General background

The relationship between nature and human society has recently become widely acknowledged since the well-being of human communities was found to be intricately linked to the surrounding ecosystem capital (Ecological Footprint Factbook 2009; Austin 2014; Beatley 2011). In this sense, Biophilia advocates the importance of nature in our lives as contact with nature is an evolutionary and biological need for our emotional health, well-being, and planetary health (Beatley 2011). However, urbanisation trends and modern lifestyles divide human inhabitants and the natural world physically and psychologically (Hinds and Sparks 2008). Therefore, people no longer experience the natural world directly, which in turn affects their environmental behaviour and awareness (ibid.).

Balancing human needs and nature is a complex issue. It depends heavily on numerous factors such as the climatic zones, built environment, environmental awareness and stewardship, political ethos, socioeconomic aspects, and socioecological agendas. Nowadays, cities face several complex challenges, especially in the face of the rapid urbanisation and continuous increase of urban populations. These challenges open up numerous debates about the current commodities and quality of life which cities provide to their residents and the methods by which they offer them, whether through civic engagement or governmental efforts only. That is why cities worldwide compete to achieve and deliver a better quality of life to their citizens and visitors, reinforced by the available social and cultural opportunities in urban settings and the recreational and natural areas (Austin 2014). Therefore, recreational, aesthetic, historical, biological, and economic resources should be distributed among communities and metropolitan regions (Austin 2014, p. 89).

Consequently, there is an uprising movement towards the intensification of urban greening agendas in cities worldwide. This movement reflects what the 2016 Habitat III conference discussed and mandated. As the conference articulated the importance of increasing urban green spaces and investing in social well-being to enhance the liveability, quality of life, and deliverance of sustainable cities (Anguelovski, et al. 2018). Urban green spaces affect all life aspects, such as enhancing the residents' mental and physical well-being and decreasing the pollution levels in cities (Haq 2011; WHO 2017). Green spaces also increase economic vitality as they boost the real estate market in urban areas, highlighting their importance as a tool for improving urban experiences and supporting sustainable development (Haq 2011). However, despite the great importance of green spaces in cities, many cities, especially Global South cities, face numerous challenges and obstacles regarding the integration and supply of green spaces in the ever-growing urban areas and addressing the numerous challenges to maintain the existing ones (Rigolon et al. 2018; Girma et al. 2019; Gelan and Girma 2021; Aly and Dimitrijevic 2022). For a better understanding of environmental problems, scholars have been calling for studying cities as socioecological systems, where humans and nature are considered as interdependent entities that are in a continuous interaction loops (Berkes et al. 2014; Sakai and Umetsu 2014). Governance systems and actors are considered core sub-systems of the socioecological system of cities (Ostrom 2009). Hence actors need to be identified, as their purposes and knowledge are critical in defining their approaches in ecological resources utilization (Sakai and Umetsu 2014). In addition to the rules and norms that mediate the interaction between humans and their environment (Berkes et al. 2014).

In this regard, this study is novel in its field for two reasons. The first is that the study enriches the literature on green spaces with a case from the global south, where less is known. Only limited studies have been undertaken about Cairo, Egypt to identify the underlying dynamics of the acute problem of green spaces shortage and their un liveability. Even though the acute challenge of green spaces shortage facing Cairo is affecting the resilience and sustainability of the city and the wellbeing of its inhabitants. The study highlights different rationale and approaches of dealing with green spaces than the prevailing global north perspective in literature. Second, the study adopts a stakeholder analysis approach to look into the relationships among the diverse actors as a means for unravelling the complex situation. This method highlighted the power spectrum of the stakeholders, while underlining their complex relationships. This method helped in studying a core sub-system of the socioecological system of cities.

To achieve its aims, the study analyses the underlying philosophy and rationale of the strategies and mechanisms of supplying green open spaces in Cairo. It also highlights their impact on the character of the available green spaces and people–place relationship. The study also explores the current landscape of the stakeholders' dynamics. This analysis is considered as an initial step towards assessing the viability of proposing collaborations between different stakeholders as a possible solution to the current challenges facing Cairo. Along with suggesting pathways for community engagement and incorporating placemaking in Cairo to create more liveable and sustainable green open spaces. The findings of this study provide a wider range of measures and intervention points that can be tackled to successfully provide and manage green open spaces in Cairo and other global south cities that are facing similar challenges. Furthermore, it helps as resourceful literature and input for policy-makers in formulating environmental policies, strategies, and frameworks in general and greening policies, strategies, and frameworks in particular. Besides, the study may be used as a baseline information for further investigation to enrich the research findings and advancements in this area.

Note The parts where the authors reflect on nature are mainly arguments on the main concepts of the relationship between humankind and nature at the basic philosophies of nature connectedness and biophilic concepts. In these instances, nature is discussed as the underlying meaning of green spaces in cities. However, the 'green' nature, as framed in the Global North literature, is hardly comparable in such a dense metropolis situated in an arid region. So, the only greenery to be found within the Cairo metropolis, other than the very narrow Nile river's spine, is man-made greenery.

The western-centric approach, as per the authors, entails copying greening solutions, designs and planning standards from the western world and applying them in this very different context culturally and ecologically. This copying takes place with no critical questioning of the values, perspectives and needs of green spaces in an arid growing capital such as Cairo and without profound thinking about the effect of this shift on the community cultures and the city's ecosystem.

