Adapting in situ: observational insights from a field workshop on a continuously inhabited Nubian Island, Aswan

Nancy M. Abdel-Moneim, Nour Mohamed

Abstract


 

Heisa Island is a small Nubian settlement in the Nile near Aswan that, unlike most of Nubia, was never relocated when the Aswan High Dams reshaped the river. Rather than being displaced, its community adapted in place — moving to higher ground and reorganising settlement, livelihood, and daily life around a heavily regulated river. This paper draws on a one-day observation-first field workshop held on the island as part of the River Cities Network (RCN) “Rivers in Transition” meeting. Working across three thematic lenses — living heritage and local economy, the Nile edge and ecology, and everyday spatial systems and access — an international group of researchers documented how resilience on Heisa emerges through incremental, community-driven adaptation rather than formal planning. The findings position Heisa as a case of vertical adaptation in situ and argue that long-term socio-cultural adaptation to river change is frequently invisible to conventional planning frameworks. We conclude with transferable insights for other river cities confronting living heritage, governance gaps, and regenerative futures.

 

Received: 20 June 2026

Accepted: 26 June 2026

Published: 28 June 2026


Keywords


Rivers in Transition; Nubian heritage; in-situ adaptation; Heisa Island; Community Resilience; Participatory Observation; Aswan.

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References


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Copyright (c) 2026 Nancy M. Abdel-Moneim, Nour Mohamed

Horizons in Architecture and Urban Studies Journal

 

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