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.
- ISBN10 9774165535
- ISBN13 9789774165535
- Publish Date 15 September 2012 (first published 1 January 2011)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 27 January 2021
- Publish Country EG
- Imprint The American University in Cairo Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 388
- Language English