About
I am an architect, urban heritage specialist, and cultural practitioner with more than 20 years of multidisciplinary experience working across Egypt and the Mediterranean at the intersection of cities, culture, heritage, and sustainable development. My work focuses on how tangible and intangible heritage can be mobilised as a resource for inclusive, resilient, and culturally grounded urban development, particularly in cities facing rapid transformation.
Trained as an architect, my professional path has expanded to include urban research, heritage-led regeneration, cultural programming, and policy-oriented consultancy. Since 2013, I have been actively engaged in projects that bridge urban practice, academic research, and cultural production, collaborating with international organisations, cultural institutions, civil society actors, and universities. Across these contexts, I support initiatives that respond to contemporary urban challenges while remaining rooted in local identity, memory, and lived experience.
As an independent consultant, based between Alexandria and Marseille, I have partnered with cultural institutions, academia, and international organisations to integrate heritage into strategic frameworks that address contemporary urban challenges. My expertise spans:
– heritage assessment and adaptive reuse
– urban and social research with policy relevance
– participatory design processes and stakeholder engagement
– translating cultural values into operational planning
– cross-sectoral collaboration for sustainable development
Alongside my consultancy and research work, I maintain an artistic and visual practice grounded in drawing, mapping, and spatial observation. This practice is not separate from my professional work; rather, it informs my approach to urban analysis, documentation, and community engagement. Through exhibitions, publications, and public programmes, I have used artistic tools to make urban heritage visible, accessible, and open to dialogue, particularly in cities where heritage is under pressure from development, neglect, or erasure. These methods have proven effective in fostering public awareness, civic engagement, and interdisciplinary exchange around urban issues.
I am the founder of Description of Alexandria, an ongoing research and documentation initiative dedicated to recording the city’s built environment and everyday cultural practices through fieldwork, visual documentation, and narrative research. The platform reflects my long-term commitment to knowledge production from the ground, and to creating tools that connect citizens, practitioners, and institutions around questions of urban memory, transformation, and belonging.
My academic background includes an MA in Sustainable Heritage Management (Distinction) from the University of Liverpool (Chevening Scholar), postgraduate studies in Urban Heritage Strategies at Erasmus University Rotterdam (IHS), and earlier degrees in architecture and environmental design at the Arab Academy and the University of Alexandria. This academic background supports my ability to translate research into policy-relevant insights, strategic frameworks, and implementation-ready recommendations, aligned with the SDGs and international development agendas.
Across my work, I am particularly interested in how culture and heritage can act as catalysts for social cohesion, youth engagement, and more equitable urban futures. Whether through consultancy, research, teaching, or artistic practice, my aim is to contribute to cities that are not only functional and resilient but also meaningful to the communities that inhabit them.
Mohamed Gohar 