Livelihood Reports Al Amrikeya Area - Final Assessment | Page 146

On the other hand, through observation it’s as-
sumed that the CA have some sort of invisible
negotiation with the café owners surround-
ing the vacant land adjacent to Melody Cafe.
Whenever the CA visits the area, the furniture
related to these cafes is left untouched.
Moreover, the relationship between the shop-
keepers and street vendors is perceived differ-
ently from both sides. Most shopkeepers have
a bad relation with the street vendors; mainly
frustrated by the crowds they create, which
block circulation and entrances to the shops.
Nevertheless, street vendors argue that they
are in good relations with the shopkeepers de-
nying that they have problems with them.
Figure 52: The AAA perceived boundaries
2.4.1.2 Perception of Territorial Domain
With regard to the perception of space and dy-
namics it was found that each group perceives
al-Amrikiyya in different ways based upon their
type of use of space. This perception was inves-
tigated in relation to the definition of bounda-
ries and landmarks of the AAA. Customers and
passers-by perceive different boundaries of the
AAA; some of them distinguish it only as the
mall of al-Amrikiyya, others call the area al-Hos-
sary. (Figure 52) Others referred to the places
where they visit most; even they name areas
according to their functions, e.g., the passage
in Aly al-Deen mall is often referred to as “the
Syrian passage” because many Syrian shops are
located there.
In addition, people perceive the landmarks of
the AAA according to the type of activity they
pursue in it. (Figure 53) A significant group of
consumers visit the area with their families or
friend s for recreational purposes, specifically
for having a meal in a restaurant or a drink in a
café and having a Syrian dessert. This group vis-
it the area often in the afternoon and in evening
and that’s when the area becomes vibrant. Yet,
the students of 6th of October University use
the area as their canteen only during the day. In
addition, most of the students purchase their
stationery from the area, and few are taking ad-
ditional lessons related to their studies in the
area’s private academic centres. Some other
small group would come to AAA to buy their
clothes, as there are other competitors such as
2.4 | Socio-Economic Analysis
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