Conviviality of Public Spaces in Egypt: A Case Study on New Cairo Markets

With a diminishing number, and value, of public spaces in the new settlements in Egypt, informal markets arise to serve these areas. One of the key concepts to understanding the phenomena is the conviviality of public spaces. Conviviality is a novel concept that falls under the topic of creating good public space. The purpose of this paper is to understand the concept of conviviality in relation to the quality of public spaces and to what extent different public spaces—especially markets in new Cairo that have different socioeconomic backgrounds and different contexts in accordance with formality—achieve what is so-called conviviality. The paper suggests a new framework adopted from the literature that is associated with the line of thought addressing the concept of conviviality. The main result shows that markets, in general, contribute to creating vitality and livability within urban spaces despite their socioeconomic status but are not necessarily considered convivial. The paper shows that conviviality as a concept still needs further clarity in both theory and practice to better suit different types of public spaces.