8:30 am, On a Typical Weekday:
It is a typical morning in a bustling and constantly evolving city. 8:30 am, everyone is heading to work while listening to the calming music in the background: a mixture of car beeps and honks that never tends to stop. Everyone is always stuck in traffic for hours, where it became like a daily routine. A woman would roll down the window and chat with the driver of a nearby car, a young man would have a falafel sandwich for breakfast while waiting, and soccer fans would debate who of the two most popular local teams, Al Ahly and El Zamalek, would win the league this season. They all know that it is going to be a long time before the traffic congestion eases. They roll down their windows and talk about all sort of topics, but no one would dare to talk about politics.
Cairo Pre-Modernism, Transforming the City into Paris (1867-1890):
On June 8, 1867, Isma’il Pasha was appointed as the Khedive, or ruler, of Egypt. After a visit to France later in the year, he dreamt of transforming Cairo to be just like Paris. “My country is no longer in Africa; we are now part of Europe”, a famous statement Isma’il Pasha said during his first years as the ruler of Egypt. In order to transform Cairo into “Paris”, Isma’il brought French and European architects to build a new area in Cairo: Downtown Cairo. He wanted modern European architecture, gridded streets, and European coffee shops and restaurants. He shifted all funding and attention to Downtown Cairo, and almost abandoned the existing part of Cairo, which was later named “Old Cairo”.
Due to Egypt’s limited financial funds and capital at the time, Isma’il took loans from England and France, which were estimated to be around £ 1 billion at the time, to build Downtown Cairo. However, in 1876, he forced Egypt into bankruptcy and had no option but to accept financial support and supervision from both England and France.
Modernism in Cairo (1890s to 1940s):
From 1882 to 1953, and after Egypt’s financial troubles, Britain occupied Egypt and influenced its politics, trade, and military. This occupation was due to several factors, including bankruptcy and Britain’s increased influence over India, where the British decided that one of the quickest ways to get to India is through Egypt. Britain continued Isma’il Pasha’s work, where it brought the colonial definition of development to Egypt: introducing the European lifestyle to other nations. On the other hand, many western countries were, in fact, building temples and various structures that were influenced by ancient Egyptians. For instance, the Foire du Caire building in Paris (1828), the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum in Russia (1913-1929), and the Masonic Temple in Charlotte, North Carolina (1914-1987), are all examples of western countries adopting Egyptian architecture in their buildings, while Cairo was being transformed to be just like a European city at the same exact time. Here is a painting of Cairo’s French District, which was taken sometime between 1900-1910, where it clearly illustrates the introduction of the European lifestyle in Egypt.
Even though Cairo was being transformed to match typical European cities, main issues such as public transportation, green spaces, and living conditions were at a much better standing during the modernism era than nowadays. After being built, Downtown Cairo was a place with different public transportation means, plenty of green areas and spaces, as well as higher standards of living. Metros, buses, and trains existed and were all in great condition, where many people, rich or poor, would ride together every morning to go to work. Here is an image of the Muhammad Ali street in Cairo in 1920, which shows how walkable Cairo’s streets were in the past, followed by an image that was taken in the early twentieth century that shows a clear picture of Cairo’s different transportation means.
January 25, 2011: The Egyptian Revolution and Political Prisoners
Millions in the streets, specifically in Cairo’s Tahrir Square: a square that is home to many important government buildings, the national museum, and local TV headquarters. The country has been ruled by the same autocratic ruler for thirty years, and main issues like poverty and water scarcity were in no way improving. For thirty years, Egyptians have seen nothing but constantly deteriorating health care and education systems, and much more. They fought 18 days for their lives, some slept every day in the street, some were killed due to police violence, and many were detained within a large pool of political prisoners that until today have not even seen daylight, let alone see their children and families.
After around two years of unrest in Egypt, a new presidential administration began its first term on June 8, 2014, after a military coup led by the current Egyptian president and the former commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces. People were optimistic about the future, many thought perhaps the country is on the way to recovery. However, since then, things have taken a different turn.
Since the Egyptian revolution, it is estimated that there are tens of thousands of political prisoners in Egypt’s prisons today (Stark, 2015). This number has been constantly increasing since the new administration has taken office. Today, anyone who speaks in any way or shares their opinion about the current president would be pulled from his or her home in the middle of the night and thrown into prison for expressing a basic human right that the government has taken away from all Egyptians (Whitehouse, 2021). These political prisoners have been denied healthcare and even visits from close family members (“Egypt’s Political Prisoners,” 2021). They have been tortured and strangled daily. No one dares to speak in today’s Egypt.
The Rapid Construction of Massive Infrastructure Projects that are Changing Cairo Forever (After June 8, 2014):
One would think that with massive infrastructure projects comes development and a better standard of living. But this is not the case in modern-day Egypt, where these projects are only benefiting the wealthy elite and the richest ten percent in the country. To avoid any future conflicts and rebellions near important governmental buildings, in 2015 the new government of Egypt announced the start of the construction of a large-scale $58 billion project to transfer the capital of Egypt to a new city thirty kilometers east of Cairo under the name of “New Administrative Capital” (NAC). This city is expected to be the home of almost all ministries, governmental entities, as well as many luxurious skyscrapers and towers that would ultimately benefit the richest ten percent of the country. A huge portion of the government’s total funding has been directed to this project, whereas streets and villages within Cairo are experiencing constant power outages, and poverty is estimated to be affecting around 30% of the population (“Egypt is reforming its economy, but poverty is rising,” 2019). Here is a photo that I have taken in a typical poor village twenty minutes south of Cairo, which shows the difficult living conditions residents in villages have been facing, while the government is building massive projects for the wealthy elite.
