Conservation Techniques of Architectural Heritage and Private Property Legal Rights – Case Study Alexandria, Egypt

Conservation projects of architectural heritage primarily aim at preserving the cultural character and protecting the historical and value buildings through a set of techniques/approaches and concepts that deal with valuable urban heritage. These concepts and approaches are sometimes a major obstacle to community development. Thus, for a better understanding of the debate over conservation versus development in terms of ownership and private property legal rights, the study will review the classification of different techniques by applying them at the level of architecture, urban, and society. Hence, these have been classified into three basic levels: building, urban, and community, whereby policies for each type will be reviewed. These arguments will be discussed within the Alexandrian experience in architectural heritage listing and management. Moreover, the study also explores evaluation criteria of historical and value buildings, clarifying the attempts to conserve the architectural heritage in Alexandria. The study focuses mainly on the conflict between conservation techniques and the concept of private property legal rights, and hence, proposing some future measures to address the conflict of interests between conservation on one hand and private property ownership legal rights on the other. In addition, it will present some recommendations for preserving the unique architectural style of the Mediterranean Sea that distinguishes the city of Alexandria. It will also adhere to the remains of this heritage by taking into consideration the legal rights of private property, which can contribute to the conservation techniques of architectural heritage for Alexandria.