At the gate, a security guard taps my friend’s car with two fingers. When we roll down the window, he offers no greeting. His eyes meet our own expectantly, asking the questions his lips do not bother to formulate: Where are you going? Who are you looking for? What business do you have coming here? Following our response, the wooden bar guarding the entrance lifts and we are inside Beverly Hills — not the coveted set of Hollywood classics, but one of the oldest residential complexes in Sheikh Zayed city, off the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road. Like its American namesake, the residential community is home to palm-lined streets and elegant buildings. What the shared title also points to is a mutual aspiration of the two suburbs: to serve as a peaceful haven, far from the chaos of an overcrowded metropolis. Within these walls, life does seem to unfold at a different pace. Despite the warm weather, pedestrians are few and far between. A group of girls ride by on electric scooters and bicycles. They are dressed seasonally, in shorts and sundresses, unbothered by catcalls and other threats they would likely face…
Egyptian Compounds: a Culture of Communal Living or Class Solidarity?
March 19, 2023
