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331 Tuberlin

The program of the Urban Development Department in the winter term 2013/14 at TUB Campus El Gouna was to a high degree dedicated to local and regional aspects of urban and regional development. Thus TUB as a ”university in the region and for the region” contributed to analysis of problems and challenges of the local and regional neighbourhood and to elaborate proposals for problem solutions:  In the Winter School, “Renovating Downtown El Gouna,” more than 40 international students in  7 teams supervised by a bi-national group of professors and lecturers worked out 7 proposals for the revitalisation of Downtown El Gouna.  The actual critical situation in the touristic sector was the background for the International Workshop  “Besides Tourism”. Academic experts and professionals tried to identify and estimate the potentials of non-touristic economic development in the Red Sea Region. One main result of the workshop is that more  systematic research on this topic is needed. The actual data situation is absolutely insufficient.     Urban Development students elaborated 3 feasibility studies for a future “Business Park El Gouna”. One of the proposals presented the idea of a “Research and Technology Park”.   The main results of these projects will be made available to the interested public and addressed to relevant actors and stakeholders. They have been presented already to the local and regional public at the 3rd, 4th and 5th Community Forum El Gouna 2030. Since 2012 this forum has been a platform for a continuous and  systematic presentation and discussion of strategic topics of the urban development of El Gouna and its  neighbourhood in the Red Sea Region. By the activities of the forum, TU Berlin promotes and supports the  development of El Gouna into a Green City. And it helps to activate the potential and opportunities of Campus El Gouna in the area of technology transfer. In the meantime the forum has become a stabile institution with an average number of 50-60 participants. There is no formal membership, everyone who is interested is invited to join in an open dialogue on issues of local and regional development.  A very special term project of the Urban Development Department was dedicated to “Informal Settlement Zerzera in Hurghada”. The students of the third term analysed the problems, needs and perspectives of this area and developed 3 proposals for interventions with the aim to upgrade the area and improve the living conditions of the inhabitants. The students are finalising their project reports until the end of March and hope that they will get the opportunity to present the core results to responsible authorities in Hurghada.  For activities in the coming months see: “Across the Red Sea” on page 10