This panel discussion explored the role that artists and arts organizations are playing in the development of Downtown Cairo. A direct dialogue between representatives of Al-Ismaelia for Real Estate Investment and The American University in Cairo with artists and cultural organizations staking out cultural outposts downtown (including Townhouse Gallery, Cimatheque, and CIC), the panel re-examined the classic appropriation of artists as catalysts for urban regeneration by real-estate developers seeking future gentrification.

The panel explored the questions: How might things play out differently in Cairo? How is Cairo different from other cities, such as New York and Beirut, where such cycles of gentrification have taken place? What role may the underutilized AUC campus play in providing a cultural anchor Downtown?