# Upgrading urban egypt



## jemiljan (Nov 28, 2011)

*UPGRADING URBAN EGYPT*
Mohamed Elshahed
March 09, 2013

Transport, potable water, electricity and sewage networks in Cairo and across Egypt are in desperate need of development and upgrading. While some recent accidents have highlighted the poor state of this network—take for example the numerous train accidents in recent months and their high human cost—the state has turned a blind eye and because of the lack of accountability and the current political uncertainty no long or short term solutions to such fundamental infrastructural problems have been initiated.

The spectrum of political parties on the scene since Egypt’s 2011 uprising has not demonstrated any serious engagement with physical infrastructural needs of Egyptian cities in their political programs. The present situation, however, is alarming, and while the Mubarak regime carried out infrastructure project haphazardly lacking a comprehensive vision, this approach to governance and building cannot be afforded in the years to come.

Although the level and accessibility of basic services in Cairo is remarkable for a city its size, especially considering the minimal investment and development of infrastructure, a crisis is approaching. Not only has pressure on existing systems been continuously increased, entire new areas have developed in recent years in a process of real estate speculation that has produced millions of uninhabited square meters of residential space in the interstitial spaces between the core city and desert extensions. Desert cities also exert a new pressure on infrastructure systems, which have been planned in a way that favors these new low-density (and primarily wealthy) areas with a high margin for waste, particularly in water systems. Additionally these new cities lack a fundamental infrastructural component: transport. What will happen when these thousands of currently empty apartments and houses in these new satellite neighborhoods are occupied with families? These car-dependent residents will exert a huge amount of pressure on the Cairo’s road network as they drive from far-flung desert cities, accessible only by car.

In addition, massive swaths of self-built districts on previously agricultural land largely rely on infrastructure that was not designed for dense urban areas. Immediate intervention and upgrading is necessary in such areas to provide not only better access to drinking water and sewage but also appropriate services such as health and educational facilities. In short, the task of confronting Egypt’s and Cairo infrastructural challenge is pressing and difficult, but it also presents opportunities for development, employment, skill-training, and overall improvement of quality of life.

Improving streets and sidewalks, long neglected by the state and international donors, is a basic infrastructural project that would have a universally positive impact on urban life. A well-kept system of streets and sidewalks has not been a priority for infrastructural development despite its potential improvement impact and its low costs. Improving sidewalks in urban Egypt will reduce traffic congestion and travel time, reduce reliance on vehicles, and foster a sense of community. Egyptian cities, despite the relatively low percentage car-ownership (only 14 percent of households owning cars in Cairo), are not pedestrian-friendly places. In addition newly urbanized “informal districts” often lack not only sidewalks but also paved streets.

Similarly, there is a tremendous need for an upgraded public transport network in metropolitan areas. While plans have been in the pipeline for an expanded underground train network in Cairo and the introduction of an underground system in Alexandria, these projects have been either stalled or are being implemented at such an excruciatingly slow rate that they miss the opportunity of having a measured impact by their planned time of completion. It is important to note that the cost of building an underground system in Egypt continues to be relatively cheap compared to international standards, costing roughly one-tenth per kilometer of the cost in Europe or North America.

Transport hubs must be established to the east and west of Cairo’s city-center to link the capital with the desert cities beyond. Abbasiyya, for instance, could serve as a transport hub linking Cairo with New Cairo to the east; Munib could link Giza with 6th of October City to the west. Although proposals have been made in the past as part of the pompous and deeply flawed Cairo 2050 vision, such visions were never translated into actual plans and they largely denied the existence of complex communities and conditions in the locations of such envisioned interventions.

What is perhaps more important than specific recommendations for infrastructure projects beyond improving transport and walkability, health and educational facilities and maintaining a sufficient network of utilities, is the need to confront Egypt’s soft infrastructure, the institutions required to maintain and manage hard infrastructure such as roads and utility networks. These institutions, particularly the municipality, are key to reducing the gap between the state and citizens. Without rigorous reconfiguration of the state institutions responsible for conceiving, implementing and managing hard infrastructure projects, future development will fail to confront the challenges on the ground.

For the last four decades, development and infrastructure projects have lacked key aspects of successful and long-lasting development: a culture of maintenance, quality control, and accountability. Rather than schedule periodical maintenance into development projects, the state has tended to build facilities; roads and bridges then nearly abandon them until a crisis, collapse or accident takes place. Similarly standards for building materials and finishes have not been strictly monitored and regulated and often budgets of public sector projects are wasted on expensive finishing materials, such as granite, which are not necessary or functionally practical. However due to the absence of accountability such missteps go unchallenged.