Mainstreaming urban greening in city policies and strategies

Since the early generation of urban park development in the nineteenth century, green spaces have been deployed as solutions to deal with the different challenges facing cities culturally, politically, and economically (Loughran 2018). To date, such underlying philosophy of urban greening is still present and is more crucial and intensified. For example, some cities adopt greening as a tool to improve individual and public health (as in Denver and El Paso, USA) or as an economic or city centre development strategy (as in Philadelphia, USA; and Mississauga, Canada) (Anguelovski, et al. 2018). In contrast, other cities adopt green and open space strategies to enhance socially deprived and vulnerable neighbourhoods (as in South Islington, UK) (Watson and Kessler 2013). Greening has also been used recently as a solution to post-industrial clean-up and redevelopment (as in Baltimore, Boston, and New York, USA; and Barcelona, Spain) (Waldheim 2016). Another use of greening is as a tool for climate preparedness and resilience (as in New Orleans and Boston, USA; and Paris, France) and for ecosystem restoration and nature preservation strategy (as in Berlin, Germany; and Stockholm, Sweden) (Beatley 2000). These multiple growing approaches and rationales for urban greening adopted in different cities are usually reflected in the policies and strategies of cities (Anguelovski et al. 2018), given the importance of urban green space strategies to successful green space delivery and management.

In general, strategy is defined as a policy to achieve specific objectives through embracing a main approach or an appropriate method for attaining goals and resolving particular issues (The GreenKeys Project Team 2008). In the case of green spaces, due to their wide range of aspects, strategies should address various policies and objectives, such as the environmental, social, and economic policies (ibid.). In this regard, most research now calls for an integrated approach to urban greening that seeks various functions, ranging from nature conservation to social benefits for citizens (Haq 2011; Szulczewska et al. 2017; Anguelovski et al. 2018).

Incorporating urban greening in city planning entails a clear strategy and long-term implementation plan, which requires urban greening to be a fundamental aspect of city governance (Young and McPherson 2013; Lennon et al. 2017). Through a comparative analysis of greening strategies in a sample of 99 cities, it was observed that cities with a high degree of integration between greening strategies and housing, transportation, or health policies achieve a high level of greening implementation (Anguelovski et al. 2018). This integration implies a shift in institutional and organisational arrangements to reflect the required interdisciplinary collaboration, which is not the case for conventional public sector organisational arrangements known to fragment and segregate development issues and manage them discretely (Lennon et al. 2017). Additionally, the lack of city or area enforcement and the lack of monitoring in implementing their greening strategies are considered major hindrances (Maryati and Humaira 2016).

Strategies, networks, and placemaking

Patsy Healy (2006) argues that strategy-making is an attempt to transform structures and alter power relations. Highlighting that stakeholder interest is the way to achieve the strategy collaboratively by building policy networks and associations as the work continues (Healy 2006). 'Successful' strategy-making efforts lead to strategies and policies that convince the multiple stakeholders of the value of the new directions and anticipated implications by creating a new discourse or story regarding the issues discussed. Thus, resulting in innovative approaches through reframing issues and enabling new types of actions to be considered, which provides the potential to change the structuring of social relations if they happen to hold power (Healy 2006). Partnerships are then introduced as part of the network to guarantee the collaboration of different stakeholders, supported by the fact that governments recently, more effectively, have not been working in isolation, but in collaboration with the civil society, NGOs and the different communities (Mathersa et al. 2015).

In this paper, the collaboration of the different stakeholders is defined as creating the context for successful placemaking, which is defined as the shaping of places where people want to live, work and play. The main focus of placemaking is creating places that fulfil people's needs and engage them in their communities, inducing a strong sense of ownership and commitment to promoting this place. Strong partnerships are required to achieve these aims (Future City Group 2012; Local Government Association 2017). In this sense, placemaking strengthens community connections to a place (Future City Group 2012) through creating a shared vision based on the different needs, desires and aspirations (Kramer 2014; Scottish Natural Heritage 2012), which consequently creates a sense of place that reinforces the identities of the different regions. A place is where 'a dimension is formed by people's relationship with physical settings, individual and group activities, and meaning' (Najafi and Shariff 2011, p. 1055). A sense of place's strength is argued to be an indicator of people's willingness to contribute to social activities (Najafi and Shariff 2011). Therefore, community engagement enhances well-being, increases satisfaction levels, increases local ownership, and boosts civic pride as the locals are involved in the decisions (West Lothian's Community Engagement Practitioners Network 2015).

The transformation of the participants' minds, not just the physical transformation of the places, represents a community's comeback as the main aim of placemaking (Silberberg et al. 2013). Effective placemaking relies on strong working partnerships where councils work with the public, voluntary and community sectors, and businesses (Local Government Association 2017; Future City Group 2012). This approach emphasises the long-term importance of boosting community capacity and local leadership rather than focusing on the physical setting only (Silberberg et al. 2013). Thus, a horizontal approach to networking is crucial to engaging communities (Dempsey and Burton 2011) and becoming the core of placemaking as a non-hierarchical and community-centred paradigm that can create a generation of city makers rather than consumers (Silberberg et al. 2013). This shift capitalises on the unique assets and potentials of the communities to create high-quality places and events that promote health, happiness and well-being as each community has its shared history, infrastructure and traditions that form its own cultural identity (Local Government Association 2017). In general, placemaking is an ongoing holistic process in this profound understanding of the built environment. It encompasses the physical and non-physical dimensions of spaces and the interrelationships between them as well as the structures and mechanisms that govern relationships and processes (Dempsey and Burton 2011).

