Investigating the Socio-Economic Sustainability within the Egyptian Museums over the Last Decade

Abstract

Over the last few decades, contemporary museums have undergone a radical change: they have become public places that promote socio-economic sustainability through recreation, commercial, and cultural activities. This shift has altered public perception of museums globally and had a profound impact on today’s museums, resulting in new prototypes that differ significantly from prior ones. This study tries to answer the following questions: How far have Egyptian museums evolved over the last decade? what degree can the radical transformation in museum design assist in fulfilling Egypt’s SDGs? To answer these questions, this study attempts to explore how far Egyptian museums have adapted to this fundamental change, by tracing the evolution of Egyptian museum design compared with the findings of the author’s previous thesis in 2012 and Egypt’s SDGs. This study used qualitative methods, which began with a thorough literature review, followed by a comparative analysis of the selected case studies. The findings revealed that the contemporary design of recent Egyptian museums, by including social and economic activities, significantly supports the national and global agenda in terms of SDG. This article provides architects, designers, and policy makers with clear design criteria to enhance the social and economic role of museums, towards fulfilling SDGs.

1. Introduction

Since the beginning of the construction of the Capitoline Museum in 1471 in Italy, professional architects have made tremendous developments in the museum as a building type. For decades, this has provided academics with rich material to formulate their theories about building museums. However, the study of the science of building and designing museums is endless. Professional architects still develop their designs, academics still search, and communities still need such a cultural building type. Over the last decade, many factors have influenced the development of museums, especially concerning their architectural design. For example, a growing world view gives special attention to the concept of sustainability, scientific and technological development, and the societal need to use museums recreationally, in addition to their cultural use.

The relationship between designing museums and sustainability is still a debatable issue. This is because the term sustainability is a frequently updated term. Factors in developing museums change according to the needs in constructing them within various communities. According to analysts, a number of these factors reflect directly or indirectly on the issue of sustainability generally and socio-economic sustainability in particular. Stylianou-Lambert et al. [1] are among the researchers who have discussed the issue of designing museums and sustainability. However, their focus was on the policies of designing museums and their impact on sustainable development. They saw that the factors of preserving the sustainable development of museums were mainly cultural, environmental, social, and economic. They also claimed that economic revitalization and micro-interests are forces that may motivate communities to establish various types of museums.

According to the research that has been conducted on designing museums, we could not find a clear scientific link between the importance of the presence of recreational areas in the design of museums and their role in achieving SDGs, on both the local and international levels. This is particularly consolidated by their lack in the museums of Egypt over decades, up to a decade before [2]. The role of these spaces in achieving the goals of sustainable development and linking them to the needs and requirements of the community, as well as tourists, has not been given attention in academic research.

However, it can be observed that recreational zones have been wisely, based on new designing principles, taken into consideration in new museums, such as the Farsh Film Studio in Iran (2016), Taihang Xinyu Art Museum in China (2022), Anahuacalli Museum at Mexico (2021), Louvre Abu Dhabi, and many others [3]. Considering such activities in new museums, in various places around the world, gives an indication of the contemporary social and global need for them, considering local aspects.

Therefore, the role of museums has expanded to promote socio-economic sustainability. As a result, the contemporary design of museums has gone through a radical transformation by integrating more public spaces that encourage recreational activities, which makes museums less traditional institutions. These contemporary museums have opened their doors to the public, allowing them to engage with their surroundings, in contrast with previous experiences. Visitors are no longer limited to admiring the displays and artefacts on display but can now partake in activities such as interactive exhibits, educational workshops, and recreational activities. The introduction of these initiatives can help increase public participation in the museum and create opportunities for economic growth through increased tourism and revenue, while also providing a platform for the museum to promote its mission and values. As museums continue to promote economic stability and adapt to social progress, they will be able to develop a more sustainable future.

On the other hand, responding to the global commitment to realize the Egyptian plan 2030 and achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs), which were developed by the United Nations in 2015, Egypt has configured its vision and goals to accomplish these SDGs by 2030. One of Egypt’s sustainable development goals that the contemporary design of the museum can support is the social inclusion goal and competitive economy.

After reviewing the related literature, investigating contemporary design of museums from the perspective of socio-economic sustainability and linking this with the local vision of Egypt 2030 for achieving SDGs has not been reported previously. Accordingly, the present work aims to fill this knowledge gap by tracing the evolution of Egyptian museum design over the last decade, compared with the recommendations of the dissertation of the first author in 2012 [2], which considered the social and economic role of museums. Moreover, this study aims to introduce a qualitative measurable tool that can assess whether other exhibiting spaces in the museum design in Egypt can support Egypt’s vision for sustainability.

By tracing the evolution of the design of museums in Egypt, this research tries to answer the following questions: Does the contemporary design of museums in Egypt consider recreational areas or other exhibiting activities through their original designs? Do such areas contribute to achieving socio-economic sustainability and the 2030 Egyptian strategy for sustainable development?

By answering these questions, this study introduces to architects clear criteria for designing contemporary museums in a way that reflects the needs of their communities, particularly in Egypt, while fostering economic sustainability.

This can be achieved by deducing architectural design criteria from the sustainable developing goals. Then, following from them, the items that are suitable for the principle of designing museums, which can be used as a measurable tool to test how sustainable a museum is. The following section explains the research methodology and analytical tools.

