Public-private partnerships as an approach for alleviating risks associated with adaptive reuse of heritage buildings in Egypt

The status of heritage buildings in Egypt has remained threatened for decades as a result of many factors such as negligence, ignorance and lack of resources, which consequently led to degradation. Hence, opportunities to utilize these buildings efficiently are wasted. Adaptive reuse of heritage buildings has proven to be a beneficial, yet risky approach in Egypt. Additionally, the pressuring demands on the government to conserve these heritage buildings and satisfy other public demands have been growing even more recently. Accordingly, there is a need for the involvement of the private sector to aid the government in its adaptive reuse initiatives and managing its associated risks. Public-private partnerships (PPP) for heritage conservation have been successfully conducted in various developed countries. However, such an approach has received little attention in Egypt and developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of PPPs between the public sector (governmental bodies) and the private sector (mainly Architectural Design Firms (ADFs) and heritage developers) as an approach towards alleviating risks associated with adaptive reuse of heritage buildings in Egypt. The research contributes to the field of study by identifying and analysing a set of adaptive reuse risks of heritage buildings that could be used by governmental authorities and architects/developers to understand and manage such risks through risk sharing in PPPs.