Collaborations and partnerships as a solution

Failures related to environmental problems are an indication that developing top-down policy responses is insufficient (Görg 2007). Therefore, the quest for new policy options becomes essential, and the expansion of the spectrum of players has become one of the new approaches to deal with environmental issues (ibid.). Partnerships are crucial and have proven successful. As partnerships are regarded as a shift from the traditional state-centred model, or market-centred models where partners are primarily motivated by profit, to the user-centred model. The partnership members are from the local authorities, communities, and charitable trusts who share concerns about the quality of places (Dempsey and Burton 2011). User-centred models rely on user-based organisations that are directly interested in the quality of the settings and services. These models mainly depend on a horizontal management approach, abandoning hierarchy while using formal and informal contacts and networks (ibid.). In addition, the partnership capacity should be assessed and investigated to yield the planned outcomes defined at the beginning of the project (Mathersa et al. 2015) and the commitments of the different actors, especially those that depend on communities initiatives (Elands et al. 2016). Although there is a need to assemble actors at different scales, it is crucial to consider the equal access of the produced spaces, particularly when private-sector actors have increased control over public spaces (Mehaffy et al. 2018; Elands et al. 2016). Hence, councils are distinctively placed to stimulate, facilitate and drive placemaking activity (Hamilton 2017). They have the potential to bring a wide range of multiple partners and actors together and can oversee the shared agreed-on vision, planning and delivery (ibid.).

Communities, green spaces, and placemaking

Community engagement and enablement, especially those related to urban greening, have been recently encouraged and considered as an informal network of micro activity that supplements the interventions of a strategic level, which is designed and implemented at higher scales (Jerome 2017; Rutherford 2007; Mell 2017; Austin 2014; Beatley 2011; Elands et al. 2016). This communal activity is delivered through the volunteer efforts of groups and individuals, so it provides spaces in which their functions and benefits are linked to the particularities of the communities of place, social needs and skills (Jerome 2017; Astbury 2013; Beatley 2011). Such communal engagement induces a sense of ownership towards these spaces. Considering green spaces as facets of nature also adds to the value of placemaking since nature and landscapes can bring multiple benefits and provide greater value for public money (Scottish Natural Heritage 2012; Beatley 2011). As landscapes add to the local distinctiveness of places; create a stronger sense of place; increase economic growth and investment; ensure healthy physical and mental well-being; induce social and community cohesion through creating social spaces and events and providing playing and volunteering opportunities; improve climate change adaptation measures and quality of deprived areas, and conserve the wildlife and habitats (Scottish Natural Heritage 2012). Astbury states numerous ways in which citizens can interact with nature in urban green spaces that are expected to contribute to the development and maintenance of green spaces (Astbury 2013). These activities range from planting and looking after trees or growing food to constructing adventure playgrounds that reconnect children with nature (ibid.). Co-creating green spaces also adds to the character of neighbourhoods and the city, which should be prioritised in the modern world. As the implications of the growth of human societies, changes in lifestyles, technological advances, and development trends gradually lead to a sense of placelessness where places do not convey any meaning (Najafi and Shariff 2011).

On the other hand, Relph argues that landscapes should be considered through the lens of distinctiveness and standardisation rather than place and placelessness. This distinction is especially critical in the ever-changing era of globalisation, constantly introducing similar lifestyles and settings (Relph 1976, reprinted 2008). This is when placemaking becomes more crucial as a means of providing distinctiveness within landscapes in a rapidly changing world. Thus, the success factors of effective placemaking can be summarised in effective community engagement, strong partnerships across all stakeholders, and the presence of a steering group with representatives from key stakeholders, among others (Local Government Association 2017).

The real dilemma

Despite the great benefits and importance of green spaces in cities, their incorporation into the built environments is not a blueprint. For green spaces to play a significant social and cultural role in cities, their integration requires innovative design approaches, powerful integration mechanisms in the overall urban settings and governance set-up, and long-term maintenance and funding. Asserting the crucial influence of the social aspect of green spaces is for inviting and encouraging community engagement and bottom-up acts and movements (Elands et al. 2016; Beatley 2011). By claiming that ‘different voices have different values of green’, Gareth Doherty (2017) highlights the importance of understanding and unravelling the stakeholders’—involved or targeted—different values of green open spaces in cities (Doherty 2017). Throughout his book, he demonstrated with examples, that green has different meanings and associations for various community sectors, which anticipate environmentalism and sustainability in future (ibid.). Therefore, inducing collaborations and encouraging partnerships for green space implementation, management, and maintenance require more than just an 'engaging management' approach. Instead, it requires a comprehensive understanding of the values and meanings in addition to the capacities and motives of the different stakeholders in order to yield successful collaborations and placemaking benefits (ibid.).

The situation is similar in Cairo, where the Egyptian capital faces complex and vastly growing problems resulting from rapid urbanisation, soaring population growth, high pollution levels, and, consequently, high stress levels among its residents. In this regard, the Cairo case will be explained in order to explore the viability and applicability of the 'collaboration and partnership' solution for urban greening in such a complex context. Thus, breaking down the different stakeholders who play a role and others who show interest in providing and maintaining green spaces as well as attempting to understand the underlying values of green for each stakeholder. In addition to analysing the relationships among the different stakeholders and the usability of the different green spaces to investigate the potential for collaboration and engagement further. This analysis highlights the gaps that current stakeholders do not tackle in Cairo's landscape, as well as any opportunities for possible collaborations and required partnerships for inducing and encouraging placemaking for urban greening.