2. Materials and Methods

The study adopted an exploratory approach, due to the objective that focused on exploring the change in the design of museums over the last decade, in terms of promoting social and economic sustainability. For gathering and analyzing data, this study adopted a qualitative methodology which began with a thorough review of related literature, which relied on a systematic web-based search on Web of Science and Scopus. The search terms included contemporary museum design, socio-economic sustainability, Egyptian museums, and Egypt’s SDGs. In addition to this, this study depended on the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities’ official website, as well as that of the Ministry of Culture. In the analytical part, this research depended on the pilot study conducted by the author in his dissertation (Nassef, M., 2012 [2]). He surveyed all Egyptian museums and then analyzed their current functions, to end with recommendations for enhancing their social and economic role. Based on these recommendations, the design principles for contemporary museums derived from the literature review, and Egypt’s Sustainable Development Strategy, the current study conducted a descriptive analysis of the most recent museums, including The Grand Egyptian Museum and The National Museum of Egyptian Culture, to investigate to what degree their contemporary design supports Egypt’s Sustainable Development Strategy, in terms of social and economic sustainability. The authors selected these two cases because they are the most recent museums built in the last decade, and they are considered an international showcase of contemporary museum design. Additionally, the laws issued for these two museums clearly and explicitly stated that the facility is an economic edifice.

Finally, the results show that the contemporary design of the two museums has played a significant role in transforming Egyptian museums into beacons of sustainability, by including cultural, educational, and recreational spaces, instead of just focusing on exhibiting contents. As a result, they significantly support achieving Egypt’s SDGs. The results provide architects and designers with clear criteria for creating a socio-economic sustainable museum (Figure 1).

3. Theoretical Background

This section introduces a thorough review of the previous literature on museums, including the definition of a museum, the socio-economic sustainability within the design of a museum with a contemporary approach, reviewing the national strategy Egypt adopts for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs), and finally demonstrating theoretically how the contemporary design of museums can support the national SDG.

3.1. Literature Review

The introduction of this research presented study work concerning the relationship between sustainability and designing museums. However, there are a number of research papers that considered the evolution of designing museums from other perspectives and that deserve to be mentioned.

There is a considerable number of research papers that dealt with the role of scientific and technological development in the evolution of designing museums. Most of the recent works dealt with the scientific and technological developments in designing museums, which focus on developing methods of exhibition, such as [4] using virtual reality to help participants to visit the museums from distances via websites. In addition, ref. [5] this essay intends to describe the design and implementation of exhibits that interact with visitors by “telling stories about their lives” upon request. An exhibit can also transmit authentic museum samples to blind and visually impaired visitors, without the need for duplication. In the same context, refs. [6,7] investigated the kinds of material that conversational voice-based AI systems in museums could offer to fulfil visitor expectations. Zhao J. [8] claimed that the functionality of a virtual museum is comparatively excellent, with chat rooms available for users to interact with both vast virtual exhibitions and virtual objects. Furthermore, S. N. Mohammed and his colleagues [9] addressed the usefulness of using information and communication technologies (ICTs) in setting a trend in the growth of museum displays in the Emirate of Sharjah that are examined by specialists and museum researchers. Additionally, they went through the ICT tools that museums can employ to enhance visitor technology offerings. However, they identified some limitations, in which ICTs reduce the enjoyment of visitors to a museum presentation and, instead of serving as a tool for information, functions as a distraction, shortening attention spans. Moreover, in [10] Fenu explained the importance of augmented reality (AR) as a method of exhibition in museums, particularly in literary museums. Such techniques foster the visitors’ sense of surprise, which integrates the user within the museum context [11]. Using new technologies in museums also answers educational concerns [12].

On another level of studying the relationship between designing museums and social and cultural needs, there is a respectable number of authors who dealt with the process of co-design in building museums, including Vanessa Cesário [13], who focused on the participatory factor of teenagers in the process of using technology in museums. In another dissertation by Arnold P. O. S. Vermeeren [14], experiences in, around, and involving museums that are part of networks of people and organizations, whereby numerous ideas have been developed, were explored. The idea that extending the viewpoint of a design brief may open up new design possibilities was highlighted. Nevertheless, some strategies suggest that museums might not always be at the core of the design concept and that the central part of the museum may be located inside or even outside the museum itself. In addition, Dominik Porczyński [15] worked on the process of creating representations of local culture to be shown in a museum setting. His work aroused curiosity about the role that artwork plays in this procedure and how it differs from the use of non-artistic objects. He concluded that delivering a sense of local culture does not only depend on the exhibited pieces, but other dimensions go beyond only the exhibits. In the same context, and contradictory to the first aspect, there is a trend that contradicts the use of modern technology in designing museums and argues that creating a richer user experience must not be lost sight of when curators and cultural caretakers do not have access to modern digital practices, pushing towards co-design methods [16].

On a deeper level, some researchers dealt with two elements regarding the design of museums, such as Christopher M. [17], who combined in his research the content that creates meaning at the cultural level and the human–computer interaction (HCI). Such interaction between the technology and human culture highlights “meaning” as a crucial, but misunderstood notion in contexts of interaction design. He also argued that museums—as a cultural building type—have a high importance for sustainable development, as much as any social, economic, or environmental building type.

In short, recent research on museum design has addressed the impact of modern technology on museum design, whether in terms of presentation methods, or interaction with visitors to maximize their attachment to the place, or in terms of expressing community culture, or even using it to survey the community’s opinion of the place and the exhibiting methods used, to evaluate performance. Therefore, this research paper deals with the study of spaces not designated for museum display in the museum as a building type. This particular research point has not been addressed in previous research. Therefore, it is necessary to study its relationship to achieving sustainable development in society for several reasons, the most important of which is that most international museums have been concerned with the presence of recreational areas not designated for museum display, and these spaces represent a large area of the museum, which sometimes reaches more than 50% of the museum area as a whole. This constitutes a qualitative shift in the field of museum design.

