The development of Luxor Open air museum and its social impacts : An assessment using Geographic information systems

This thesis investigates the impacts that the open air museum in Luxor may have on the residents of city. Although the open air museum project has involved a development framework for the city in different sectors and some social benefits, the implementation and the procedures that were used have largely be unsuccessful and have not met the social needs for residents, which has created tensions between the local people of the city and the Egyptian government. Further, the Egyptian revolution in 25th January in 2011 affected the process of the open air museum project which is reflected again on the residents’ way dealing with the Egyptian government in seeking to achieve their needs. The study adopts a mixed method approach qualitative and quantitative to understanding the impacts of this museum project on the social aspects of the city. The qualitative methodology was represented by semi-structured interviews to cover the many aspects of the open-air museum’s plan. The quantitative methodology was based on the secondary data and geographic information systems analyses, where 3D visualisation and visibility analysis were used to show how the face of the city changed between 2004 and 2012 through a sequence of open-air museum strategies. It can be concluded that the open air museum in Luxor has failed to achieve its aim to improve the social life of the areas surrounding the open-air museum. Therefore on balance, the construction strategies of the open-air museum have produced a negative social impact. The thesis makes a contribution to the context of the Luxor Open Air Museum, that has a firm geographic identity, through showing how this it effects the city structure and its social arena.