With most of the world`s population living in cities and urban areas, cities are currently seeking new strategies to integrate nature into the built environment. The process of urbanization is one of the most urgent challenges of the twenty-first century to the implementation of an urban development agenda that seeks to make human settlements resilient, sustainable, inclusive and safe; Consequently, cities are at the forefront of this agenda. This research area adresses the key pressing challenges that face our cities, such as continuous population growth, severe energy crisis, water poverty issues, inadequate urban mobility, inefficient waste management, social disparity and inequality, and increasing level of pollution and urban heat island effect. It aims at exploring the different approaches and strategies to improve the urban resilinece, empasize the importance of ecosystem in reducing vulnerbaility and  increasing cliamte change adaptation, and ultimately realize sustianability.

Research Team

1. Marwa Khalifa
2. Ghada Farouk
3. Eman Abou-Ziyan
4. Esraa Elmarakby
5. Aya Hemida

Related Journal Publication List

1. Elmarakby, E., Khalifa, M., Elshater A., et al., (2021). Tailored methods for mapping urban heat islands in Greater Cairo Region, Ain Shams Engineering Journal, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2021.06.030.
2. Eid, S., Khalifa, M., & Abd Elrahman, A. S., (2021). Biophilic perceptions in the urban waterfront: analytical study of the Nile waterfront in Central Cairo, HBRC Journal, 17:1, 19-39, DOI: 10.1080/16874048.2021.1872052.
3. Adam, S., Khalifa, M., & Attia, A. (2020). Climate Change adaptation; Vulnerability Assessment of the Historic City of Rosetta, Egypt. International Conference “The Path to City Resilience” March 2020.
4. El-Khadrawy, R., Attia, A., Khalifa, M., Rashed, R., (2020). Sustainable Tourism and Culture: A Symbiotic Relationship. International Journal on: Environmental Science and Sustainable Development pg. 54 DOI: 10.21625/essd.v5i1.717.
5. Elmarakby, E., Khalifa, M., Elshater, A., & Afifi, S. (2019). Spatial Morphology and Urban Heat Island: Comparative Case Studies. Architecture and Urbanism: A Smart Outlook. Cairo: Springer.
6. Adam, S., Khalifa, M., & Attia, A. (2019). Historic Urban Landscape Approach for Historic Coastal Cities Regeneration: The case of Rosetta, Egypt. Architecture and Urbanism: A Smart Outlook. Cairo: Springer.
7. Abou-Ziyan, E., Khalifa, M. & Hassan, G. (2018). Metabolism of Urban Food Systems. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing. ISBN-10: 3659706728; ISBN-13: 978-3659706721.
8. Abou-Ziyan, E., Hassan, G., & Khalifa, M. (2017). “Collective analysis for Cairo’s food system flows towards deriving physical planning and policy guidance”. Proceeding of the International Conference for “Sustainable Design of the built environment (SDBE 2017)”, 20th – 21st December 2017, London, United Kingdom - pp. 738-750.
9. Hemida, A. and Khalifa, M. and Fayoumi, M., Proactive Coastal Resilience: Vulnerability of the Northern Nile Delta Built Environment (November 24, 2017). 1st International Conference on Towards a Better Quality of Life, 2017. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3162346 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3162346).
10. Yasmin Z. Kamha, Marwa A. Khalifa, Aly N. El-Bahrawy. (2016), “Comparative Study of Community Resilience in Mega Coastal Cities Threatened by Sea Level Rise: The Case of Alexandria and Jakarta”. Urban Planning and Architecture Design for Sustainable Development, UPADSD 14- 16 October 2015. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 216 (2016) 503 – 517.
11. Elrefaei, H. and Khalifa, M. A. (2014), "A Critical Review on the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan of Egypt". Journal of Natural Resources and Development 2014; 04: 18-24.
12. Khalifa, M. A. and Sandholz, S. (2012), “Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges through Networks: An Innovative Educational Approach for Sustainability”, International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, Volume 7, Issue 2 (April 2012).