Such a background is a base to build up a scientific strategy to provide the architectural community with a measurable policy that can assess sustainable performance in designing museums. Here, through research, this strategy provides the Egyptian architectural community with an assessment tool of performance.

3.2. Definition of “Museum”

Scholars and researchers have defined the term “museum” in different ways, since each group approaches it from a unique viewpoint. According to the International Council of Museums (ICOM):

“A museum is a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Open to the public, accessible and inclusive, museums foster diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically, professionally and with the participation of communities, offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing”.

[18] Figure 2

This definition is divided into four sections. First, it describes museums as a place which serves “society”. The definition does not identify which society it should serve; is it local, regional, or international society? The choice has been left to the initiator or the institutions responsible for erecting the museum. Identifying the target community that the museum serves would make a huge difference and must be considered.

Furthermore, the definition emphasizes that museums do not seek financial benefits. However, they have to maintain an economic source that maintains their quality and helps them to developed. Second, the definition identifies the activities that must take place in any museum, in which museums should collect valuable items and preserve them. In addition, such activities must be included within “value”. The definition does not mention whether this “value” is quantitative, such as the oldest, smallest, and biggest, or qualitative, which may reflect any quality of morals, cultures, and other knowledge. This paper adopts this definition, and aims to maintain or develop the sustainable state of the museum.

3.3. Socio-Economic Sustainability and Museums

Socioeconomic sustainability is a term that refers to both the social and economic dimensions of sustainability. It can be implemented in architecture by considering many aspects, such as community space, housing affordability, job development, profitability, and accurate accounting of environmental services. It is significant because it contributes to the development of livable and sustainable communities that benefit both people and the environment. According to [19,20], social sustainability concerns, not only the ongoing satisfaction of individuals’ basic human needs, but is also a measure of human well-being and having the best lifestyle.

Dizdaroglu, Z. Shafiq, and Vallance [21,22,23] advocated that social sustainability has multiple dimensions, including (a) social capital, justice, and equity; (b) changes in behavior to achieve bio-physical environmental goals; and (c) the conservation of socio-cultural characteristics, as well as how individuals actively embrace or oppose change. On the other hand, economic sustainability focuses on profitability and the appropriate accounting of ecosystem services, for optimizing the cost–benefit assessment, according to [20], while the authors in [24] argue that economic sustainability involves more than just GDP, exchange rates, and profit; it also includes the creation, distribution, and consumption of commodities and services.

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) states that sustainability is a dynamic process for museums, since it is based on the acknowledgment and protection of tangible and intangible heritage, along with the museum’s integration of the needs of the community. By contributing to the value of heritage and social memory, museums fulfil their responsibility to be a vibrant and appealing part of the community [25].

As a part of the community, museums can improve their social sustainability by strengthening their ties to whole society, returning to being learning hubs rather than destination attractions, and developing into more socially conscious businesses, which have significant effects on the lives of those who use their services. Through engaging, community-led events that advance society, museums may aspire to restore depleted reserves of human and social capital [25]. This can be accomplished, for instance, through the museums’ function of educating their visitors. This function states that the goal of museums is to make access to lifelong learning possible. This can be achieved via the special resources that museums have available for both formal and informal education through traditional activities, like providing tours or informational materials, utilizing historical artefacts in participatory and interactive programs, or planning workshops and implementing trans-disciplinary educational initiatives [21,22,23]. The regeneration of local economies and the leisure and entertainment function are two additional functions that may be added to the educational function. These roles have a direct bearing on the viability of the economic sustainability of museums [26]. Numerous academics have shown how museums contribute to economic growth. In addition to being a key component of many regional tourism development plans, museums also help to raise locals’ incomes and provide employment [27]. Other researchers found that the museum sector directly supports an estimated 195,000 full-time equivalent jobs and contributes more to the British economy than the automotive industry, the media, or the entertainment business. Additionally, it is predicted that 370 million visitors, the majority of whom are tourists, visit museums annually in Europe. Moreover, many cities in the U.S. and Europe develop sustainable development strategies that emphasize cultural tourism as a result of museums’ economic potential [28].

3.3.1. SDGs and Museums

• The SDGs are a global framework that receives increasing support from many different sectors. Since museums have unique resources and play a significant social role, they can participate in fulfilling SDGs, as well as benefiting from connecting with the SDGs in the following ways:
• McGhie [28] designed their spaces so that those interested in social and environmental issues can participate in instructional and interactive activities;
• Use their resources to achieve beneficial social and environmental consequences;
• Contribute significantly and distinctively to an ambitious global agenda.

Many studies discussed how museums can support SDGs. They present a how-to manual for enhancing the sustainable development contributions made by museums, galleries, the cultural industry, and their partners, using the SDGs as a model. They offer a framework of key activities, such as conserving cultural and natural heritage, providing learning opportunities in support of the SDGs, and supporting sustainable tourism [28].

