Urban dissonance
Military decrees are not the way to preserve urban architecture,
legalists and conservationists agree.
Mona El-Ghobashy
Anyone would agree that preserving architectural heritage is a priority,
but few would argue that issuing military decrees is the way to do it.
Other than the government, that is. Prime Minister Atef Ebeid is holding
fast to a military decree banning the destruction of historic buildings,
even after the State Council--the nation's administrative court
system--ruled it unconstitutional for violating the principle of private
property. Ebeid has appealed the court ruling. The appeal will be heard
on 14 June.
The court's ruling, some fear, clears the path for architectural gems
to be now torn down with abandon and for high-rises to be built in their
place. Some architectural experts, however, argue that there are far
more effective ways to go about urban conservation than issuing military
decrees. For their part, legalists applauded the State Council's ruling
and saw it as a victory--no matter how small--for the rule of law and
the sanctity of private property.
The issue dates back to 13 decrees issued by former Prime Minister
Kamal Al Ganzouri in his capacity as military governor, a presidential
power delegated to the prime minister under the Emergency Law by which
Egypt has been governed since 1981. Though existing building codes
already prohibit the destruction of sound buildings, including villas
and palaces, developers and owners would use legal loopholes to build
high-rises on the expensive plots of land. The decrees were seen as a
way to sternly enforce civil laws that were being honored only in the
breach and to prevent urban encroachment on agricultural areas. However,
on 20 April, Prime Minister Atef Ebeid issued Decree 925 of 2000
revoking the previous military orders. The rationale was that this would
ease restrictions on construction and revive the stagnant real estate
market. When opposition swelled at Decree 925, the prime minister
retracted his statements and asserted that Decree 7 of 1998 banning the
demolition of old villas was still in force.
Meanwhile, on 31 May, the State Council issued its ruling that military
decrees regulating civil business matters are unconstitutional. The
ruling was a response to an earlier appeal against the litany of
military decrees before their revocation. The coincidental timing led to
more than a little confusion: many thought the State Council's ruling
coupled with the revoking of military decrees signaled the end of
architectural preservation of Cairo's historic landmarks. But scratching
beneath the surface highlights two facts: military decrees regulating
non-emergency matters are not only unconstitutional, but a poor way to
conserve urban aesthetics. The prime minister's contradictory statements
also show the limits of legislating by decree civilian matters that are
the rightful purview of the legislative branch."Military decrees are an
emergency channel restricted to very specific cases affecting public
health and order," says Mohammad Hamed Al Gamal, former president of the
State Council. "Unfortunately, they've become abused. Moreover,
everywhere including all Arab countries, military decrees are the power
of the legislature."
Gamal further argues that it's spurious to claim military decrees are
the only way to protect historic buildings. "The solution should be to
freeze ownership of the building and compensate its owner," he says.
Preventing the owner from disposing of his real estate as he pleases by
issuing military decrees violates the principle of private property. In
addition to the legal angle, the heart of the issue is how best to
conserve historic architecture, especially for ordinary urban buildings
not designated landmarks by the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).
'Amr Abdel Qawi, an architectural consultant and publisher of Medina
magazine, argues that matters need to be clarified further. "First, we
need to answer these questions: what do we want to preserve and why?
Many of the buildings we're talking about are not in and of themselves
extremely valuable, but they do contribute to a pleasant urban
environment."
The proper way to maintain the urban fabric is to create incentives for
people to conserve the buildings while not interfering with the goals of
economic development, Abdel Qawi says. In many urban centers, this is
done by giving businesses tax breaks to renovate dilapidated buildings
and turn them into viable economic units, like offices, galleries, or
museums. Many a dead downtown district has been revitalized through an
enlightened partnership between government and business.
The root of the problem here in Cairo is the astronomical escalation of
land value, fueled by government land pricing policies, explains Abdel
Qawi. "So of course low-rise structures don't bring in the land value,
which gives developers the wrong incentive to tear down villas and erect
high-rises instead, which leads the government to resort to absolute
measures like military decrees as the quickest way to deal with a
problem that needs a far more comprehensive solution," he says.
Some steps are being taken to develop a more rational strategy of urban
conservation. The Cairo governorate in cooperation with the Fulbright
Commission piloted The Historic Preservation project in 1998 and began
by plaquing buildings to call attention to their historical
significance. The first plaqued building was the Swiss embassy residence
in Garden City. The next step is to move from a single structure to the
whole street to eventually the designation of whole districts as
historically valuable.
Absent a comprehensive preservation strategy and effective incentives,
the urban fabric will not be maintained. Military decrees are not even a
stopgap solution, but instead lead to constitutional violations and a
loss of confidence in official statements. "The controversy over the
military orders and the prime minister's retractions have only made
public opinion lose faith in the rationality of official actions," says
Mahmoud Kandeel, a lawyer with the Egyptian Organization for Human
Rights (EOHR).
As Abdel Qawi reminds, "you cannot preserve something its owner doesn't
want to preserve." It seems a basic condition that laws governing the
urban facade and city residents' quality of life must take into account
the views and needs of those very residents.
