Understanding Cairo The Logic of a City Out of Control

by Sims, David

• ISBN13: 9789774165535
• ISBN10: 9774165535
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-09-15
• Publisher: The American University in Cairo Press

Summary

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 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. In the case of Cairo, this approach leads to a conclusion that the city can be considered a kind of success story, in spite of everything.

Author Biography

David Sims is an American economist and urban planner who has led a number of studies about Cairo's urban development and housing.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	p. vii
List of Illustrations	p. ix
List of Tables	p. xiii
Abbreviations and Acronyms	p. xv
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Foreword	p. xix
Introduction	p. 1
Imaging Cairo	p. 9
Cairo is Egypt and Egypt is Cairo	p. 25
A History of Modern Cairo: Three Cities in One	p. 45
Informal Cairo Triumphant	p. 91
Housing Real and Speculative	p. 139
The Desert City Today	p. 169
Working in the City	p. 211
City on the Move: A Complementary Informality?	p. 227
Governing Cairo	p. 251
Summing Up: Cairo Serendipity?	p. 267
Postscript: Revolutionary Cairo One Year On	p. 275
Notes	p. 297
Glossary	p. 331
Bibliography	p. 335
Index	p. 347
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