The features that collectively make up a "Cairo 2050" vision are both amazing and in many ways enlightening, as Jill Kamil learns from a new book on the market Its sub-title held me: "The logic of a city out of control"; and the Forward by Janet Abu-Lughod (acclaimed author of Cairo: 1001 Years of the City Victorious, published in 1971) convinced me that this was a book to read -- and worth reading carefully. Abu-Lughod writes, "David Sims has not only produced an original and unique case study of Cairo but an innovative model of methodological sophistication and a theoretical challenge to superficial over-generalization. Hurrah!" Hurrah indeed! For anyone who wants to know more about Cairo's development in the last 40 years; its urban history; the problems of the slums; its "gated" communities and its transport problems, one needs to know how the mega-city of Cairo evolved. Having myself watched it grow over the last 50 years and more, but never quite comprehending quite how it all happened, or indeed how it continues to develop despite many obvious pitfalls, this excellent book provides the answer. To begin with, I can do no better then quote Sims himself: "Understanding Cairo," he writes, "first requires a short look at Egypt. All too often the city is treated in the literature as a stand-alone metropolis, something disembodied that can be seen in isolation from the rest of the country and immediately compared to other world cities, ignoring the fact that Egypt is in many ways not a typical developing country. There are," he goes on, "also a few widely held misconceptions that need to be set straight �ê�" Sims starts off by referring to earlier books and researches on Cairo, outlining their limitations and, in many cases, their inaccuracies. His book on the other hand, is original in its arguments, documented by data never before accessible to the general reader, and is a totally up-to-date record of how modern Cairo happened. David Sims is an economist and consultant who has worked in Cairo since 1974, and he is a sharp observer. He argues that understanding a city such as Cairo, with its informal areas (which are large and ever-expanding, and where people have built randomly on land without planning or permits) is not so daunting a task as I imagined. What is needed, however, is for a reader to abandon pre-conceived notions of Cairo and read his text with a critical eye, because it has much to tell. It explains how it all happened. Using Egypt Survey Authority maps and Digital Globe, Sims reveals the expansion of the Cairo suburbs of Mohandisin, Helwan, Madinat Nasr and Al-Nahda, which were built progressively by the Cairo Governorate in the second half of the 20th century. He explains that, almost simultaneously, the so-called "informal city" blossomed on the edge of formal housing, even though it contravened laws and building codes. Today these "informal" areas of housing, also known as "random" or "haphazard" areas, are condemned by the government and wealthy Egyptians as vast slums. But that is not what they actually are. They have become home to rural migrants, out-of-work residents, and, in some areas (let it be admitted) a haven for Islamist militants. Nevertheless they are a part of the Greater Cairo; an urban bureaucracy the existence of which has been tacitly accepted even though they are often left off maps altogether. Informal housing began to appear on agricultural land on the desert fringes and were "somehow grafted on to existing settlements". Since this rural housing was not regulated, there was no official reaction. As Sims explains, "The logic probably went: If some farmers want to sell off strips of agricultural land piecemeal, this can hardly be construed as contravening the subdivision laws, which were meant for modern, proper housing areas". One of the most glaring contrasts of the city of Cairo is ostentatious wealth coexisting side by side with extreme poverty. Outrageously expensive weddings on the one hand, with individuals eking out an existence on the other. Another contradiction, Sims points out, is that one can still walk from the centre of the city and in less than two hours find oneself "in the midst of verdant fields", as along the Saqqara road where sturdy farm workers and placid water buffalos can be seen side by side. Or high-rises along the Nile Corniche leading to Maadi, still interspersed with tiny islands of agriculture. Sims's book is written against this colourful stereotype, whatever its reality. And he manages to do so by offering data -- maps, census figures, population estimates and floor-plans of informal housing. That might sound somewhat dull, but it has to be admitted that statistics, numbers and maps count a great deal, so long as they are treated with a critical eye. Sims reveals a city that is remarkable in its perseverance and adaptability. He presents the city of Cairo, despite everything, as "a success story". Here is a city whose population has grown from four to 17 million inhabitants in less than 50 years. Two-thirds of the city's population now live in neighbourhoods that have sprung up since 1950 that are devoid of any planning or control, while in stark contrast the state has poured vast resources into huge extensions of the urban region that remain almost devoid of inhabitants because many still lack social infrastructure. Until the 1970s there was considerable agricultural ground on what was once the flood-plain between the eastern and western plateaux. Today urbanisation has eaten away all but a few plots. And the population of Cairo is steadily growing. Added to the local throng are foreign investors, traders, refugees, sightseers and a regular flow of students from the governorates. "Turn the desert green"; "build satellite cities"; "move out of Cairo" was the call 30 years ago. And although large areas of the desert were reclaimed for agriculture and several satellite cities were built, the population continues to grow and more housing is needed. The settlement schemes have not eased the congestion in Cairo because many are still lacking in those institutions that make for a large-scale exodus from the city -- schools, hospitals, industry and job opportunities. Understanding Cairo begins in 1980 when the Egyptian government started making a concerted effort to promote a future vision of Greater Cairo, with GOPP (General Organization of Physical Planning) sponsoring a study called the "Greater Cairo Strategic Planning 2050 Concept". The optimistic assumption was, according to Sims, built on unrealistic dreams of Cairo developing into a "super-modern, high-tech, green, and connected city" that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the metropolises in the world's most advanced countries. "It hardly needs saying that the schemes and projects of Cairo 2050 will ever see the light of day," Sims concludes. "The colossal sums needed to finance investments will simply not materialize, and social resistance can be expected to be fierce �ê�". He adds that it is much simpler to look so far into the future "than (the) nasty details" that might besmirch the vision. Understanding Cairo is not a book for the casual reader or a tourist. Let me stress this fact. For them I recommend Michael Haag's excellent guidebook to Cairo. Sim's book is a serious analysis which, while concentrating primarily on the period after Egypt's defeat in 1967 and the death of Nasser in 1970, is written by someone with a sound understanding of change in Egyptian society over time. "This book was written in English, on the assumption that the main audience would be an international one," writes Sims in his Introduction. However, as many people have already pointed out to him, for the book to advance the understanding of Cairo among those who actually count -- in other words the decision makers in government and in the Egyptian intelligentsia -- an Arabic version needs to be produced. "This is very much the intention," he assures us. Tuk-tuks are a headache that never ends It is against the law for them to operate in Cairo. Many do not even carry number plates. But these nippy little three-wheelers with a covered roof are a popular means of transport in busy districts, and can increasingly be seen on the streets of Cairo. They show little respect for other drivers, have been associated with serious thefts including rape, theft, kidnapping, even murder �ê� but there they are, adding to the chaos that's Cairo. The "old regime" is to blame for importing many of these vehicles -- at first to benefit businessmen and government officials, not just ordinary citizens, but they certainly provide an income for the families of the drivers, often graduate students who cannot land a job. They compete with minibuses for passengers.
