num_pages: 304
description: Trying to make sense of the urban giant that is CairoThis 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 the huge spontaneous neighborhoods; housing; traffic and transport; city government; and its people and their enterprises.The failed attempts of the State to create the new modern Egypt in the deserts surrounding Cairo and their unintended consequences as a colossal speculative frontier are given a special focus. 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
language: English
title: Understanding Cairo: The Logic of a City Out of Control
publisher: The American University in Cairo Press