Globally, there are several museums that play a key role in fulfilling SDGs within their nations; for example, Kiasma Museum for Contemporary Art in Finland, which has been open to the public since 1998. During the opening weekend, the museum attracted around thirty thousand visitors. The museum plays a significant role as the central local meeting place for the city. In 2011, the museum’s total number of visitors reached around three million. The year 2019 was the peak year for attracting visitors, when 378,509 visited the museum. During the pandemic years 2020–2021, Kiasma Museum was closed for renovations [29]. After the COVID-19 years, people found their way back to museums, and during the year 2022, the number of visitors to the museum reached 222,697 [30]. The museum met several SDGs within its design; for example, justice and social inclusion have been achieved by promoting the spirit of loyalty and belonging through displaying Finnish art works, which participates in strengthening the link between Finnish citizens and their local culture. The museum plays a significant role in enriching cultural life, as it serves as a forum for community events such as seminars, poetry readings, and dance and music programs [31]. A 240-seat auditorium plays a significant role in extending the activities towards the performing arts, including drama, dance performances, music, multimedia, film, and video art. The museum’s exhibitions, collections, and various events are all utilized in educational activities in cooperation with schools, day-care centers, other museums, art schools, business organizations, and universities [32].

The museum has been able to achieve economic sustainability by including recreational, cultural, and educational spaces, which attract visitors practicing various activities and attending different events. These functions play a large role in increasing the museum’s income and, therefore, promoting its financial inclusion, see Figure 3a,b.

3.3.2. Egypt’s Strategy to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) include seventeen objectives, along with their corresponding targets, which extend from diminishing poverty and education enhancement to gender equality and clean water and sanitation. All 193 United Nations General Assembly countries agreed upon the SDGs in 2015, which has been widely perceived as a significant stride toward melding global issues by 2030. These issues include global warming, disparities in wealth, poverty abolition, sustainable urban and rural communities, peace and justice, transparency and accountability in good governance, and flourishing employment and economic growth [35]. In response to this pledge and to implement the SDGs, Egypt has configured its vision to accomplish the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation established Egypt’s vision with the assistance of UNDP Egypt, UN Women Egypt, and UN-Habitat Egypt, and it has been supported by the Government of Japan. Egypt Vision 2030 states

“By 2030, the new Egypt will achieve a competitive, balanced, diversified and knowledge-based economy, characterized by justice, social integration and participation, with a balanced and diversified ecosystem, benefiting from its strategic location and human capital to achieve sustainable development for a better life to all Egyptians”.

[36]

The last update of Egypt’s Vision 2030 made in 2020 was based on the sustainable development strategy (SDS), which comprises eight goals. Each goal stands for a distinct element of the nation’s development. The first goal is quality of life: this focuses on improving the quality of life of Egyptian citizens, as well as their standard of living. The second goal is justice and inclusion: this addresses justice, social inclusion, and participation. The third goal emphasizes a secure economy: this focuses on a competitive and diversified economy. The fourth goal stresses knowledge and innovation: this fosters knowledge, innovation, and scientific research. The fifth goal is environmental sustainability through building an integrated and sustainable environmental system. The sixth goal relates to the governance of state institutions and society. The seventh goal concerns Egyptian peace and security. Finally, the last goal is the achievement of a pioneering position through enhancing Egyptian leadership [37].

3.3.3. The Compliance of the Contemporary Design of Museums with Egypt’s SDS

From reviewing related literature and the dissertation results of Mazen, 2012, the main design principles of contemporary museums were concluded as follows:

• Promoting cultural heritage and fostering a sense of place
• Becoming socially responsible enterprises
• Supporting local economy

The compliance of these design principles with Egypt’s SDS is illustrated in

Table 1. The compliance of the design principles of museums with Egypt’s SDS.

Objectives	Egypt’s SDS	Main Design Principles of Contemporary Museums
		Promoting Cultural Heritage and Fostering a Sense of Place	Becoming Socially Responsible Enterprises	Supporting Local Economy
Quality of life	Reducing poverty in all its forms
	Eliminating hunger
	Providing an integrated system for social protection
	Providing education and ensuring its quality
	The quality of health services
	Providing basic services
	Improving infrastructure
	Improving the appearance of civilization
	Controlling population growth
	Enriching cultural life
	The development of digital infrastructure
Justice and Social Inclusion	Achieving equal rights and opportunities
	Providing resources in all geographical areas
	Promoting financial inclusion
	Empowering women, youth, and the neediest groups
	Supporting the participation of all groups in development
	Promoting the spirit of loyalty and belonging to the Egyptian identity
Competitive economy	Achieve knowledge-based economic growth and digital transformation
	Increasing the resilience and competitiveness of the economy
	Increasing employment rates and decent job opportunities
	Improving the business environment and promoting an entrepreneurial culture
	Achieve financial inclusion
	Inclusion of the environmental and social dimension
Knowledge, innovation, and scientific research	Investing in human beings and building their creativity
	Stimulating the culture of innovation

. The results show that adopting these design principles for museums supports four of the goals, namely quality of life; justice and social inclusion; a competitive economy; and knowledge, innovation, and scientific research. Table 1.

4. Investigating the Socio-Economic Sustainability within Egyptian Museums

The PhD thesis [2] and the published paper accomplished by the author in [2] concluded with several findings regarding the general state of almost all Egyptian museums which are managed and operated by The Egyptian Ministry of Culture, as well as The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. The most dominant finding is that almost all the studied museums did not have enough space for accommodating the modern cultural and recreational functions being introduced into the architectural design standards of museums from the late decades of the twentieth century. These functions, which have proved to be of great use and importance to contemporary museums all around the world, were absent either partially or totally from almost all Egyptian museums ten years ago. Only a few small museums had been designed according to contemporary measures: they included spaces with accommodating functions, and they also constituted an exhibition with appropriate ratios and, therefore, have been able to host cultural and recreational events. The most significant example that is relevant here is The Nubian Museum in Aswan [2].