Some would argue that the construction of the New Administrative Capital is a way to tackle an extremely high level of population density that exists in Cairo, where according to the World Population Review, Cairo’s current population is about twenty-one million, which is about twenty percent of the total population of Egypt. However, the construction of the New Administrative Capital is not a solution to this issue, as the project is mainly going to be home to the richest 10% in Egypt, where according to the World Inequality Database, the national income of the top 10% in Egypt income constitutes of about 47% of Egypt’s total national income in 2019, which shows the already existing income inequality in Egypt. On the other hand, the remaining population and those who are most in need would not benefit in any way from the construction of this project.
Apart from the construction of the New Administrative Capital, comes the construction of dozens of bridges within the Cairo area in the last couple of years. The government’s solution to tackling the traffic congestions is by building many bridges; however, without considering in any way whether these bridges divide villages, pass right next to balconies, or destroy neighborhoods. In 2019, a bridge was constructed a couple of feet away from residents’ balconies. In fact, during a newspaper interview, an anonymous resident (who did not disclose his name for his safety), in one of the apartments being affected by the bridge construction said, “When a car goes by, perhaps we can invite them to join us for a cup of tea on our balcony” (AFP, 2020). This flyover is designed to shorten the distance of car-users, where it is estimated to be used by 750,000 drivers each day (AFP, 2020).
One could argue that the bridge could help ease the traffic congestion in Cairo, which could be to some extent true. However, was this the only solution the government had? To create a “wall” that divides a village, where children used to play in the streets and neighbors chatted and greeted each other every day? How about the residents who will never be able to sleep again, when they are always thinking about what would happen if a car crashes into their bedroom? The Egyptian Transport Minister replied to the issue by saying, “We can’t sacrifice the interests of the whole governorate just for one, two, or ten apartments” (AFP, 2020). He is not even sure how many apartments and families are being affected. How long did the ministry of transportation take to plan this project?
Then comes the Egyptian government’s ongoing plan to either reduce greenspaces or limit Cairo residents’ access to parks and gardens. In the past thirty years, and until now, many national parks in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, have been transformed into roads, bridges, or governmental and commercial buildings. Almost all parks that still exist today have been fenced due to a required admission fee to these parks, which leads to further segregation between the rich and the poor in Egypt. One of the largest parks in the country is Al-Azhar park, a thirty hectares park located around five kilometers away from Downtown Cairo, which was constructed in 2005. Even though this park has been a getaway for many Cairo residents, where they can escape the busy city life and enjoy what the park has to offer from nature and seclusion, the admission fee to this park is around $1 per person. According to a World Bank report, an average poor Egyptian makes around $3.8 a day. So this park is still considered expensive to the bottom thirty percent of Egyptians who would need to sacrifice basic needs in order to visit the park with their families.
A City Losing Its Identity and Its People Losing their Voice:
It is very common for cities to evolve and change over time. But Cairo’s change is different. Its rulers have always focused on building a new city for a specific purpose, instead of developing the current cities where people live. Isma’il Pasha in 1867 thought about modernizing Cairo by building Downtown Cairo that would resemble Paris, and the current Egyptian president is building a new capital with his own definition of a modern city: skyscrapers and towers. What is never considered is the lives of poor families whose towns and villages are constantly suffering from power outages and water scarcity. The only thing being considered is what the ruler, who is just one individual, wants and thinks is right. The change that is happening in Cairo now is more dangerous than ever. In only a few years, Cairo will officially not be considered the capital of Egypt anymore due to the government’s decision to relocate the capital. Perhaps, the government wants Cairo to be the home of those who cannot afford luxurious skyscrapers and villas. A city where once the poor and the rich sat next to one another in the metro to commute to work is in the process of changing forever. Bridges are being built all over Cairo, limiting the movement of pedestrians in Cairo’s streets. Political prisoners are held in prisons to ensure no one else dares to speak. The city is losing its identity once again. This time, however, the government has also taken away the freedom of speech from every Egyptian. After all, what’s a city if its citizens cannot speak? I still love you Cairo, and I pray for you every day.
References
- “Investigating the impact of urban planning policies on urban division in Cairo, Egypt: The case of El-Maadi and Dar El-Salam”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110016815001465
- “In Pictures: Cairo’s urban planning”
https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2014/6/10/in-pictures-cairos-urban-planning
- “Egypt’s political prisoners ‘denied healthcare and subject to reprisals’”
- “Sisi’s Egypt: Mega-projects, scared citizens, no succession plan”
I loved how you incorporated your claim into the narrative. You showed it is an extremely serious matter anchored in the daily lives of millions of Egyptians, which pushed me to read further. You also did a great job situating Egypt and Cairo historically, which provided me with the necessary information to be aware of the current situation of the country. I understand your pain in seeing such a waste of potential due to the greediness of some, and you should not lose hope in your country. The first step in addressing this problem is making sure everyone is aware of it, and you did a great job writing about your country. Egypt has so much potential you did not mention too: from cultural and touristic, with the pyramids, to economic and politic with the Suez Canal. Instead of spending resources building something new, maybe the Egyptian government should focus on showcasing its assets and strengthening its weaknesses.