Case study: Cairo, Egypt

Egyptian cities suffer from a deterioration in the life systems of the built environment. Land use change arising from urban growth, economic development and human activity are considered major environmental pressures, especially in areas with constantly growing urbanisation (Hegazy et al. 2017). Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is located along the Nile river, with a population of 9.5 million approximately (Brinkhoff 2021). The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) named the main challenges facing Cairo as follows: increased unliveability, the incapability of its systems to deliver the basic services, reduce pollution levels and traffic congestion, and most importantly, dealing with a complex set of institutional arrangements that fragment responsibilities and constrain efficient service delivery (Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt & The United Nations Development Program 2007). Accordingly, the quality of life is one of the main pillars in the future vision of Cairo (ibid.).

Background on green spaces and quality of life in Cairo

In the nineteenth century, a great deal of attention was given to park provisions inspired by western designs, in the extension of the Khedival Cairo (Rabbat 2004; Wanas and Samir 2016; Abdel-Rahman 2016; Battesti 2006). These parks still compromise most of Cairo's share of green spaces until now (Abdel-Rahman 2016). Cairo reached the highest green space per capita throughout this era, to be around 15–25 m2 per person (Wanas and Samir 2016). However, since the turn of the twentieth century, Cairo has faced growing urban and economic development pressures due to its continuous phenomenal growth. These pressures have always affected the areas, distribution, and percentages of green spaces around the capital. Most of the time, the pressure threatened the survival of green spaces, which would gradually become urbanised (Rabbat 2004). Only bits and pieces of eighteenth-century huge parks are now scattered around Cairo (ibid.) For instance, Al-Azbakeya Park gradually lost approximately 60–80% of its area under the pressure of urbanisation, Cairo's underground project and street vendors. While it also lost its glory for the lack of maintenance and funds (Shahine 2018). Similar pressures have led to the dramatic loss of green spaces in Cairo over time. The current green space per capita in Greater Cairo Region is only 3 m2, as per the governmental documents, which negatively affects the main urban area and quality of life (GOPP et al. 2012). Though Cairo is continuously losing more green spaces in favour of traffic mitigation solutions and infrastructure projects that Cairo’s per capita share is calculated to be as low as 0.74 m2 per capita in 2020 (Aly and Dimitrijevic 2022). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the minimum share of green space should be 9 m2 per capita, with an ideal share of 50 m2 per capita (Russo and Cirella 2018). Cairo's per capita green spaces is very poor, even compared to more arid cities like Dubai, which scored 9.1 m2 per capita (HUGSI 2020). Moreover, Cairo’s per capita share is not evenly distributed among its population since more than half of the city's population only have a 0.5 m2/capita, while 70% of the population have less than the city average of 1.7 m2/capita (Kafafy and Betawi 2011)..

Being a crowded capital that lacks adequate green spaces and suitable sites for development, Cairo urgently needs to develop creative and innovative conservational development of multifunctional green spaces in order to yield proper enhancements in the built environment (El-Zafarany 2005; Kafafy and Betawi 2011). In addition to the urgent need to transform green spaces into attractive and liveable places so that they can contribute to the creation of sustainable communities (Kafafy and Betawi 2011; El-Zafarany 2005; Duquennois and Newman 2009; Keleg and Abdellatif 2019). The reason is that increasing green spaces' areas and quality in the city could help create a sense of attachment among its inhabitants (Duquennois and Newman 2009), which is essential for enhancing the quality of life in Cairo.

Methodology

To analyse and understand the green space dilemma in Cairo, it is crucial to articulate what green space stands for in this research. It is argued that there are two possible broad interpretations of green spaces in the literature (Taylor and Hochuli 2017). The first regards green or blue bodies as antonyms to urbanisation, so it refers to an overarching concept of nature that articulates landcover as dichotomies of either urban or natural in a sheer generalised sense (ibid.). While the second interpretation relates to urban vegetation, which can be considered a subset of the overarching concept of green spaces within the urban environment (ibid.). Such understanding is dominant in urban landscape research. It articulates the human involvement and planning in green spaces design and maintenance for its endurance (ibid.). This research supports the second interpretation of green space, which is based on the interdisciplinary definition of urban green spaces as 'public and private open spaces in urban areas, primarily covered with vegetation, which are directly (e.g. active or passive recreation) or indirectly (e.g. positive influence on the urban environment) available for the users' (Haq 2011, p. 601).

The authors adopted a qualitative approach due to the complexity of the research topic. A qualitative approach contributes to preventing a premature focus on a defined number of aspects of the issue and neglecting others that may emerge during the data collection and analysis process (Varvasovszky and Brugha 2000). The research utilised primary and secondary data collection methods. The primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted between 2017 and 2018. The interviews were face-to-face and took place at the interviewees' offices or workplaces, where each interview lasted for one to two hours. This atmosphere allowed the interviewees to elaborate more on the areas of interest and bring their narratives to the topic. On the other hand, the secondary data relied on policy reviews, official websites of the stakeholders, and related official documents.

Identifying the providers of green spaces in Cairo and defining their interests, scales of influence, power, and interrelations was essential for tackling the main research problem. Thus, the authors mapped the different green spaces provision approaches, their objectives, and the kind of commodities they deliver, especially regarding their social impact and community commitment. Accordingly, the stakeholders contributing to green spaces were classified into three main groups—governmental bodies, NGOs and civil society, and the private sector, in addition to collaborative efforts.

The interviews were a crucial tool for this research to understand and grasp the essence of green spaces according to the various stakeholders. The authors focused on interviews with the officials of governmental bodies, as they are the key stakeholders mandated with the design and management system of green spaces provision in Cairo, which affects the city's overall character. On the other hand, interviews with civil society were essential for a bottom-up perspective.

