Human Settlements are in essence, agglomerations of Communities, few or numerous. Communities’ collectively are a complex socio – cultural phenomenon with clear physical manifestations; comprising distinct local groups and their settings, natural and man-made. Urban Communities invariably experience/undergo continuous change and transformation, in response to micro and macro contextual shifts and pressures, as well as direct and indirect interventions, by inhabitants, authorities, pressure groups and neighbouring communities. The changes cover; the various features of communities; physical (buildings, the space-between, networks and infrastructure) and socio-cultural. The present work looks into Communities’ Transformation; representing ‘Community Design’ as a threefold process, comprising three overlapping and interdependent phases, actions and products, namely; designing and implementing community-settings, monitoring communities and enabling interventions and guiding changes (inspiring and coordinating active partners ‘Actors’, roles and contributions, boundaries and levels). Controlling change and sustainability are inherent features of effective Community Design; aiming at and maintaining: quality living, appropriate environmental standards, cultural identity and preserving resources. The proposed process of ‘Designing Communities’ is the result of extended research into the overlapping issues of design, monitor and control community development, undertaken and supervised by the authors; at Cairo University, the Department of Architecture. The regenerated process is presented through a sequence of closely related sections: 1-Representing ‘Community Design’, the process and products, beyond Postmodern Urban Design; threefold and open-ended, combining and coordinating actions; Design and Implement, Monitoring and Enabling Communities, 2-Communities in Transformation; synopsis of research into ‘Community Design’ and highlights of three case-studies from Contemporary Cairo, Egypt – between Initiation, Development and the Present, Interventions and Shortcomings, 3-Guidelines for effective ‘Community Design’, enabling interventions (actors and actions), sustaining environments and enhancing cultural identity.
