Screen LibraryUnderstanding Cairo : the logic of a city out of control /
Trying to make sense of the urban giant that is Cairo. 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...
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| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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| Summary: |
Trying to make sense of the urban giant that is Cairo. 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 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. |
| Carrier Form: | 335 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-321) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9789774164040 : 9774164040 |
| Index Number: | DT143 |
| CLC: | TU984.411 |
| Call Number: | TU984.411/S614 |
| Contents: | Imaging Cairo -- Cairo is Egypt and Egypt is Cairo -- A history of modern Cairo : three cities in one -- Informal Cairo triumphant -- Housing real and speculative -- The desert city today -- Working in the city -- City on the move : a complementary informality? -- Governing Cairo -- Summing up : serendipity? |