The 21st century is known as the century of the city; the world is becoming more urban with more than half of the world's population residing in cities. In this respect, a city is a complex dynamic system of interconnected urban processes. Nowadays, cities are hot spots responsible for the threatened global environment and urban life, as well as chronic stresses and vulnerabilities. Chronic energy shortage is one of the main stresses that threatens the city and puts pressure on city systems, mainly due to the impact of higher energy uses in urban areas. Vulnerabilities, stresses and adaptability are fundamental to the emerging science of resilience. While the concept of resilience is intriguing, this paper contributes to filling the theoretical gaps of the urban energy resilience by reviewing the concept of urban resilience, explaining the energy resilience principles and identifying the built environment components that can be used to help planners to enhance the city to absorb, recover and adapt to the vulnerabilities of the city. The paper concludes with suggesting an urban energy resilience matrix that addresses the energy shortage in a city to better understand and analyze the intricate issues for an energy-efficient, resilient, safer future city.

In the wake of the Egyptian revolution, the role of the youth and their sense of belonging, the level of their understanding and responsibility have all been reevaluated in the society at large. It was a general belief that the youth were disconnected from the surrounding political events, their living environment, their history and any consideration of the future. The revolution challenged many of these convictions and this resonated in educational institutions. This paper presents a design studio experiment where students were given an area at the heart of the city, which carries historical significance, both in terms of events and its built environment. The area witnessed drastic change over the years, transforming it from elegance to chaos, where listed buildings have come to decay, occupied by ill uses. The area rarely attracts the youth who instead are attracted to emerging hubs in the city. The paper explores an important pedagogical query; the capacity of the design studio to reinforce issues of identity, sense of ownership and belonging. It also raises questions of the role of the teaching staff in fostering cultural responsibility. Literature strongly recommends relating academic scope to the students’ surroundings and environment and for topics to be discussed in an integrated manner. It also suggests that the studio offers the ideal setting for integrating knowledge; where synthesis and application, reflection and action take place and where a student’s architectural identities develop. Less is mentioned in literature of a student’s cultural identity and sense of belonging. Through a project in 2012, the students were divided into groups tackling four main aspects for a given location (the social, economic, physical and environmental aspects), then discussed and debated among themselves, facilitated by the tutors, in an active learning environment. Students collected their data using surveys, interviews, observations and document analysis which informed their design of a master plan and single buildings in the area. A critical pedagogy was adopted in the studio, encouraging students to think critically about the area reflecting on experiences and social contexts in which they are embedded. The studio experience was assessed using focus groups, interviews and individual project content analysis at two stages over the students’ final year. Assessing the learning experience over a long term, clarified the changes that occurred to the students’ vision towards the issues and problems that their design projects dealt with as well as their affiliation with the historic area. Results have implications both to the quest of identity and to the methods used to support a critical pedagogy.

It is predicted that the global phenomena of Climate change will have far reaching effects and implications on different local urban systems. For incidence, global average sea levels are expected to rise between 7 and 36 cm by the 2050s, and between 9 and 69 cm by the 2080s. Waterfront communities are the first to be affected by such impacts, putting them at high risk. Planning strategies are needed to assist these communities and increase their adaptive and learning capacities in the face of diverse challenges to their urban sub-systems.The research investigates a number of sustainability frameworks and assessment rating systems for neighbourhoods and communities. It investigates the sustainable evaluation criteria carried out by three assessment rating systems. First is the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, USA), the second is the BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, UK), and the third is the Estidama PEARL rating system (UAE).Examples of waterfront communities which applied the previous rating systems are analysed in order to determine the applicability and relevance of these systems to waterfront communities in particular.The research concludes with a proposed framework of indicators for waterfront communities. The similarities and differences between the three rating systems and featured indicators specific to waterfront planning applied in the analysed examples; yet absent in the three rating systems, have informed the selection of indicators in the proposed assessment framework. The proposed framework could be an effective tool for the planning and development of à waterfront community in the MENA (the port region). In order to validate the framework, the set of environmental and physical indicators were applied on the case study of Abu Qir waterfront, Alexandria, Egypt. Conclusions and recommendations are made that would enhance the resilience of this waterfront community and provide a comprehensive tool for its sustainable planning.

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