Livelihood Reports Al Amrikeya Area - Final Assessment | Page 155

Location Endowments: Case Study: Al-Ordonoya Shopping Centre:
The key economic activity drivers would be
defined as key travel destinations that would
generate significant activity near, away from, or
towards the AAA. While the malls (Dolphin and
Carrefour) do generate significant activity, there
is no evidence to show that AAA competes with
them directly as their economic bases are dif-
ferent. Their spatial relativity is also not con-
ducive to direct competition directing activity
away from each other as they are on the major,
automobile dominated road in the direction ex-
iting the area. The university, however, is a mas-
sively significant generator of both foot traffic
and development. Field surveys have illustrated
that the majority of daytime users are students,
primarily on the side fronting the university. In order to understand the distinctive success
factors of the AAA, a comparative analysis is ap-
plied through studying the case of al-Ordoneya
shopping centre. (Figure 52)The 6th of October
area is not new to large refugee influxes, nor
to their potential entrepreneurial ventures, as
the city’s neighbourhoods have been uniquely
absorbent. This may be in part by the demand
for services during the exponential population
increase in various neighbourhoods. In recent
years the 7th District experienced an influx of
Iraqi refugees who had come to Egypt after the
US invasion in 2003 (5) . Soon after, a community
retail centre called al-Ordoneya (Jordanian) ex-
perienced much of the same attention as AAA
is now. According to the shop owners, this was
mainly between 2006 and 2011, however, a
large portion of stores and restaurants are still
active today.
Incentives:
The surveys have shown that a large percent-
age of stores some of which have been open
the longest were the first enterprises to use the
space. Approximately 40% of the interviewees
said that the store was vacant before their en-
terprise began. When asked why they opened,
55% of the interviewees claimed that the loca-
tion endowments and activity of the surround-
ing area played a big role, while 28% claimed
it was due to the relatively cheaper rents.
Proximity to the owners and employee’s resi-
dence may also have been a strong incentive
for starting an entrepreneurial venture in AAA,
however, while 92% of the interviewees do live
in the 6th of October area, only one attributed
proximity as the primary reason. The activity in
the area is then attributed to the specific set of
services developed within it. The AAA has the
capacity, as this time, to generate traffic and at-
tract visitors. The Syrian impact, both in terms
of investment and services offered, is identi-
fiably positive. The primary incentives for the
stores are, according to the surveys, vacancy,
rent price and location. Thus, future interven-
tion strategies must ensure that the services
are maintained or improved without compro-
mising the price threshold.
97 | Understanding the development context
Restaurants, cafes, shops, and services opened
on the ground floor of the centre, which lies on
the main north south road in the 7th District.
The area gained much attention as a goto for
local entertainment, food and overall outings,
particularly for the nearby residents. It also at-
tracted students from nearby schools as well as
the university. Coverage from various news re-
ports emphasize the F&B services as the main
attractive element.
Interviews with the shop owners identified that
the key reasons for beginning this investment
was cheap, vacant store fronts in a dense resi-
dential area as well as the opportunity to pro-
vide an F&B market to the untapped area. The
uniqueness of the food played a major role in
the shop owners incentives to open the store
and the vast number of Iraqis in the area pro-
vided a level of communal support. This was
done to an extent in the absence of institution-
al support from the centre’s administration. In-
terviewees claimed that the area was dirty and
5-  Gaber, Yassin and Heba Afify. “Iraqi Refugees In Egypt Still
Suffer From Ambiguous Legal Status | Egypt Independent”.
Egyptindependent.com. N.p., 2013. Web.