Interviews with officials of governmental bodies were essential to understand the current situation and future pathway of green spaces in Cairo from the perspectives of those involved in formulating and implementing the city's policies. Hence, the authors conducted five interviews with Cairo Cleaning and Beautification Agency officials. As the CCBA is the executive organisation responsible for designing and maintaining green spaces in Cairo. The interviews targeted officials from different departments (e.g., the self-efforts department head– engineers from the design department—an executive engineer in one of Cairo's districts). These interviews were essential to understand whether there are different perspectives of green spaces definitions and functions within the same organisation and to obtain more in-depth information on the governance and administrative set-up of the agency and ways of dealing with green spaces. In addition, the authors conducted an interview with the advisor of the Ministry of Planning, Follow-up and Administrative Reform to learn more about the future pathways for green spaces provision in Cairo as per Egypt Vision 2030 and whether there are changes in the current set-up to achieve the goals of the vision.

In contrast, interviews with civil society stakeholders provided different perspectives more connected to placemaking and participation. The authors conducted three interviews with the civil society. Nonetheless, two of them are on environmentalism in general, and one interview with a recently growing greening initiative, Shagrha. This interview was rich and included the founder and his co-founders, supporters, and regular volunteer. The interviews were designed to provide an understanding of the motivation behind their active roles and ways of sustaining and expanding their roles, opportunities, or hindrances to be able to collaborate with the other sectors and communities.

Afterwards, a stakeholder analysis was carried out to help understand the relationships between the stakeholders and the different scales of interest and influence. Stakeholder analysis is regarded as an approach, a tool or a set of tools used for generating knowledge about actors to understand their behaviour, aims, interrelations and interests (Varvasovszky and Brugha 2000). It is also used for assessing the influence and resources they bring for consideration in decision-making or implementation processes (ibid.). Furthermore, the information acquired from this analysis can be used to develop strategies for managing stakeholders and assess future policy directions' feasibility, among other usages (ibid.). In this regard, analysing the stakeholder set-up in Cairo paved the way for a holistic review of the situation, which provided a comprehensive assessment of the current administrative set-up for green space provision. Furthermore, it contributed to highlighting the pitfalls of the system by pinpointing the cascade of the different roles and missions. Hence, present opportunities are highlighted and are drawn on for providing possible recommendations for liveable green space provision in Cairo and stronger communal attachment and involvement.

Mapping the different stakeholders and approaches to green spaces provision in Cairo

Cairo is a dynamic city that continues to grow spatially, demographically, and economically. Thus, there are multiple and diverse green spaces provision approaches and philosophies that involve numerous stakeholders. For a clear presentation of the situation for the reader, the stakeholders are mapped into four main groups as follows.

Governmental bodies

Numerous bodies are in charge of green spaces in Cairo, whether they are mandated with their creation, monitoring, or maintenance. Each body works at a different level and has its agenda and perspective on green spaces. In order to demonstrate the different roles, the analysis will be divided into two levels: the executive level and the policy level. The bodies on the executive level are mandated to create and maintain green spaces, as illustrated in Table 1. In contrast, the bodies on the policy level are the ones mandated to formulate green space specifications or monitor their presence, as displayed in Table 2.

Table 1 The RNA-Seq Data sets’ Summary of ZM6 (C. sinensis)
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Table 2 An illustration of the missions and roles of the policy-level stakeholders (governmental bodies) responsible for greening in Cairo
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As shown in the examples, it can be seen that the overall character of the green open spaces provided by the governmental bodies is almost typical, using the same trees species and almost the exact compositions of trees and hardscapes. Moreover, although most of these green open spaces are 'theoretically accessible' and for 'public use' nevertheless, in reality, most of these are virtually empty most days of the year.

Civil society

Numerous initiatives, NGOs, community-based organisations (CBO) and private enterprises have recently emerged in Egypt, particularly in Cairo, with interest in increasing environmental awareness and encouraging citizens to adopt environmentally friendly consumption routines and encourage urban greening and agriculture on the different scales. These movements play a fundamental role in grass root changes and add, in several different ways, to the green spaces in Cairo. However, most of these movements are not incorporated into government strategies and future goals. For the purpose of this paper, two of these initiatives and NGOs were chosen, both of which highlight different approaches to engaging the communities in urban greening, as illustrated in Table 3.

Table 3 Two examples of NGOs and initiatives in Cairo advocating for urban greening
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The founder of Shagrha Omar El Deeb believes that community awareness and stewardship is the most influential factor and driver in the vitality and sustainability of trees. Therefore, the availability of these factors is the primary selection criteria for selecting plantation sites in his initiative. Furthermore, believing in the importance of environmental awareness, El Deeb works to spread the awareness of the significance of urban greening through this initiative by planting trees everywhere. The reason for this is that when people frequently get in touch with trees in their surroundings, they get more passionate about greening, more engaged and more encouraged to plant more trees in their surroundings (interview with Omar El Deeb, January 2018).

These two examples represent two different approaches by voluntary entities that aim to increase Cairo's green spaces through multiple techniques and methods. Both examples highlight and prove the enthusiasm and potential that local communities, with different income levels, possess towards urban agriculture and increasing green spaces in their surroundings.

The private sector

The private sector also contributes to green spaces in Cairo, though in most cases, they are turned into private spaces that do not welcome all community users; however, they still constitute a fair share of the green spaces in Cairo. Nevertheless, it is argued that two-thirds of the green spaces in Cairo are provided by the private sector, where private sports clubs constitute around one-third of the private green spaces in Cairo (Kafafy 2010). These efforts can be divided into two main development projects: gated residential communities and sports clubs.

