The increasingly populous and polluted metropolis is receives too much, not too little, attention, according to Dr Milad Hanna. Efforts to improve conditions in Cairo only widen the gap between the capital and the rest of the country The 1897 general census put the total population of Egypt at 9.66 million people of whom 530,000 roughly 5.5 per cent, lived in Cairo. These figures were about right for the country's resources, agricultural land and space available for gracious living. By 1947, however, the population had grown to 18.96 million, with 2.07 million people - 11 per cent of the total - living in the capital. In other words, the proportion of people living in Cairo had doubled in the course of half century. By 1960 Cairo's urban sprawl had extended into the southern part of Qalyoubia governorate, and further bridges had been built between the city and the west bank of the Nile, where creeping construction was starting to eat up agricultural land in Giza. The census therefore, for the first time, counted the population of the Greater Cairo area which, at 4.83 million, suddenly stood at roughly 18 per cent of the national total. Ever since then the importance of Cairo has kept growing, and large numbers of people have steadily poured in. At the last count (the 1986 census) the population of Greater Cairo had leapt 10.63 million - 22 per cent, almost a quarter, of the Egyptian population. This ratio has remained more or less constant since then, with the Greater Cairo population currently estimated at round 13 million, and expected to reach 16 million by the year 2000 - a truly alarming 30-fold increase in the course of the 20th century. The city could be said to have stopped being "Misr El Mahrousa" (Cairo the protected), as it is traditionally called, and instead become "Misr El Makhnouqa" (Cairo the chocked), chocked by the large number of its inhabitants, or "Misr El Makbousa" (Cairo the squeezed), as prefer to call it, with its people squeezed tight into a small peace, like bales of cotton. Even in the streets people jostle for space. How was it, then, that Cairo changed from a peaceful little town where life was easy and pleasant, and indeed so civilized that residents nicknamed it "Mother of the world", into this heavily built-up agglomeration squeezed full of people and chocked with pollution? One factor may be the way so many activities are concentrated in the capital, out of all proportion to its population: central government, parliament, law courts, newspapers and intellectual, economic, scientific, industrial, medical and religious institutions. No wonder every Egyptian would like to be a Cairene, even if that means living in one of Cairo's slums. The planners have been trying since 1965 to draw boundaries for the Greater Cairo region and limit its growth, but all to no avail. On the contrary, Cairo has become a drain soaking up investment to improve living conditions - in sewers, supplies of drinking water, housing, roads, the Metro, telephones, hospitals, electricity and so on. This has not been paid for directly by Cairenes themselves (who include some of country's wealthiest people) but funded by the public treasury. In other words, the standard of living in Cairo has improved at the expense towns and the rest of the impoverished Egyptian countryside. The latest such project is the Grater Cairo ring road, together with the eight residential complexes being built outside it. This enormous and costly project (the exact figures have not yet been announced) began several years ago in a major bid to take some of the pleasure off capital, bring "Cairo the squeezed" some relief and curb unplanned growth. What has happened, through, is exactly the opposite of what Western planners expected, because their experience is of a different cultural situation. Building new towns around Paris may have worked as a way of reducing urban expansion there, but it seems that the decision-makers in Egypt failed to recognise the difference between Egypt and France. It was decided to build Sadat City a fairly long way from both Cairo and Alexandria, and although it succeeded in attracting industry, its housing, including buildings, has been a disaster for the builders. The idea of us building another capital, or even another town, to lighten the burden on Cairo therefore no longer seems realistic or practical. However, without going into all the complicated reasons why Cairo is now in its present state, the question we must ask, for the sake of the future, is how we can improve or even rectify the situation. A few thoughts: * It now seems that trying to beat all the problems of Cairo itself is the wrong approach, because this improves conditions in the Capital, so that it remains the country's prime "magnet" area. This only produces still more problems, creating a vicious circle. In fact many of Cairo's problems lie outside, rather than within the city. In other words, not only does Cairo need to become an area of net outward migration, in order to curb its expansion and population growth, and even reduce its population if possible, but also, at the same time, suitable outlying areas must be designated foe development, in order to become new "magnets", in the Nile Valley or elsewhere. The time has come for us to consider having a governor of Greater Cairo, so that it can be dealt with under on integrated plan, rather than sharing this responsibility among three different governorates, each with its own priorities. It has become clear that while the governors of Cairo and Giza may be concerned with bthe problems of the Cairo of Qalyoubia's prioroties may will focus on the city of Benha, an not extend as far as Shubra El Kheima, which, although now one of Egypt's biggest population centers, is not necessarily one of Qalypubia's top concerns. Let me cite the example of the mayor of Paris. This is an elected political post which frequently serves as a springboard to the highest elected positions of all. The post of governor or mayor of Greater Cairo could carry the rank of deputy prime minister at least, and if the holder was successful in his policies for Cairo this might enable him to go on to become prime minister of Egypt, since Cairo represents a major part of the overall Egyptian headache. * It is irrational that services, from the price of bread and butagaz to bus fares and primary school fees, should still cost the same in Cairo as in the smallest village in the land. All over the world there are municipal or provincial service or sales taxes to help pay for such things, and it is now time Cairo residents were "weaned" off the old system and started to pay their own way especially as they include some of Egypt's wealthiest people. * Work on infrastructure of Cairo alone has depleted the resources of whole country. Billions of pounds have been spent on sewers, water supplies, electricity, the Metro and so on, but if Cairo is left to grow as forecast all these utilities will be inadequate within a few more years. The only solution is to lower the number of users and reduce overcrowding in low-in-come districts; in other words, for fewer people to make proper use of the services and housing available. * The planners have made plans for 6 October City, 15 May City, El-Obour, 10 Ramadan City and other new towns around Cairo, but without rigorous planning they will all simply merge into one great agglomeration, which would be one of the largest, if not the largest, anywhere in the world, posing great difficulties in terms of security. Cairo then the "Mother of the world" and favourite destination for visitors, has become a burden on the whole population of Egypt, and its future will have to be seriously debated. If its growth can be curbed, however, development will be able to spread all the way down the Nile Vally and into desert areas Issue 119 - 3 June 1993