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<b><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><font color="#FF0000"><font size=+4>Urban
dissonance</font></font></font></b>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<p><b><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><font color="#000000"><font size=+2>Military
decrees are not the way to preserve urban architecture, legalists and conservationists
agree.</font></font></font></b>
<br>
<br>
<table ALIGN=RIGHT WIDTH="250" >
<tr>
<td><img SRC="cid:[EMAIL PROTECTED]" align=RIGHT></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<center><font face="Helvetica, Ariel"><font color="#000000"><font size=-2>This
villa is protected by military decree</font></font></font></center>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p><b><i><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Mona
El-Ghobashy</font></font></font></i></b>
<br>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><font color="#000000"><font size=+1>Anyone
would agree that preserving architectural heritage is a priority, but few
would argue that issuing military decrees is the way to do it. Other than
the government, that is. Prime Minister Atef Ebeid is holding fast to a
military decree banning the destruction of historic buildings, even after
the State Council--the nation's administrative court system--ruled it unconstitutional
for violating the principle of private property. Ebeid has appealed the
court ruling. The appeal will be heard on 14 June.</font></font></font>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><font color="#000000"><font size=+1> The
court's ruling, some fear, clears the path for architectural gems to be
now torn down with abandon and for high-rises to be built in their place.
Some architectural experts, however, argue that there are far more effective
ways to go about urban conservation than issuing military decrees. For
their part, legalists applauded the State Council's ruling and saw it as
a victory--no matter how small--for the rule of law and the sanctity of
private property.</font></font></font>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><font color="#000000"><font size=+1> The
issue dates back to 13 decrees issued by former Prime Minister Kamal Al
Ganzouri in his capacity as military governor, a presidential power delegated
to the prime minister under the Emergency Law by which Egypt has been governed
since 1981. Though existing building codes already prohibit the destruction
of sound buildings, including villas and palaces, developers and owners
would use legal loopholes to build high-rises on the expensive plots of
land. The decrees were seen as a way to sternly enforce civil laws that
were being honored only in the breach and to prevent urban encroachment
on agricultural areas. However, on 20 April, Prime Minister Atef Ebeid
issued Decree 925 of 2000 revoking the previous military orders. The rationale
was that this would ease restrictions on construction and revive the stagnant
real estate market. When opposition swelled at Decree 925, the prime minister
retracted his statements and asserted that Decree 7 of 1998 banning the
demolition of old villas was still in force.</font></font></font>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><font color="#000000"><font
size=+1> Meanwhile,
on 31 May, the State Council issued its ruling that military decrees regulating
civil business matters are unconstitutional. The ruling was a response
to an earlier appeal against the litany of military decrees before their
revocation. The coincidental timing led to more than a little confusion:
many thought the State Council's ruling coupled with the revoking of military
decrees signaled the end of architectural preservation of Cairo's historic
landmarks. But scratching beneath the surface highlights two facts: military
decrees regulating non-emergency matters are not only unconstitutional,
but a poor way to conserve urban aesthetics. The prime minister's contradictory
statements also show the limits of legislating by decree civilian matters
that are the rightful purview of the legislative branch."Military decrees
are an emergency channel restricted to very specific cases affecting public
health and order," says Mohammad Hamed Al Gamal, former president of the
State Council. "Unfortunately, they've become abused. Moreover, everywhere
including all Arab countries, military decrees are the power of the
legislature."</font></font></font>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><font color="#000000"><font size=+1> Gamal
further argues that it's spurious to claim military decrees are the only
way to protect historic buildings. "The solution should be to freeze ownership
of the building and compensate its owner," he says. Preventing the owner
from disposing of his real estate as he pleases by issuing military decrees
violates the principle of private property. In addition to the legal angle,
the heart of the issue is how best to conserve historic architecture, especially
for ordinary urban buildings not designated landmarks by the Supreme Council
of Antiquities (SCA). 'Amr Abdel Qawi, an architectural consultant and
publisher of Medina magazine, argues that matters need to be clarified
further. "First, we need to answer these questions: what do we want to
preserve and why? Many of the buildings we're talking about are not in
and of themselves extremely valuable, but they do contribute to a pleasant
urban environment."</font></font></font>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><font color="#000000"><font size=+1> The
proper way to maintain the urban fabric is to create incentives for people
to conserve the buildings while not interfering with the goals of economic
development, Abdel Qawi says. In many urban centers, this is done by giving
businesses tax breaks to renovate dilapidated buildings and turn them into
viable economic units, like offices, galleries, or museums. Many a dead
downtown district has been revitalized through an enlightened partnership
between government and business.</font></font></font>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><font color="#000000"><font size=+1> The
root of the problem here in Cairo is the astronomical escalation of land
value, fueled by government land pricing policies, explains Abdel Qawi.
"So of course low-rise structures don't bring in the land value, which
gives developers the wrong incentive to tear down villas and erect high-rises
instead, which leads the government to resort to absolute measures like
military decrees as the quickest way to deal with a problem that needs
a far more comprehensive solution," he says.</font></font></font>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><font color="#000000"><font size=+1> Some
steps are being taken to develop a more rational strategy of urban conservation.
The Cairo governorate in cooperation with the Fulbright Commission piloted
The Historic Preservation project in 1998 and began by plaquing buildings
to call attention to their historical significance. The first plaqued building
was the Swiss embassy residence in Garden City. The next step is to move
from a single structure to the whole street to eventually the designation
of whole districts as historically valuable.</font></font></font>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><font color="#000000"><font size=+1> Absent
a comprehensive preservation strategy and effective incentives, the urban
fabric will not be maintained. Military decrees are not even a stopgap
solution, but instead lead to constitutional violations and a loss of confidence
in official statements. "The controversy over the military orders and the
prime minister's retractions have only made public opinion lose faith in
the rationality of official actions," says Mahmoud Kandeel, a lawyer with
the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR).</font></font></font>
<p><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><font color="#000000"><font size=+1> As
Abdel Qawi reminds, "you cannot preserve something its owner doesn't want
to preserve." It seems a basic condition that laws governing the urban
facade and city residents' quality of life must take into account the views
and needs of those very residents.</font></font></font></html>
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