In chapter three (state of the art of contemporary museum architecture) of the PhD thesis [2], several eminent contemporary museums in several countries around the world were subject to a thorough analysis of their spaces and design measures. The analysis proved that all of them consisted of most or all the spaces mentioned in the following table with similar ratios. It is true that minimal variations occurred from one museum to another, but all of them proved to be within the same range.

The functional spaces mentioned in

Table 2. Optimum area distribution of a typical museum of medium or large size [2].

Function		Approximate Percentage to the Total Built Area
Public—Collection spaces (Exhibition Halls)		35–40%
Public—Non-Collection spaces	Restaurant	20–25%
	Café
	Theater
	Education center
	Multipurpose Hall
	Bookshop
	Retail, Gift shops
	Library
	Public Spaces
	Circulation
Non-Public—Collection spaces	Storage Spaces	10%
	Conservation lab
	Workshops
Non-Public—Non-Collection spaces	Administration	5%
	Service Spaces

with their area ratios were not applied in most museums in Egypt, with very few exceptions. This fact proves that there was a significant problem a decade ago considering museums in Egypt.

The current study focuses on tracing the evolution of Egyptian museums, to investigate how far they applied the previous recommendations as well as the various socio-economic sustainability demands.

This study revealed that the only significant change that took place regarding museums in the past decade is the soft opening of two mega museums: The Grand Egyptian Museum next to the Giza pyramids, and The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Al-Fosstat. Both museums are much larger than any other museums found in Egypt, including the old Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square. Both museums are not yet ready for full operation and are still in need of funding to be ready for full operation. These two museums have had a special law issued to regulate their work, unlike other museums in Egypt [38,39]. The laws issued for the two museums clearly and explicitly stated that the facility is an economic edifice. That is, it must, at the very least, seek to cover its costs, without seeking to achieve profits. Therefore, economic experts were appointed to the management team of the two museums [40]. Therefore, official decisions were issued to establish and manage them as economically sustainable institutions.

4.1. The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC)

The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) witnessed a major opening ceremony around two years ago, involving transporting the royal mummies from the old Egyptian Museum (Tahrir) to the mummies exhibition hall found in NMEC. This event was organized on a presidential scale, with the attendance of several kings and presidents to witness this event. Although the museum is not fully finished nor equipped it has been operating since then on a partial basis, the main exhibition halls of the museum are not yet ready for operation, but the museum is operating and hosting visitors almost daily, with just two exhibition halls (mummies exhibition hall and the temporary exhibition hall), but spaces other than exhibition spaces, such as seminar halls, a theatre, restaurants, cafes, shops, and the cinema are operating, hosting various cultural, educational, and recreational events. The organized events, as well as the income resulting from the other functions are the main source of funding for the museum to achieve financial sustainability, with plans to complete the unfinished exhibition halls and be able to open the museum on a full operation basis with the aid of the resulting revenues. As shown in Figure 3a,b, these spaces are located in the external part of the museum building, giving the greatest possible exposure to these spaces, to be easily accessible for visitors and to be operated independently from the main exhibition halls building, which is among the main design regulations of contemporary museum buildings.

As shown in Figure 3a,b, the external entrance building is dedicated to cultural, recreational, and educational functional spaces, as well as other services such as the huge indoor parking area that is capable of hosting hundreds of vehicles and buses. The footprint of the entrance building, excluding parking, is around six thousand square meters, with a total built area of around eighteen thousand square meters distributed among three stories. Meanwhile, the main building devoted to the exhibition has around fifty-two thousand square meters distributed between exhibition halls, administration, storage spaces, workshops, and other services [41].

This shows that the total built area of the entrance building, excluding the garage, is around 30% of the total built area of the project, which is within the average range dedicated for similar spaces of the eminent museums studied and analyzed by the author in the PhD thesis [2], as shown in the previous table. At the same time, almost all the functional spaces devoted to cultural and recreational facilities other than the exhibition are present appropriately in the museum in the entrance building, enabling it to be operated independently of the exhibition building (Figure 4). Accordingly, when the NMEC is being assessed for its recreational and cultural spaces, it can be easily concluded that it was designed and built according to contemporary museum design standards.

4.2. The Grand Egyptian Museum GEM

This cultural complex (Figure 5), which is regarded as the largest museum in the world devoted to a single civilization, will house about 100,000 ancient artefacts and feature 24,000 m² of permanent exhibition space, a children’s museum, conference rooms, learning spaces, a conservation center, and spacious gardens both inside and outside the museum [42], see Figure 5.

It has been announced that the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) shall be softly opened by the first of March 2023, and pre-booked visits will be available to the general public, following several delays. The project was started in 2003 and has been created by the Irish company Heneghan Peng Architects. The museum is intended to house some of the most priceless pieces in human history and is situated on a 500,000 m² area about one mile from the magnificent Great Pyramids of Giza. Its main exhibition halls are not ready for full operation yet, and the museum is only partially open in some limited spaces.

The museum is designed to have a huge conservation center, a children’s museum, conference and educational facilities, and 24,000 m² of permanent exhibition space, in addition to expansive gardens accessible from the museum [44].

However, throughout the last months, the museum has been frequently hosting various events (many of which are not related to the museum’s content or cultural message), such as the ceremony for launching the new BMW 7 series in Egypt, which was organized in the museum, as well as a concert by the Egyptian opera singer Fatma Said and several other events. Such events play a very important role in contemporary museums, gathering more potential visitors who are not necessarily interested in the museum or its exhibits, but their aim is to attend an event of interest to them. This helps significantly in increasing the income of the museum, playing a major role in achieving financial sustainability, see Figure 6.