But perhaps the single most important reform needed to bring a radical positive transformation to urban Egypt, including the better planning of its needed infrastructure, is the rebuilding of local municipal councils. Currently, planning and infrastructure projects miss the mark. In every urban and rural community in Egypt there are leading figures that can take an active role in local government to represent the interests of their communities. But such figures are shut out from policy making. Instead local government administrations have acted as tentacles of central government control. Communities on the local level must have proper channels to connect with central government regarding matters that affect their daily lives, from transport to utilities. The rebuilding of local councils will not only lead to more efficient infrastructure planning but will also reduce the political tension between the state and local communities.

There isn’t an easy prescription for how to mend the cities in a country that has suffered from decades of neglectful rule and minimal planning intervention. Egyptian cities and towns need not a top-down “renaissance project” or an ill-conceived vision for the future. Design alone won’t fix Egypt’s urban and infrastructural needs. Rather, there must be a serious reconsideration of the place of communities and citizens as participants in the built environmentWithout sound policy and a fundamental shift in political will from authorities, lofty ideas and proposals will yet again melt into thin air.


*Mohammed Elshahed* is the founding editor of the Cairobserver, a publication on Egypt’s architectural heritage and urban planning. He is a doctoral student in the Middle East and Islamic Studies Department at New York University. He has written for the Egypt Independent, Jadaliyya, Design Observer, and Al Jazeera English. On Twitter: @Cairobserver.


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## Gounie (Jan 27, 2011)

Technische Universität Berlin, Campus El Gouna hosted an International Symposium in February for Urban Mobility and Integrated Transportation. Researchers and urban planners arrived in El Gouna from Germany, Austria, India, Britain, Vietnam and China to discuss traffic growth in their cities which consumes valuable land resources, causes delay and increases fuel consumption, air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. Professors from Iran, Australia and Brazil joined the symposium via Skype.

Prof. Dr. Khaled El-Araby, Chair Professor of Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering, Ain Shams University in Cairo presented urban transport issues in Egypt and talked about everything above.

El Gouna management are thinking about a business park behind the University to attract big companies away from the chocked up city. 

Another point they discussed was habit. It is so easy to keep to your routine of jumping in your car everyday. Maybe Cairo companies could organise car sharing or incentives to use public transport (OK I know the average age of the buses are 12 years in Cairo). Even if it is just for April 22nd which is Earth Day? And turn the AC off too


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## GM1 (Sep 30, 2008)

Car sharing: wadeeny.com


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## cairo tiger (Mar 16, 2013)

They really need more dedicated sidewalks for pedestrians to use. Currently on most streets pedestrians share the same space as cars, which is not good for anybody.


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## canuck2010 (Jan 13, 2010)

Reminds me of a quote I read in a report describing Cairo,

"Cairo is a big informal city with strips, just strips, of formality"

and 45% of the population live in slums.


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## jemiljan (Nov 28, 2011)

GM1 said:


> Car sharing: wadeeny.com


Thanks for this! 

It reminds me of our previous thread on the Nile Bus and other ferry boats Apparently, Qandil made a surprise stop back in January, rode it, and discussed expanding water transport, but I've heard nothing more since.

http://www.sis.gov.eg/en/Story.aspx?sid=66206
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/node/1385481


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## jemiljan (Nov 28, 2011)

Here is another excellent report:

*CONNECTING CAIRO TO THE NILE:
Renewing Life and Heritage on the River*



> _As urban waterfronts around the world de-industrialize, cities are increasingly capitalizing on these opportunities to provide open space and alternative commuting routes along riverbanks, bringing residents and visitors back to the waterfronts. Cairo has remarkable opportunities to reconnect its people with the river that was historically its heart.
> 
> With a population of over eleven million, Cairo is one of the densest cities in the world. The urban population is underserved by parks and other public open space. The need for open space – and the compelling attraction of the wide river – is put in sharp focus by a common sight on Cairo’s traffic- snarled bridges: families set up chairs and picnic on the sidewalks, overlooking the river and enjoying the open space, seemingly oblivious to the honking traffic that crawls besides them. Most of the river banks are fenced off from public access, but those that are open to the public are heavily used by Cairenes of all ages and all walks of life. The potential for human use of the river banks as open-space is enormous._


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

jemiljan said:


> Here is another excellent report:
> 
> *CONNECTING CAIRO TO THE NILE:
> Renewing Life and Heritage on the River*




11million? I wonder how old this report is.


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## jemiljan (Nov 28, 2011)

MaidenScotland said:


> 11million? I wonder how old this report is.


2011. Population is measured in different ways. Some counts include the entire metro area, others limit it to residents of central Cairo. 

Nevertheless, I can't find any fault with their recommendations.


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