Gated residential communities in Cairo

Recently, several gated communities are being created and promoted, especially in Cairo's new extensions and on the main regional roads. These compounds mainly target high-income families, promising safety and a better quality of life. They largely depend on the presence of large green areas in their master plan to promote their projects in contrast to the dense city of Cairo. For example, the gated community 'Hyde Park' in New Cairo publicises that it will offer the largest landscaped park in Egypt of around 600,000 m2, highlighting the different activities throughout the day that residents can do in this park, as shown in Fig. 6. Other compounds are promoted as green oases in the middle of the desert. One of these compounds (i.e., Square Compound in New Cairo) promotes that 70% of its area is greenery. And another one (i.e., Katameya Heights in New Cairo) promotes its impressive golf courses in the Middle East and North Africa, claiming to have influenced the corporate landscape of Cairo (katameyaheights.com 2016).

Fig. 6
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Source http://hpd.com.eg/hpnewcairo/our-development/masterplan

An example of a new residential compound in New Cairo–Hyde Park, New Cairo.

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These gated communities do provide vast green open spaces, but they are private spaces only available to their very few residents. While the character of these green open spaces is mostly western-oriented, e.g., mimicking the image and character Hyde Park, London and Central Park, New York, and they compete for providing diverse landscape settings to stand out among the other compounds. In addition, some of these compounds work on enhancing their surroundings through designing and maintaining road islands and squares in their vicinities. Accordingly, changing the overall character of the neighbourhood or nearby areas in contrast to the typical landscape character of the road islands in Cairo, usually maintained by the CCBA with their typical designs.

Sports clubs

Sports clubs are private recreational clubs that, through annual memberships, offer green spaces to individuals that provide a luxurious environment to numerous residents of Cairo's middle- and upper-class families (Kafafy 2010); examples of these sports clubs are displayed in Fig. 7. These clubs have lots of similarities with the previously discussed gated communities regarding their exclusivity to members and the relatively diverse landscape character.

Fig. 7
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Source Google Earth, edited by the authors; Arab Contractors Sporting Club—http://agazaclick.com/en/destinations-guide/Africa/Egypt/Cairo/Arab-Contractors-Sporting-Club/Photos.f.1.11372/

The layout of two examples of sports clubs in Cairo and the green areas they encompass; the third photo shows the second club.

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Collaborative efforts

Other green spaces have been presented in Cairo with different agendas and are created through the collaboration of different entities. These green spaces are usually comprised of vast areas that contribute significantly to Cairo's total area of greenery. Most of them charge entry tickets, but since the stakeholders have different agendas and goals, ticket prices vary greatly—some are relatively affordable for a large percentage of the public, while others are expensive. Therefore, despite their essential role in adding to the total share of green spaces, they cannot be considered a reliable source for green spaces as their stakeholders get engaged with different problems/issues/concerns. Two of the most prominent examples of similar green spaces are Al Azhar Park and Family Park, as illustrated in Fig. 8. Al Azhar Park was initiated and funded by the Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme (PPS 2006; AKDN 2018), which opened in 2005 as the most significant designed green space with an area of 30 hectares (PPS 2006). In contrast, Family Park covers 29.4 hectares in New Cairo, half of which is dedicated to green spaces as it also encompasses a scientific–cultural complex, miniature park and restaurants. It targets children to provide them with an entertaining and educational experience as well as an interaction with nature (The central information centre for the armed forces, n.d.).

Fig. 8
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The two parks; the two pictures on the left show Al Azhar Park. (Source https://www.akdn.org/gallery/creating-urban-oasis-al-azhar-park-cairo-egypt), while the third picture shows Family Park (Source http://www.familypark.com.eg/AboutUs.aspx

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In terms of the character of these green spaces, they certainly provide a distinctive landscape character in Cairo and thus attract visitors due to their magnificence. Al Azhar Park is an exceptional example, where the underlying philosophy of its creators is to provide a contextualised, unique, and sustainable landscape character emphasising Islamic garden character and design in particular. This is evident in the overall design and layout of the park and the context-sensitive species selection. Despite being a private space, Al Azhar park is still comparably inclusive. While Family Park adopts a more westernised landscape image encompassing vast lush areas and a spacious artificial lake. However, it is socially exclusive as its tickets are unaffordable to a vast sector of the community.

Stakeholder analysis

The concept of stakeholder acts as a net to ‘capture’ both the articulate and the silent, the powerful and the powerless, those within a territorial political community, and those beyond its boundaries. (Healy 2006, p. 260)

In this sense, an understanding of the landscape of stakeholders engaged in green space provision projects and plans in Cairo will be achieved by analysing all stakeholders' scale of influence, power, and interest. It is evident from this analysis, as shown in Fig. 9, that there is a fragmentation of the efforts and policy levels of the different stakeholders when it comes to green space provision in Cairo. What is also evident is the high percentage of stakeholders operating at the policy and strategic level with an aggregate interest in the city level in contrast to how local neighbourhoods and districts are neither part of the plans of the governmental institutions nor the private sector. This scale is subsequently left to the interventions and efforts of the NGOs and social enterprises that have lately emerged, causing a split between the national policy and local communities. Thus, the percentage of stakeholders on the local level is deficient, which is insufficient to induce the aspired community engagement and activism for green spaces necessary for placemaking. Additionally, the efforts and projects of the NGOs are specific to their vision and capacities. Thus, their interventions are, in some way, fragmented and do not feed into the plans of either the city or the national policy.

