Livelihood Reports Al Amrikeya Area - Final Assessment | Page 185

4.1
This section presents a brief of the main issues
and characteristics of the AAA based on the
findings of the needs assessment process.
No Institutional Dialogue between the Occu-
pants of the AAA and the CA
• It is evident from all studies that there is no
institutional dialogue between the occu-
pants of the area including the mall man-
agers, shopkeepers/owners and street ven-
dors, and the CA. Accordingly, there is an
informality in the implementation of laws
and regulations. For example, extended
outdoor activities, which are generally pro-
hibited in public spaces, are sometimes ex-
clusively allowed, and contrastingly banned
from privately owned spaces. Whereas,
other issues which in fact require interven-
tion from the CA, such as monitoring the
type of use of the underground levels, are
disregarded. The CA also turns a blind eye
to issues such as the maintenance of pub-
lic lighting, and paving of internal streets.
In addition there is a discrepancy between
the mall management systems among the
different shopping malls in the AAA; not all
of them are officially registered at the CA.
Thus, this deficiency in the management
system increases the gap of institutional di-
alogue between the occupants of the AAA
and the CA.
Precarious Environment
• The AAA is a very dynamic environment
maintaining an unpredictable and unstable
character. This character is due to several
reasons. First, the CA mentioned that they
did not expect this high level of occupancy.
The commercial activity in the area boomed
accidentally as a consequence of the Syrian
political situation, resulting in the influx of
Syrian refugees. Moreover, this precarious
127 | SITUATION ANALYSIS
SUMMARY OF THE MAIN
FINDINGS AND CHARAC-
TERISTICS IN THE AREA
nature is mainly due to the type of occu-
pants of the area, consisting of refugees,
and residents from the 6th of October City,
which is a new urban settlement. In addi-
tion, as a result of the remarkable rise in
rental prices, the turn over rate in the area
is high, affecting the type of users and uses
in the AAA. Hence the future of the area
is also highly unpredictable. It is depend-
ent on whether the Syrians will leave the
area, and if the Egyptians would be willing
to replace their presence and maintain the
success of the current commercial activity.
Informality
• The AAA has an informal nature revealed
through the relationship between its differ-
ent stakeholders. This is partially due to the
instability of the power structure between
these stakeholders, as 6th of October City
is considerably a new settlement. This in-
formality has an impact on the effective-
ness of the mall management, the legal
status of the commercial activities and the
implementation of rules and regulations.
First, the type of management system is
inconsistent among the different malls,
which reflects in their overall quality. There
are multiple management systems; some
malls have a mall administration, some
have occupants unions, and some have
both. In addition to their type, the efficien-
cy of the management systems in maintain-
ing the cleanliness, security, and control of
outdoor activities is also variable. Second,
the fact that most of the shops lack an op-
erating license and that the street vending
activity is not legalized, makes the majority
of the commercial activity in the area infor-
mal.