Place Personality and User Behaviour: Insights from Cairo’s Streets

A place’s personality is beyond the sum of its characteristics. It’s how people perceive it on a human level, hoping for a better understanding and seeking connection. This study aims to understand how people connect with public spaces to enhance the quality of urban life. A place’s personality extends beyond its physical attributes—it reflects how people emotionally perceive and connect with it. This study investigates the relationship between the perceived personality of urban streets and users’ behaviour to enhance the quality of urban life in Cairo. Focusing on Downtown Cairo and New Cairo, it addresses a gap in destination personality research by examining an underexplored context and scale: Cairo’s streets. A mixed-method approach was used to achieve this aim. First, an online questionnaire was distributed to investigate how Egyptians perceive the personality of the main streets of the two selected districts in Cairo, and to understand their preferred activities on these streets. Second, field studies that included observation, photographing, Visual mapping, behavioural mapping and test walks were conducted in selected streets of these districts to analyse users’ behaviour on-site. The study concluded that the relationship between a place’s perceived personality and users’ behaviour within it is reciprocal, with each influencing and shaping the other. Together, they form an opportunity to affect the connections between people and public spaces.