THE ROLE OF THE EVENT IN DETERMINING THE IDENTITY OF PLACE: THE EXPERIENCE OF TAHRIR SQUARE

Abstract

“Tahrir Square,” invites dozens of questions related to its identity; is it a physical space or a symbolic place, a square or a plaza, a traffic node or a public space, a social civic space or a demonstrative political place; all these and other diversities, contradictions and paradoxes are gathered in one space and refer to one place. Since the uprising of January 2011 and June 2013,“The Egyptian Revolution;” Tahrir Square for many people became a focal point and a global symbol of freedom, and finally has earned its name “Midan Al Tahrir,” or “Liberation Square.” Here comes the question: was the space of Tahrir Square only a background and discursive space for demonstration with all these massive numbers of protesters, or was it a part of making and creating the event. Tahrir Square; through its history, has witnessed a number of remarkable and important events, that influenced the Egyptian nation’s history and has built a part of its collective conscience. The revolution of 1919, the first million demonstrations in 1951, in 1953 “Al Tahrir Festival”celebrating the 1952 Revolution, all these events and others, made Tahrir Square the nation’s destination to deliver their protesting voices, and sharing their social and cultural activities. However,the significant of 2011 and 2013 eventsis related to the idea of occupation the space, not only demonstrate in it, and people participation in social and cultural activities; they are missing in the Egyptian public spaces, has created another dimension of the identity of that place. The question of “Place Identity,” is a wide ranged scope of study that has intersections in different fields, humanistic geography, urban, landscape, architecture, sociology, philosophy and others. Every approach covers a part of the concept, and looking to it from a different point of view. This thesis is focused on that concept “Place Identity;” and whether “The Event” affects the production of that identity or not. It takes the experience of Tahrir Square as a case study;it is an example of an urban public space that was shaped (essentially or predominantly) by certain historical events that took place in it. The goal of this thesis is to build and examine an analytical framework based on a theoretical literature survey on space, place, event and identity. Using different analytical tools and techniques, such as documentations, observations, spatial morphological analyses, spatial narratives, in-depth interviews, questionnaires and statistical analyses in a complementary way to allow understanding the relation between “The Event” and “The space,”in order to explore and interpret “The Identity” of the case study of Tahrir Square “The Place.” The thesis is divided into two main sections. The first is considered, as a theoretical background illustrating the different concepts and approaches related to: space, place, public spaces, socio-cultural and political events, and place identity.The second section is based on the previous theoretical platform, building an analytical framework, used and examined to analyze the case study of Tahrir Square, in order to interpret the identity of thatplace. It begins with a spatial morphological analysis of Tahrir Square “The Space,” through its different physicaland historical transformations and transitions, before and after the events of 2011 and 2013. Then the study analysis Tahrir Square the “The Event” through a spatial narrative analytical study, illustrating how the event transforms the physical “Space”to a social, emotional, sensual, …ext., “Place,” through a social production of space, trying to interpret its role in determining the “Place Identity”of Tahrir Square.