Egypt, as a landscape of many wonders and seemingly endless sprawling buildings, has been constantly changing based on the needs of the time and the vision of rulers – politically, socially, and economically, as well as in terms of city planning. For millennia untold, urban development largely took place on the banks of the Nile or on the coasts of the Mediterranean. In recent decades, however, the government, in response to crowding and population increase, is expanding further away from the Nile and into the desert. Egypt is currently planning or already building 15 new cities, including a new administrative capital sprawling over a sizable area of 700 square kilometers east of New Cairo – almost a fifth of the whole Greater Cairo area. The rate at which new cities are being built and existing cities fundamentally changed a new and overwhelming phenomenon to some Egyptians. It means that they will have to adapt to new realities – some of which they make not be preferable or convenient to them – that change the way Egypt is, and how residents live their lives. So, what concretely does this rapid urban…
4 Ways Egypt’s Urban Expansion Could Affect Greater Cairo Residents
May 15, 2023
