor” in the western desert as a means to secure the future of coming generations in Egypt.

“This article stresses a proposal I made years ago to establish a road with world specifications in the Western Desert of Egypt that extends from the Mediterranean coast in the north to Lake Nasser in the south, at a distance ranging between 10 and 80 kilometres west of the Nile.

This path opens up new prospects for the urban, agricultural, industrial and commercial extension within a distance up to 2000 kilometres.

And because Egypt is in a great need for a way out of the difficult social situation at the present time in particular, I repeat presenting this proposal to be considered seriously, and perhaps to be implemented by investors’ funds from the private national sector first then the Arab sector and third by the world sector”.

Whether it is the proposal of the document of the century, Toshka, or the Developmental Corridor, it is noticed that the fundamental objective is:

“The creation of a new valley extending along the old valley to accommodate the aspirations of future generations.

” In a serious attempt to correct the huge imbalance in the pattern of investment and population; here we have to ask: How, when and who are the settlers of Egypt the future?

We find that today’s children and the grandsons of tomorrow are the targets.

The blending of science with imagination is the resort of the politicians and philosophers to manufacture the future and change our current reality, on the other hand, science has its fixed bases, but imagination must extend to what we call the (non-searched) or (non-handled).

We can see that the difficulties are in the field of futuristic research in Egypt, although not quite recent, but what has been accomplished was small in number and at long intervals, and most of the time it has to be stopped before being completed. Hence, a large heritage was not accumulated for future research for those who needed a reference.

In thinking for the future of Egypt, the research poses the question? What would have happened if Nouh had not made his ship before the great drowning?

Has there been any sort of life on earth? The issue here: how will our children live? What is waiting for us in the near future?

Future studies require a knowledge base to help choose a better future for Egypt.

This knowledge base is composed of two parts, first part: education, self building, understanding of the technicalities and the speed of change, which could create alternative perceptions for the reconstruction of Egypt’s desert in various fields, the so-called scenarios, and the second part: an assessment of the benefits and costs of each scenario and it’s sustainability.

From this perspective was the attention to have the BUE Event with the two main tasks (the International conference and International competitions).

Understating that the dialogue will have different phases, the first phase for the visions of different scenarios which will require a focus on the process rather than rushing the quality of the product.

Rushing products were acted as a cause of failure of previous attempts, and considered future projects as related to governments or individuals rather than being a popular project was always a mistake.

Therefore, Farouk Al Baz in his proposal aimed to call it for all the community when he says:

“It would be nice if the broadest possible spectrum of people take part from the first moment. For example, each governorate could start preparing a list of development projects and its priorities based on its real needs and its necessary technicians and other capabilities.

At the same time, it is a must not to get a foreign labour to work on the project, whatever the reasons, because the Egyptian (male or female) can be trained to do any work with the highest level of world performance.

Also, university students can be encouraged through competitions to select development projects that can be done in their governorate.

Even school students can participate through competitions to select the names of roads, towns and villages, which will be established on the sides of their governorate.

The participation of young people is extremely important because the goal of the project is to secure their future by creating job opportunities for them infinitely” .

So, Farouk Al Baz vision was different from what happened in the past and his role was to plant the seed represented in the proposed project to turn it into a popular one and not attached to a government or some individuals or for a specific time, but would be a way of life through the partnership of all parties, The proposal must be examined by everyone, its issue and target should be informed to everyone, youth and media should play a key role in the study stage.

In light of the emphasis on the aimed steps or reconstruction process rather than focusing and accelerating the product, the community can choose between one track or another from alternative paths for the future reconstruction of the desert, and gather around it, or put another alternative in the light of its contribution in the development of the scenarios of Egypt the future.

Through interaction with this information, two results of great importance are achieved.

First : the development of public opinion interested in the future of Egypt, and raise level of public awareness of the issue and challenges that lie ahead, and to promote dialogues concerning them.

Second: to develop a new system in the management of the affairs of society and the state in which the decision-making process depends on solid foundations of a comprehensive and complex knowledge of the reality and an interactive multi-disciplinary perception to the future .

As the state orientation goes to the re-planning of the Egyptian village and pointing the borders of the residential area, the orientation of development axes and the desert back became a future reality that cannot be ignored but must be confronted and arm the next generation and future generations to understand and bear their responsibilities.

2- Development and Egypt Desert Society

From where will the desert population come?

What is the form of the pattern of architecture and construction of housing, schools, hospitals, streets, roads and squares?