5. Results and Discussion

The analytical study of the NMEC museum reveals that the cultural, educational, and recreational spaces that have been added to the museum play a great role in transforming Egyptian museums, from lagging behind international standards [2] to being compatible with the SDGs and hence being more useful to Egyptian citizens participating effectively in cultural and recreational activities, while being almost financially independent and sustainable. Because of the above-mentioned elements, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) deserves to be a role model for developing museums in Egypt.

The architectural design integrates most of the mentioned SDGs; however, it could take into consideration other group’s activities, which can be recognized in some other museums abroad, such as designing treasure hunt games or other creative ideas that attract teenagers and group visitors [13].

Referring to the first objective of this research, namely tracing the evolution of the design of museums in Egypt, and particularly the presence of recreational areas and their area percentage of the total surface area, it can be observed from the floor plans of the museum that the spaces designed for other exhibiting activities exceed 50% of the total area of the museum. This is a tremendous development in museum design in Egypt. Floor plan-2 of the entrance mostly consists of gift shops. Such an activity is a directly economic one. Other recreational areas, on the other floor plans, vary between such services as restaurants, coffee shops, and water current areas. These zones help the museum to sustain itself financially and economically in a direct way. In addition, the designer has considered merging with them other non-exhibiting areas, which supports the cultural role of the museum. For instance, there is a cinema (that presents Egyptian civilization documentaries), art gallery, educational classes, and zones for conferences and others for kids. The main purpose of these spaces is to reduce the gap between the audience and the artefacts in the exhibiting building that were inherited hundreds of years ago. Therefore, the aim of the designer was to attract various kinds of audience through cultural activities that can occur inside its walls. Through this design technique, the museum attracts tourists, researchers and students, families, and even ordinary people who may enjoy the theatre performances. Moreover, these kinds of activities are also considered as indirect financial resources for the museum, to play an evident role in achieving both cultural and social sustainability, as well as economic sustainability. To prove this in a concrete way, the following table illustrates the deduced architectural criteria that can be applied in designing museums to achieve the Egyptian plan 2030. Using this tool helps to assess the sustainability performance of a museum.

From the previous analyses, it can be noticed that the existence of recreational areas in the NMEC enhances the Egyptian strategy for 2030, which proceeds from the role of the museum as a building type. Those areas add value for the museum from a sustainability point of view. The design of the NMEC facilitates the implementation of the Egyptian strategy for the UN SDGs.

Table 3. Evidence of meeting the national SDS within the design of the NMEC museum.

	SDS	Evidence of Application
Quality of life	Improving the appearance of civilization	The museum has a great impact on its context: the whole region has been renovated and developed through adding recreational areas and residential buildings within the museum’s context. The museum has become the core of developing its context and hence improving the appearance of Egypt civilization. The design presents the Egyptian role in world civilization in a way that includes information about knowledge, abilities, and values. That is done directly through the exhibition halls and indirectly through the shows and performances that take place in the cinema and the amphitheater.
	Enriching cultural life	Museums are among the typological buildings playing major roles in enriching cultural life. The NMEC specializes in Egyptian civilization, displaying its progress through history till the present time, which has a great positive impact on the knowledge of its visitors and, therefore, enriches cultural life. The visitors’ journey through different cultural eras demonstrates the depth and variety of Egyptian culture. The designer uses cutting-edge display techniques to showcase creative and interactive interpretations of Egyptian civilization and considered the existence of a library. Such techniques in architectural design bridge the gap between the past and the present. The NMEC has the potential to become a global hub for intercultural communication. This was evident in the opening ceremony, which was watched by nearly a billion citizens on television screens all over the world.
Justice & Social Inclusion	Supporting the participation of all groups in the development	There is no significant evidence of a positive role played by the museum regarding this aspect up till now. But the cultural and educational spaces of the museum can be easily used in organizing workshops and events focusing on introducing this concept to the attendees.
	Promoting the spirit of loyalty and belonging to the Egyptian identity	The NMEC specializes in displaying the history of Egyptian civilization and is surely among the most important factors in promoting the spirit of loyalty and belonging to the Egyptian identity, particularly for its Egyptian visitors. In an era of globalization, the NMEC is a pedagogical “lighthouse” that projects the various aspects of Egyptian culture to Egyptians, including crafts, history, languages, and so on. The museum design provides spaces for these activities This helps Egyptians in the present, particularly youngsters, by enabling them to self-discover their identity.
Competitive economy	Increasing the resilience and competitiveness of the economy	Such grand museums are among the most important tourist attractions anywhere. Therefore, within a country like Egypt that depends on tourism as one of the main sources of its national income, such a museum will play an important role in increasing the resilience and competitiveness of the economy.
	Achieve financial inclusion	The recreational, cultural, and educational spaces are located appropriately in the museum to accommodate visitors for various activities and attending different events, regardless of the exhibition halls, which are not yet ready for operation; these functions play an important role in increasing the museum’s income and, therefore, promoting its financial inclusion. However, since the museum is not open yet, it has not achieved this goal.
Knowledge & Innovation	Investing in human beings and building their creativity	The history of Egyptian civilization is a cultural aspect that all Egyptians should be aware of. The museum should play a great role in achieving this goal. The museum is considered a national center for storing and preserving ancient Egyptian artefacts; it provides spaces and facilities to make further studies and enrich the academic field.

illustrates that the design of the museum contributes directly in the first step in the 2030 strategy (well-being), the second (justice), the third step (competitive economy), and the fourth step (knowledge and innovation).

