Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Urban Development: the Case of Port Said city in Egypt

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) assure the importance of protecting and safeguarding the world’s cultural and natural heritage. Furthermore, culture is now considered the fourth dimension when addressing sustainability after the environmental, social, and economic dimensions. This paper investigates cultural heritage-related dimensions in Port Said City in Egypt, focusing on the Arab district, and addresses the relation between the tangible and intangible heritage to achieve sustainable urban development. These dimensions are embedded in the distinctive architecture, urban settings, and the famous resistance festival under threat, “The Allenby festival” The authors argue that perceiving the intangible festival’s heritage is strongly connected with perceiving the urban and architectural heritage and building a cultural management framework that guarantees the sustainable urban development of the Arab district precisely and Port Said city. This paper aims to point out the unique values related to cultural heritage and community, given the critical role in linking contexts and tangible urban heritage with the intangible experience.