Understanding the Private Sector's Role in the Development and Management of Public Green Areas in the Context of Cairo: Its Impact on the Publicness Degree

Due to the lack of public budget and neoliberal policies, urban parks are under pressure to be self-sufficient, and consequently under the pressure of the privatization associated with it. The research highlights growing pressures on Cairo's public parks to be financially self-sufficient by increasing the private sector's role and its consequences, potentials, and challenges. Examining revenue use, green area impact, and publicness. This research sheds light on the dynamics between funding sources, social equity, and public spaces. According to the research findings, the majority of low-income individuals have been negatively affected by the park's increased privatization since they cannot afford the new high fees and consequently are unable to use the paid services. While middle and upper-class usage rises as they can afford it and since it gives them access to higher-quality services. The exclusion of low-income groups from the park brings attention to the impact of these policies and the tension it creates between the fact that the park is a public space and the goal of encouraging capital accumulation by turning urban land into a commodity.

Cairo's parks, undergoing commercialization, witness a shift towards exclusivity, limiting access to those who can afford it. This shift challenges the park's mission, diverting from a public-oriented service to a more privatized setting. The research concludes that while the private sector's increased role attracts funding and users from higher income brackets, it fundamentally undermines the essence of public spaces in Cairo. When parks are reserved for the comfortably well-off, can they still be considered public?