It’s supposed that the population will be from all parts of Egypt; from Alexandria to Aswan with their different characteristics of a youth looking to prove themselves and so to be melted in one crucible to be the population of the Developmental Corridor, or Toshka.

It is presumed that today’s generation will be followed by generations of children and grandchildren who are the target to provide the Developmental Corridor with Toshka citizens and belongers. (questions for the international competitions).

As a start, the transfer of patterns and styles that were applied for long time in the valley to the desert would be undoubtedly a historic mistake.

We should not be hasty to imagine solutions to the quality of the architecture of the future (the product) as the issue is not easy or simple.

What should we do?

The right solution is the scientific techniques and capabilities to help solving the problem of determining the architecture and planning appropriate to the nature of the desert .

The architectural competitions, architectural education and the implementation of other experiences are all mechanisms that allow the creation of multiple and different scenarios that vary in how they fit with the private sector participation, the goals of the state, the target time and place and the quality of the settlers.

It is necessary to stress once again on the need of studying similar experiences in the world and the diversity of the studies and development of ideas in accordance with modern technologies.

Also, it is important to study local materials of the Egyptian desert and the possibilities of their use in the construction and the construction systems appropriate to the desert in terms of temperature and ventilation and then study urban planning to be compatible with the desert environment.

Moreover, there is a need to create an integrated society that has factors of culture, entertainment, media, education, investment, crafts, transportation and services required.

This may require time and the creation of a culture and a generation capable of understanding that this issue is serious and if it is available to us today to ask ourselves and to choose, tomorrow will be a matter of compulsion.

But, in terms of philosophy of development of the desert it is a must to rely on the philosophy of scarcity that governs life in the desert as a basis and entrance to development.

It requires changing some of the behaviours and habits to the extent of acquiring new behaviours and habits fitting in the new environment, and modern thoughts and tools that are capable of dealing with their positions taking into account social pluralism in the formation of the desert society.

3- The Desert: Raising and Self-Building

“Build your son and don’t build for him”

“Raise your children for a time different from yours (Omar Bin Al Khattab)”

“Plato was asked: When do we start raising the child? He replied: before he was born hundred years ago.

Abdullah: How can it be?

He said: We must educate parents before him, the four grandparents. ”

Children constitute about 40% of the total population of Egypt.

They are the stakeholders of the future of the country.

Tomorrow Man is a citizen of Egypt, the desert, which he must understand how to think for the child?

How to generate belonging to a certain family, tribe, certain city, certain province, specific homeland, one nation, creed, religion, culture and age.

The study of the mentality of the Egyptian child and psychotropic leading to his understanding of the national identity, and belonging to certain culture, ideology, nation and religion, is the basis of the future vision for the reconstruction of the desert .

The importance of Egypt is attributed to experiencing a number of successive civilizations, and considering all that is foreign to the community as being modern, duly, the child grows distorted “realizes” and “believes” and finally “imitates” others.

The child is differently influenced by figures as father, adults and characters (Disney characters, for instance) fictional behaviour children follow as a model.

Hence, the importance of examining whose child-rearing and control of his surroundings, and inventing characters and imaginary environment that’s self-made integrating with the contemporary reality, this could be the role of education through analysis and doing several researches to study the nature of the Egyptian child’s mentality and his concept of the meaning of the word “national identity”.

Think of the many studies on various themes like how to manufacture the future of the child in the desert? What future we can contribute to achieve, can it be for the architect to have a vision and an ideology and a means to translate researches and studies and conceptual thinking into applicable reality?

And what is the extent of interest that study can reflect on the Egyptian community.

Yet an examination of some of the various methods for the manufacture of the future followed by other states, and their ability to invade our society intellectually and culturally that an idea simple in content and deep in meaning can be grasped by a citizen who competes to live in the Desert without the desert being exile or punishment.

The proposed simple suggestion can be a mean with a practical application represented in the creation of an imaginary integrated and studied environment (for the game), with goals having clear influence on the future of the Egyptian community through making the child “Tomorrow Man” experience the ” reconstruction of the desert” with all the details of life; hopeful life drawn by its intellectuals and architects, bred in fantasy and imagination that qualify him with ability to face the reality creating the future of Egypt and the reconstruction of the desert.

This game is a nucleus to confirm identity and establish the concepts for Egypt from Aswan to Alexandria and from Al Arish to Salloum.

The game is a field and an opportunity to realize the dreams of the present generation towards the future generation.