The Med Cities project centered on the past, present and future of eight Mediterranean cities—Alexandria, Barcelona, Beirut, Genoa, Marseille, Naples, Tunis and Venice—and included an international exhibition and public policy forum held at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, in addition to the publication of a book, Med Cities presenting the cities’ ongoing and future urban development projects. Launched by the World Bank and supported by the Italian Trust Fund for Culture and Sustainable Development, this project shed light upon Mediterranean culture as a sum of similarities and differences between its people, and created a channel of communication on an international platform.

The exhibition and dialogue forum, which were organized jointly by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alex Med and Studio Bertocchini & Ruggiero, were inaugurated on 21 February 2005. The exhibition included visual displays by the participating cities on their history, recent achievements and virtual urban development. Alex Med mounted an exhibition of its virtual plan for the development of Alexandria’s Eastern Harbor, consisting of six main development sites, including a design of the urban landscape surrounding the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The Med Cities exhibition last until 14 March 2005. To coincide with this event, Alex Med organized in collaboration with the Governorate of Alexandria a competition, open to all Egyptian architects, for the redevelopment of the Eastern Harbor and its waterfront.