Understanding Cairo : the logic of a city out of control / David Sims.

Understanding Cairo : the logic of a city out of control / David Sims.

9789774164040
9774164040

Cairo ; New York : The American University in Cairo Press, 2010.

English

335 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

DT143 .S36 2010

916.216

Trying to make sense of the urban giant that is Cairo. This book moves beyond superficial generalizations about Cairo as a chaotic metropolis in the developing world into an analysis of the ways the city's eighteen million inhabitants have, in the face of a largely neglectful government, built and shaped their own city. Using a wealth of recent studies on Greater Cairo and a deep reading of informal urban processes, the city and its recent history are portrayed and mapped: the huge, spontaneous neighborhoods; housing; traffic and transport; city government; and its people and their enterprises. The failed attempts of the State to create the new, modern Egypt in the deserts surrounding Cairo and their unintended consequences as a colossal speculative frontier are given a special focus. The book argues that understanding a city such as Cairo is not a daunting task as long as pre-conceived notions are discarded and care is taken to apprehend available information and to assess it with a critical eye.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

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