Fig. 9
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Stakeholder analysis for greening in Cairo, highlighting the levels of interventions and their powers (Source The Authors)

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Power relationships are also another crucial aspect to consider, as it is vital to take into account the fact that the strongest interests and values in the planning process will control the nature of the outcome. Economic interests dominate city planning and design, above all else, at the expense of the environment (Austin 2014; Mehaffy et al. 2018). For the current set-up in Cairo, it is evident that power is centralised on the higher scales for the public and private sectors. On the other hand, the bottom-up initiatives still lack empowerment, as shown in Fig. 9. Therefore, it is imperative to consider power balances in order to balance the desired inclusive atmosphere and the anticipated outcomes of the inclusion of the different stakeholders. With regard to Cairo, the current stakeholder landscape influences the inclusiveness of the green spaces, where most of the provided spaces are private spaces, excluding most of the community sectors, i.e., as in the cases of gated communities, sports clubs and newly emerging parks of collaborative efforts.

Discussion

Many stakeholders in Cairo provide green spaces based on different approaches and due to various motives. However, the problem of green space shortage in Cairo is argued to be a collective action problem where the mechanisms of supply regulation are less developed than they should be (Kafafy 2010). The absence of green space strategies in Cairo, lack of policies, and the lack of awareness of the holistic importance of green spaces to the surrounding built environment contribute to the current situation of green space supply (ibid.). Even though Egypt has recently been working on the green spaces supply issue at the policy level (Egypt Vision 2030 2018), it is still just a goal. Its delivery and implementation strategy have not been formulated yet due to the currently ongoing update of the vision. To date, there is no clear green space strategy for Cairo nor an integrated implementation plan for the vision, especially at the local level (An interview with Advisor to the Minister of Planning, mandated with the vision update, in January 2018; CCBA heads of sub-departments in Beautification Department, Interview January 2018). To date, there is no joint and collective agreement among stakeholders for green space provisions in Cairo. Egyptian cities, especially Cairo, face many hindrances to increase the per capita share of green spaces, which should be tackled strategically and creatively to attain the aspired figures (El-Zafarany 2003, 2005; Kafafy and Betawi 2011). Different cities adopt urban greening strategies for different aims, though there is a growing shift towards adopting an integrated approach to urban greening. Hence, Cairo should adopt an integrated urban greening policy, especially in light of these hindrances and the current situation. This integrated policy would lead to the formulation of local strategies for the different parts of the city to attain multiple benefits of the green spaces according to the varying opportunities, needs, and priorities. The previous analysis shows that each stakeholder approaches green spaces through a definite sectoral lens, overlooking the interrelations of aspects and benefits of green spaces in cities, as illustrated in Table 4.

Table 4 The underlying philosophies of green spaces provision as per the stakeholders in Cairo
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It is also evident that there are still functions and benefits of green spaces that have not been considered yet and not within the scope of any of the current stakeholders. For example, the health aspect of green spaces and how it affects the general well-being of the residents is not adopted by any of the current stakeholders nor in the scope of stakeholders from the healthcare sector. In addition, green spaces' crucial role and abundance in shaping the city's overall image and enhancing the walkability within the city, consequently attracting more visitors and tourists, which would be an interest to stakeholders from, for example, the tourism sector and the transportation sector. In addition to the fact that the social aspect of green spaces is underestimated and overlooked by the stakeholders in Cairo. Thus, working on an integrated vision, formulating green spaces strategy, and executing frameworks are needed for a richer value and better provision of green spaces in Cairo. At the same time, the need for an inclusive approach for strategy formulation should be considered so that it can enable new types of actions and bring more possibilities for change, which Cairo desperately needs. In addition, considering and communicating the multi functionalities and benefits of green spaces would undoubtedly pave the way for synergies between different stakeholders. It would also include and invite more stakeholders into the process of both provision and maintenance. As collaborative work across administrative boundaries is inevitable to attain an effective and beneficial green space network (London Borough of Barnet 2017; Healy 2006; Dempsey and Burton 2011).

In addition, there is a need to incorporate placemaking into Cairo's governance framework to attain its potential and provide distinctive places. This would add to the character of the different areas and allow the green spaces to reflect the local distinctiveness rather than the standard image of green spaces in Cairo. This standardised image is seen nowadays as a result of the centrality of the main executive body (i.e., CCBA). The CCBA adopts definite plantation species, configurations, and designs for all green spaces under its jurisdiction encompassing road islands, public and neighbourhood parks (CCBA official, interview in 2017). This resulted in a sense of placelessness described as culturally unidentifiable environments similar anywhere (Najafi and Shariff 2011). While public–private partnerships, for example, for road islands greening by the Gated communities in the new extensions of Cairo, contribute to overcoming the sameness phenomenon. However, more attention should be given to this matter through encouraging and empowering more initiatives and diversified collaborations, emphasising the inclusion of communities to induce a sense of place that reflects the communities' different needs. This would result in different images and characters of green spaces within the built environment.

Incorporating placemaking within the governance set-up of Cairo would entail more horizontal networking among the stakeholders, which is not the case now, as illustrated in Fig. 10. It is clear, from Fig. 10, that the configurations of networks and relationships among the stakeholders in charge of the green space supply or those who show interest in the green spaces in Cairo are primarily vertical, hierarchical relationships. This configuration threatens the conviviality of the current model in attaining the aims of placemaking and effective multi-stakeholder engagement.

