In 1984 the Aga Khan offered the Mayor of Cairo the creation of a large urban park: thirty-one hectares bounded by the Citadel and the Ayyubid city walls. This grandiose urbanistic, archaeological and socio-economic initiative will profoundly alter the quality of life in one of the most densely inhabited districts of Cairo, and will also have a considerable revitalising effect on the whole metropolis. This book documents every aspect of this model undertaking.