Urban change in Cairo

Abstract

Cairo constitutes the urban center of Egypt. It has experienced numerous transformations, which have shaped its social and spatial structure in the course of its long history. A complex urban structure exists, which bears the imprint of different phases of development. Tracing the major developments in Egyptian urbanisation over the last 20 years, one can observe two distinct trends. On the one hand, there has been a stabilisation and diffusion of urbanisation, on the other a stabilisation of rural-urban migration. It is a double movement of déconcentration at both metropolitan and national levels. In fact, Cairo has ceased to attract a large proportion of the migratory population. Greater Cairo now constitutes 17% of the total population, the same proportion as in 1966. This is a phenomenon of out-migration from Cairo and covers two aspects; the informal cities for poor people (informal agglomeration surrounding metropolitan areas- ashwaïyyat) and the private cities for rich people (such as al-Rehab, New Cairo, Mena Garden City, Dream Land, Utopia, Beverly Hills...etc) This trend points to the transition of Cairo from the European model of a compact city to the American pattern of vast diffused spatial development. During the last 20 years, the new population map of Greater Cairo has shown the impact due to the relation between urbanisation and the government’s ideology. From the analysis of the Egyptian urban context, this paper examines the factors of the emergence of Cairo’s new urbanity and attempts to answer the following three questions: What are the links between informal agglomerations and the emergence of the private cities? What are the links between the existence of this abnormal phenomenon (informal cities and private cities) and the Egyptian concept of urbanisation? What are the prospects for the future urbanisation of Greater Cairo in the coming years ?