Fig. 10
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Stakeholder analysis highlighting the strength of relationships among stakeholders in the current Cairo landscape. (Source The Authors)

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The role of municipalities has been discussed in the literature as pivotal in guiding the supply and provision of green space as well ad placemaking movements and initiatives in cities. Thus, in addition to changing the role of municipalities from providers of green spaces to creators of values with communities, innovative governance arrangements and moving towards more flexible and networked arrangements are essential (Elands et al. 2016).

In fact, this has not been achieved in the Cairene context, as illustrated in Fig. 10, where the local role of the municipalities is not strong enough to lead the process, and the overall set-up still lacks the flexibility, creativity and leadership required to stimulate collaboration, engagement and empowerment among communities. While the volunteering of community members, mainly through NGOs and initiatives, as a pillar of green space delivery embodies an added value to Cairo as the present examples show promising potential in the current situation. However, they are not incorporated in the overall strategy and are not acknowledged in the overall governance set-up for the city. This results in fragmented, individual efforts that prove useless in the attempt to reach a definite and agreed-upon image and vision of the city.

Concluding remarks

Cairo faces numerous challenges in terms of green space provision as a result of complex and intertwined problems. However, by reviewing the current status of green space supply in relation to the powers, interests and relationships of stakeholders, it can be seen that there are some opportunities and potentials that can be built on and exploited in order to attain the desired increase in the green spaces of the city, quantitatively and qualitatively. Nonetheless, many issues should be tackled for a better value for green spaces in Cairo.

The fragmentation between Cairo's natural and social realms is evident. And, for Cairo to achieve a better quality of life, these two realms should be reunited and reconsidered as an integrated entity. Although dealing with Cairo as a socioecological system can solve major problems facing the city, finding spaces for green areas in such a dense city can be problematic. Consequently, this necessitates creative and innovative thinking when defining 'what a park is' (Beatley 2011). Defining what a green space is, socially, culturally, physically and ecologically, is a highly complex inquiry that should be critically considered first, which would then pave the way for better solutions to integrate nature in dense cities. This claim was also emphasised by the ethnographic fieldworks of Gareth Doherty (2017) in Bahrain, in which he investigated the meanings of landscape and green spaces through the connotations and underpinnings of the colour ‘green’ (Doherty 2017). However, it is manifested throughout this research that the top-down approach adopted in Cairo is based on western-centric images and concepts of green space provision—regardless of the community's needs and the particularities of the different socio-cultural, ecological, and geographical contexts. Thus, it does not pave the way for an in-depth contextual understanding of the underpinnings of green spaces in Cairo.

It should be noted that the green space provision philosophy and rationale dictate a lot about the stakeholder approach while designing, delivering, and maintaining green spaces in terms of inclusive engagement throughout all stages. It also shapes the green space's future role and usability in the everyday lives of the users. Though for Cairo, in the meantime, the provision approaches and the nature of the provided spaces do not invite residents to participate or feel a sense of ownership towards them. The community in Cairo deals with the available green spaces as an end product since residents are not invited nor welcomed to provide their opinion in the design or maintenance methods which separate them more from engagement, and thus the ideology of placemaking. This claim is true for almost all the provision approaches and stakeholders in Cairo, which leads to further fragmentation of the nature-human relationship reflected in the lack of community acts, enthusiasm, and connection towards public green spaces. Hence, the communities in Cairo need encouragement, empowerment, and support for taking part in greening and looking after the green spaces.

For this reason, it is crucial to investigate further the ways, methods, tools and the necessary change and introductions of laws and legislations through which the different socioeconomic groups can be engaged within the green spaces provision and maintenance frameworks and strategies. It is equally crucial to investigate ways to create an encouraging atmosphere to include more stakeholders at the local level and facilitate the emergence of new enthusiastic actors. Because the current percentage of stakeholders working on the local level with the communities is insufficient to generate the required mobilisation for action in a dense metropolitan like Cairo. Only then the public green spaces would attain their full benefits for all community sectors and reflect the different communities' needs and identities, which would enhance their liveability, so adding a stronger sense of place and reconnecting the community in Cairo to nature.

Such an understanding of the Cairo context would facilitate and further promote pathways for collaboration and partnerships and could even induce better value for green spaces. However, although the collaboration of different stakeholders and the integration of bottom-up movements are crucial to the current situation, it is essential to note that their engagement and motivation depend on different values, rationales, expectations, and capacities. This poses some questions regarding the various ways in which the different interests and values can be taken into account to implement and maintain the different typologies of green spaces in Cairo. One question is whether it is possible to bring together the different stakeholders for a unified and collaborative vision and output. Also, whether the current institutional set-up in Cairo is capable of delivering inclusive and multifunctional green spaces or if new bodies need to be introduced at an intermediate, local level that is mandated with leadership and coordination between the different stakeholders while also being legislatively and financially supported to achieve the goal.

In this regard, this research highlights the urge to coin a new definition and standards for green spaces in Cairo through a rigorous and integrated analysis of the attitudes and perspectives of relevant stakeholders, especially the local communities. It also highlights missed opportunities for more inclusive engagement and eventually a broader understanding of green spaces. While also highlighting the areas of conflict that may arise due to the sectoral values and goals of green spaces provision in Cairo to different stakeholders. For these reasons, this study can be considered a step towards a better understanding of the situation of Cairo's green spaces. Therefore, facilitating a shift from a western-centric approach for green spaces towards a local provision approach that resonates with the needs and values of the different stakeholders and communities while considering the environmental and spatial capacity and complexities of the continuously growing arid dense city of Cairo. This holistic understanding of green spaces should be the basis for formulating and negotiating Cairo's urban greening policy and strategy.