Starting from the point of choosing the location of the museum, until the end of the whole process of design and the ceremonial opening, the NMEC can be considered as an example of the architecture of museums in Egypt. One aspect that has aided the designer in achieving his concepts is the museum location. It is located at a central area, between a few popular and international religious sites, both Coptic and Islamic. Such an opportunity is not provided for many architects around the world; as architects usually face the challenge of designing a museum that is attractive by itself, regardless of its location.

Another challenge was attracting the youth and children age group audience by providing abundant and various activities. The visitor feels satisfaction to find entertainment activities integrated with the magic and mystery of ancient Egyptian exhibited pieces, referring to several decades. Such entertaining activities do not need to be hi-tech to be effective, since people in Egypt tend more towards simplicity.

Regarding the GEM, this museum is unique in its nature and the nature of its exhibits, which attract visitors of different cultures and backgrounds. This made it easier for the designer to organize the rest of the activities in the museum. In this context, the design follows the SDGs. However, it needs very strict management to maintain and preserve the achievement of the goals.

Although the final architectural drawings of this museum have not yet been published, we cannot address the issue of contemporary museums in Egypt without mentioning it. It is unique in several respects. First, its location is near the pyramids of Giza, the most important monument in the whole world. Second, its surface area makes it the largest museum in the world [44]. When the ministry of antiquities announced the project, architects from all over the world excitedly participated in the competition, which provided the opportunity to receive ideas on a global level. It is essential to stress at this point that architects abroad are used to providing museum designs with considerable recreational areas or other exhibiting areas (theater, library, etc.). When the Irish firm Heneghan Peng Architects won the first prize [45], the executive authorities made some minor modifications to the design [44]. The uniqueness of the museum, which stems from its location and precious pieces, has rendered the mission of attracting the audience easier for the designers. Therefore, this factor has been taken advantage of by concentrating the design on making that “cultural” visit more entertaining through various activities. The scale of the building is monumental, which reflects a sense of dignity. The construction of the ceiling provides natural lighting and good ventilation without air conditioners most of the time. It can be observed from the floor plan that a cinema hall, restaurants, gift shops, kids’ area, a library, and a theatre have been included. In addition to this, there is the outdoor area with a hanging obelisk and simple landscape design with calm water features. Moreover, the bridge that links the monumental site of the pyramids and the museum itself is currently under construction.

For the GEM,

Table 4. Evidence of meeting the national SDS within the design of the GEM.

	SDS	Evidence of Application
Quality of life	Improving the appearance of civilization	The architect aimed to make the museum a showcase of old Egyptian civilization in a contemporary design. They visually connected the location of the museum with the view of the pyramids. Moreover, the museum’s facade was clad in stone to let light pass through the geometric shapes. However, the designed facade is not the one implemented.
	Enriching cultural life	The museum presents the full collection of King Tutankhamun’s acquisitions, which consists of 5000 unique artefacts, including 2000 artefacts that will be displayed for the first time, and 5000 items relocated from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The museum also includes special cultural and archaeological treasures that characterize Egypt, as it will display the mask of King Tutankhamun placed in the middle of the exhibition hall [37].
Justice & Social Inclusion	Supporting the participation of all groups in the development	Following the design principles of a contemporary museum, the GEM is considered a leading social enterprise because its interactive, community-led activities will strengthen society and foster the participation of various groups such as children, youths, and civil organizations.
	Promoting the spirit of loyalty and belonging to the Egyptian identity.	The GEM offers services for kids, youths, and special needs people in its museum, which promote their sense of belonging to Egypt.
Competitive economy	Increasing the resilience and competitiveness of the economy	This is possible through establishing networks linking the regions with each other through chairlifts that travel through ten stations, in addition to subway access to the area. According to [42], the GEM project will improve tourism services and boost the number of foreign visitors, because it is designed to accommodate eight million visitors annually from around the globe. In addition, the GEM will encourage visitors to extend their stay by offering a variety of services that are aimed at the entire family. In addition to the 5800 new job opportunities from the museum’s economic projects in the fields of manufacturing, transportation, insurance, and services, the project will help to create new permanent job opportunities for about 500 people. It will also offer 1500 job opportunities in the services sector [42].
	Achieve financial inclusion	The Great Pyramids and the GEM will host festivals, concerts, ceremonies, events, and recreational activities in Egypt. In addition to this, the GEM will promote conference tourism in Egypt by housing a hub for international conferences, with a conference hall that can accommodate up to 1000 people, a theatre, and open areas. The recreational, cultural, and educational spaces are located appropriately in the museum, to accommodate visitors for various activities and to attend different events, regardless of the exhibition halls, which are not yet ready for operation. These functions will play an important role in increasing the museum’s income and, therefore, promote its financial inclusion. However, 98% of the construction has been achieved and the museum has not officially opened yet, and thus it has not achieved this goal yet.
Knowledge & Innovation	Investing in human beings and building their creativity	The museum is supported by a research center for education and training, an arts and crafts center, and a library.

made use of the tool explained in the literature review of this research to highlight how such non-exhibiting areas in the museum play a significant role in achieving the Egyptian vision of sustainability 2030.

