AUC welcomed Professor Carlos Moreno from Panthéon-Sorbonne University for a talk on urban innovation on November 6. His lecture, “Urban Proximity Matters,” aligned with themes of the World Urban Forum and focused on Moreno’s acclaimed 15-Minute City concept, promoting sustainability and accessibility in urban spaces. News@AUC conducted an exclusive interview with Moreno.
Hear from Carlos Moreno about his 15-minute concept, his trip to AUC for the World Urban Campaign and more.
How was your visit at AUC? What’s your impression of AUC researchers, students and faculty working on urban sustainability?
This is the first time I visit AUC, and it has been a really good experience. This is a wonderful campus. The World Urban Campaign Assembly session was perfectly organized. There were a lot of people: students, professors and academic researchers who are interested in generating collaborations and synergies in topics in our field.
The 15-minute city is the urban revolution based on a happy proximity for offering services in a city.
You developed the 30-minute territory/15-minute city concept for urban living, a concept meant to reduce carbon emissions and promote local growth. How did the idea come about?
The 15-minute city is the urban revolution based on a happy proximity for offering services in a city. In 2010, I realized that the most strategic issue in cities will be climate change, and for a successful fight against it, we need to modify our mindset, transform our mobility and develop a more vibrant local economy for our neighborhoods. In 2015 Paris hosted COP 21 and we negotiated the Paris Agreement. In 2016, I proposed this concept for the first time to develop an urban revolution: proximity within the 15-minute city, 30-minute territory as the best vector for reconciling sustainability, to reduce our carbon footprint, and to foster our local economy and local employment while rebuilding social links in cities and neighborhoods. It’s about the transition from a decarbonized world toward a greener, thriving neighborhood for human-centered urbanism.
Paris, Milan and Buenos Aires have already begun to embrace the model. Where else has the concept been translated into reality?
The 15-minute city concept was first embraced by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, in 2019. The C40 Cities, the largest network of metropolises fighting against climate change, embraced this concept in 2020 — we had Buenos Aires, Montreal, Milan and other cities around the world in different continents. Given that the 15-minute city and the 30-minute territory work as a double framework, there is a very large possibility for customizing the particular condition of each city. Buenos Aires is totally different from Paris, which is totally different from Seoul. However, each of the three cities has developed this concept for generating its own transition pathway.
We’re in Cairo, a sprawling city where places are separated by vast distances. How does your framework apply in a city like Cairo?
Cairo is one of the most relevant metropolises in the world, and to customize this concept is totally possible since the 15-minute city functions regardless of the size or population density. The first element we need is for local, regional, or even national governments to consider the concept as a key point for generating a new urban road map. This is significant given that this concept is, above all, for common good cities and dweller-oriented urbanism.
"We need to radically transform the neighborhood for fostering people who decide to abandon a car-centered life in favor of a human-centered social fabric."
The second point is that we need to discuss with the private sector (the stakeholders) an adaptation of the business model to create the proper real estate conditions for the 15-minute city. This can create more compact cities and change the business model in favor of multipurpose buildings and spaces to generate a new kind of neighborhood. We need to work with NGOs in developing an urban culture and creating a strong link to the cities and dwellers in order to continue to change the mindset of citizens.
How do walkability and public transportation play a role in the concept?
Walkability and public transportation are pillars of mobility that are required to break away from car dependency, which is one of the largest difficulties for changing our paradigm in cities today. The automotive industry lobby is very present and powerful, and at the same time, the mindset of inhabitants is totally intertwined with this idea that having a car is important to being someone in a city; a car is not only a means for mobility in cities but a symbol of social status. It is also one of the most significant emitters of carbon emissions and fine particles that generate many diseases, as well as a source of obesity. Walkability can reduce these urban diseases, though we still need to convince people. We need to create a new human behavior to break away from this idea and transition to a city 100% for humans. Walkability and bikeability are two pillars in this transformation.
How can we achieve that?
We need to create green infrastructure, green areas, water fountains, protected bike lanes and more services in proximity through local jobs, commerce, cinemas and theaters, and public spaces for cultural activities. We need to radically transform the neighborhood for fostering people who decide to abandon a car-centered life in favor of a human-centered social fabric.
Watch Sorbonne Professor Carolos Moreno and Momen El-Husseiny, assistant professor of architecture and urban design at AUC, during a campus talk, "Urban Proximity Matters."
If you’ve passed by AUC Tahrir Square recently, you may have noticed scaffolding surrounding the University’s historic palace, the oldest building in AUC Tahrir Square that is more than 150 years old. That’s because the palace facade is being restored in collaboration with Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
“The palace witnessed AUC's growth and evolution over time and key events since the University opened in 1919,” said Khaled Tarabieh, University architect and associate professor of sustainable design in the Department of Architecture. “As time went by, many areas on the main facade deteriorated and lost their original look and paint colors. The purpose of this project is the restoration of the palace’s facade, windows and paint, as well as fixing any deteriorated areas. Specialized restoration consultants and contractors are involved in cooperation with Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.”
“The Khairy Pasha Palace is recognized not only for its architectural value but also its historic and symbolic significance.”
Built in the mid-to-late 1800s, the palace was named after Khairy Pasha, who served as Egypt’s minister of education during Khedive Ismail’s rule. Ismail was instrumental in reforming and modernizing Egypt’s education system, and his palace came to symbolize the country’s modernization efforts during the Khedival period. Since 2007, the palace has been listed on Egypt’s National Register for Heritage Buildings, which includes important historical monuments from Egypt’s ancient, Greco-Roman, Jewish, Coptic, Islamic and modern eras.
“The Khairy Pasha Palace is recognized not only for its architectural value but also its historic and symbolic significance,” said Dalila ElKerdany, the project’s consulting architect, Cairo University professor and adjunct faculty in AUC’s Department of Architecture since 2011. “The palace has played a crucial role in Egypt’s educational history and serves as a symbol of the integration of European and local architectural styles in the 19th century. It features intricate facades and grand interiors, typical of the luxurious elite residences during the time.”
The project involves restoring the exterior elevations visible from the streets, followed by the rest of the elevations. “Through decades of existence, the façade experienced deterioration, such as voids and gaps on the surface that require proper filling; disappearance of the the building’s original colors and materials, such as mosaic frame ornaments that were buried under layers of paint; broken ornaments that are being skillfully restored,” said Tarabieh.
"Through the decades, the façade has experienced deterioration, such as voids and gaps on the surface, disappearance of the the building’s original colors and materials, and breakage of ornaments that are being skillfully restored.”
An analysis of the paint and facade stone patterns using historical photographs is also underway to restore the palace to its original state, complemented by a first-of-its-kind comprehensive electronic documentation of the building. “AUC is an important and prestigious institution, not only in Egypt but the whole Middle East, so it is important to show the glamor of the original palace the University acquired,” said ElKerdany.
Initially, the palace served as a government building, housing the Ministry of Education (formerly the Ministry of Public Instruction). It was then briefly used as a cigarette factory before becoming a location for holding classes affiliated to the country’s first university, the Egyptian University (now Cairo University), in its early years. “This way, the Khairy Pasha Palace has always been associated with the early stages of Egypt's higher education movement,” said ElKerdany. “By eventually becoming part of AUC, the palace has preserved its historic legacy as a hub for education and intellectual exchange, continuing AUC’s tradition as a center of academic excellence.”
Find out more about AUC’s historic palace.
