Livelihood Reports Al Amrikeya Area - Final Assessment | Page 121

2.3.5.2 Lighting
During the day, the absence of narrow alley-
ways allows the sunlight to enter most major
arteries and passages. In the evening shop sig-
nage attracts customers and compensates for
lack of lighting in areas where public lighting is
missing (Figure 35). It is clear that individuals
or shop owners to illuminate their public space
extensions privately install the vast majority
of lighting units present(Figure 36). Similarly,
most lighting units are informally placed and
very few are provided publicly by the author-
ities. Consequently, informal lighting units are
better maintained as their owners whose inter-
est is to ensure that their spaces are well lit and
attractive to customers look them after (Figure
37). Most public lighting units were found not
working or broken at the time of surveying. It
is important to note that no lighting units in the
area are marked as unsafe or presenting any
hazards to visitors. The two main unlit areas
in the area are the green space by the 6th of
October University, and the vacant land in front
of Zamzam Mall.
The lighting pattern in AAA informs about the
formality of the services in the area. There is a
strong correlation between strict and organised
mall management and the nature of surround-
ing lighting units. Diamond Mall and Zamzam
Mall had the most working functional formal
lighting units, indicating that both malls have
invested in maintaining public lighting around
them. Equally, they have the lowest occurrenc-
es of informal lighting, as the mall management
does not allow it. Another important factor in
this correlation is the fact that both of these
malls are facing al-Tahrir Road, a main artery,
which is better observed by the authorities
than secondary roads.
Figure 36: Shops provide their own lighting as most public
lighting is not working © Takween icd
Figure 35: Shop signage compensates for lighting in the
“Syrian Passage” © Takween icd
71 | Understanding the development context
Figure 37: Spotlights illuminate shops facades and attract
customers © Takween icd