The GEM as an architectural case study, and according to Table 4, will play a considerable role in the first four steps of the Egyptian vision of sustainability 2030, although it has not been fully opened yet (only the main exhibiting hall, restaurants, and gift shops are open) and is currently surrounded by construction sites, to develop the area. Despite this fact, it attracts various types of audience, tourists, and many famous companies, which hold events there. Providing spaces for such activities answers our initial question about developing the mental image of the museums in Egypt. The GEM is intended to be among the ranks of international museums. Like the NMEC, the GEM’s recreational areas can be divided into two sections. The first one relates directly to supporting the economic factor of the project through holding events for companies, shops, and services. The second one plays a socio-economic role through the presence of a cinema and a kids’ area, holding performances and other activities that mainly play a cultural role and also help to sustain the museum financially.

Table 5. Comparative analysis between the NMEC and GEM from a sustainability point of view.

Objectives	Egypt’s SDS	Main Design Principles of Contemporary Museums
		Promoting Cultural Heritage and Fostering a Sense of Place		Becoming Socially Responsible Enterprises		Supporting Local Economy
Quality of life		NMEC	GEM	NMEC	GEM	NMEC	GEM
	Reducing poverty in all its forms
	Eliminating hunger
	Providing an integrated system for social protection
	Providing education and ensuring its quality	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
	The quality of health services
	Providing basic services			✓	✓	✓	✓
	Improving infrastructure	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
	Improving the appearance of civilization	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
	Controlling population growth
	Enriching cultural life	✓	✓	✓	✓
	The development of digital infrastructure.
Justice and Social Inclusion	Achieving equal rights and opportunities			✓	✓	✓	✓
	Providing resources in all geographical areas	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
	Promoting financial inclusion					✓	✓
	Empowering women, youth, and the neediest groups			✓	✓
	Supporting the participation of all groups in the development			✓	✓
	Promoting the spirit of loyalty and belonging to the Egyptian identity	✓	✓	✓	✓
Competitive economy	Achieve knowledge-based economic growth and digital transformation					✓	✓
	Increasing the resilience and competitiveness of the economy					✓	✓
	Increasing employment rates and decent job opportunities					✓	✓
	Improving the business environment and promoting an entrepreneurial culture					✓	✓
	Achieve financial inclusion					✓	✓
	Inclusion of the environmental and social dimension			✓	✓
Knowledge, innovation and scientific research	Investing in human beings and building their creativity			✓	✓
	Stimulating the culture of innovation			✓	✓	✓	✓

The ✓ means that the museum achieves this item.

shows a comparison between the NME and GEM.

6. Conclusions

This study revealed a new research area that has not been considered before, by addressing the correlation between the contemporary design of museums and sustainable development goals. The authors focused on Egyptian museums in the last decade. They selected the Grand Egyptian Museum designed by the Irish firm Heneghan Peng Architects and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization designed by El-Ghazali Keseeba as case studies. The objective was to trace how the recreational areas and new facilities added to the museums, support economic and social sustainability, and consequently the SDGs. The study concluded the following:

• The definition of the term “museum” needs a simple, yet deep revisiting that redefines the role of a museum; it should not only aim to promote, enhance or foster sustainability, but also to be sustainable by itself, as a piece of architecture;
• The design of contemporary Egyptian museums is constantly evolving and can play a significant role in supporting Egypt’s SDS through the whole process, from its construction to its management and operation;
• The design of museums, as cultural institutions, has become increasingly important, as they promote both education and the preservation of artefacts, making them ideal locations for engaging communities with available resources and demonstrating the importance of sustainability.

Practically, the study provides architects worldwide with criteria to build up guidelines for their local museums, according to their vision for SDGs 2030. Considering such criteria may turn museums into beacons of sustainability, inspiring and engaging visitors while demonstrating to them the importance of a sustainable society,

7. Recommendations

The design of a museum dedicated to supporting socio-economic sustainability should be carefully considered. To have a positive impact, museum design should be inviting to the public and it should offer sustainable learning opportunities. Educational programs, exhibits, and interactive activities should be developed to engage visitors with topics related to sustainability, such as renewable energy, clean technology, and green design. Additionally, a museum should incorporate energy-efficient features such as solar panels, recycled materials, and low-flow fixtures.

For future research, this study recommends developing the proposed analytical tools to include indicators and metrics to specifically measure the degree of compliance of museum designs with SDGs. Scholars should also study the ability of museums to support the other goals in the Egyptian vision for 2030; namely, environmental sustainability, governance, peace and security, and a leading position, which constitute a huge challenge for architects in designing monumental buildings using environmental materials. Such a scope requires multidisciplinary research, including material engineering. Developing this area may open the opportunity to turn the constructions into self-sustainable projects. In addition to that, and particularly in Egypt, there is a gap between the architect’s design and the administrative team in museums. Research could be conducted into the reasons for this, with the aim of implementing guidelines for the decision-making process and architects simultaneously, to improve the governance aspects. Concerning peace and security, the images of 2013 events cannot be forgotten. That year, due to political circumstances, museums were looted. Therefore, using environmental materials in buildings and ensuring the security and safety of the museum is a point that needs further studies. The last aspect in the Egyptian 2030 vision concerns attaining a leading position, and it can be admitted that the illustrated case studies in this research about Egyptian museums have laid the foundation for the role of the museum as a building type in this point. However, scholars and researchers could analyze this and introduce a set of guidelines that architects may consider when developing their designs for museums in Egypt.

Finally, the museum should provide visitors with a sense of community and a connection with local organizations. By connecting the museum to organizations that focus on sustainability and the environment, visitors can learn more about how their local community is striving to be more sustainable.