1

URBAN CONSERVATION :

CITY OF CAIRO

2INTRODUCTION• CAIRO IS THE CURRENT CAPITAL OF EGYPT

• ONE OF THE LARGEST CITY IN MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

• 175 SQ.MILE. ON BOTH SIDES OF THE NILE RIVER

• SERVED AS A MAJOR TRADE PASSAGEWAY FOR WATER & LAND TRADE FOR 5000 YEARS

3HISTORY OF CAIRO• SOME 5,000 YEARS AGO MEMPIS (TODAY

LYING MAINLY IN RUINS APPROXIMATELY 15 MILES (24 KM) SOUTHWEST OF CAIRO) WAS A THRIVING METROPOLIS

• ABOUT 2,000 YEARS AGO THE ROMANS OCCUPIED A TOWN ON THE SITE OF PRESENT-DAY CAIRO CALLED BABYLON

• FROM 641 BC ONWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY TOOK PLACE TILL 1798 AD

• DEVELOPMENTS LIKE COMMERCIAL & INDUSTRIAL PORTS, ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW, RECTANGULAR, WALLED CITY TO THE NORTHEAST OF THE EXISTING SETTLEMENTS, CONSTRUCTION OF GATEWAYS, EAST-WEST SPICE TRADE.

4PEOPLE OF CAIRO• CAIRO’S POPULATION, ONCE BOTH ETHNICALLY AND RELIGIOUSLY

DIVERSE, IS NOW PREDOMINANTLY MUSLIM.

• A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF EGYPTIAN CHRISTIANS, CONTINUE TO DOMINATE CERTAIN DISTRICTS IN THE CITY. 

• THE OLD ITALIAN, GREEK, SYRIAN, AND SUDANESE COMMUNITIES ARE STILL FOUND IN SOME LOCATIONS.

• DIFFERENCES OF STATUS WITHIN THE EGYPTIAN POPULATION DEPEND LARGELY ON ONE’S PLACE OF ORIGIN (MANY RESIDENTS OF CAIRO WERE BORN IN RURAL EGYPT), CLASS, AND DEGREE OF MODERNITY.

• ABOUT HALF OF THE CITY’S POPULATION LIVE IN THE CITY PROPER, WHILE HALF LIVE IN THE SUBURBS

5CHARACTER• PLACE OF PHYSICAL CONTRAST

• LOCATED ALONG THE WELL IRRIGATED SHORELINE, LUSH VEGETATION SHARES THE LANDSCAPE WITH TALL SKYSCRAPERS

• DENSELY POPULATED CITY OF EGYPT’S CULTURE & POLITICS

• LOCATED NEAR SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS REMAINS OF ANCIENT EGYPT LIKE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA

• THERE ARE ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS, DATING FROM ROMAN, ARAB, AND TURKISH TIMES

• IN ADDITION TO DEPARTMENT STORES, CINEMAS, HOTELS, AND TOWN HOUSES, CAIRO CONTAINS A LARGE FUNCTIONING BAZAAR AND AN EXTENSIVE, SEMI-WALLED MEDIEVAL CITY ENDOWED WITH MORE THAN 400 REGISTERED HISTORIC MONUMENTS (INCLUDING MOSQUES, MAUSOLEUMS, AND MASSIVE STONE GATES)

6CULTURE OF CITY OF CAIRO• CULTURAL CAPITAL OF THE MIDDLE EAST, AS WELL AS THE

REGION’S CHIEF MASS MEDIA CENTRE.

• KNOWN FOR ITS MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC TALENT AND AS THE SITE OF A RENAISSANCE IN ARAB THEATRE.

• THE MOSQUES OF CAIRO THEMSELVES OFTEN OFFER AS RICH A HISTORICAL STORE AS THE CITY’S MUSEUMS.

• THE CAIRO ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, IN AL-JĪZAH, CONTAIN EXTENSIVE COLLECTIONS OF RARE TROPICAL ANIMALS IN A GARDEN SETTING. 

7PLANNING OF CAIRO• CAIRO IS FAN-SHAPED CITY

• NARROWEST IN THE SOUTH, WHERE THE RIVER VALLEY IS WEDGED BETWEEN DESERT ESCARPMENTS,

• WIDEST IN THE NORTH, WHERE THE VALLEY BLENDS INTO THE DELTA.

• OVER THE CENTURIES THE CITY EXPANDED WESTWARD

• THE CITY ALSO HAS BEEN ELONGATED TO THE NORTH AND SOUTH AND HAS DEVELOPED AN EXPANDING ANNEX ON THE NILE’S WESTERN SHORE.

• MOST OTHER STREETS ARE NARROW, TWISTING, AND OFTEN DEAD-ENDED

• THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT, REFERRED TO AS THE WAST AL-BALAD (“CITY CENTRE,” OR DOWNTOWN)

• ALONG THE EASTERN EDGE OF THE METROPOLIS STANDS THE DISTRICT OF AL-QARĀFAH (CITY OF THE DEAD), A UNIQUE ZONE MADE UP OF AN EXTENSIVE SERIES OF CEMETERIES.

8PRESENT CITY OF CAIRO• BY 21ST CENTURY, CAIRO HAD BECOME AN INCREASINGLY

STRATIFIED CITY, WITH LARGE AREAS OF INFORMAL HOUSING OCCUPIED BY THE LOWER AND MIDDLE CLASSES AND GATED COMMUNITIES SERVING THE UPPER CLASSES.

• ALTHOUGH CAIRO CONTINUES TO BE FACED WITH MANY OF THE SAME PROBLEMS AFFLICTING OTHER LARGE METROPOLISES IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD

• PARTICULARLY THE PROBLEM OF PROVIDING TRANSPORTATION AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURAL SERVICES TO ITS GREATLY EXPANDED POPULATION

• PARTS OF CAIRO BUILT IN THE 19TH CENTURY REVEAL EXAGGERATED EUROPEAN INFLUENCES—HIGHLY ORNATE STONE EXTERIORS, CUPOLAS, AND ROMANESQUE DOORWAYS. 

9•  IN THE EARLY MODERN QUARTERS, BUILT IN THE 20TH CENTURY, THE ARCHITECTURAL STYLE IS PARTLY PARISIAN, WITH MOST OF THE MODERATELY TALL BUILDINGS CONSTRUCTED OF CONCRETE SLABS.

• ARCHITECTURE CLOSER TO THE NILE IS MARKED BY A MIXTURE OF STYLES, THOUGH CONCRETE STRUCTURES WITH BALCONIES AND GLASS CURTAIN WALLS PREDOMINATE THERE.

• PARTS OF CAIRO BUILT IN THE 19TH CENTURY REVEAL EXAGGERATED EUROPEAN INFLUENCES—HIGHLY ORNATE STONE EXTERIORS, CUPOLAS, AND ROMANESQUE DOORWAYS. 

10PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN CITY OF CAIRO

• NEW INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS ACTIVITIES HAVE INVADED THE OLD CITY CHANGING ITS CHARACTER.

• THE TRADITIONAL PATTERN OF CRAFTSMEN, MERCHANTS AND WORKERS, IS BEING RAPIDLY REPLACED BY A NEW PATTERN OF BULK STORAGE AND MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS THAT ACTUALLY DOES NOT FIT WELL INTO THE OLD URBAN FABRIC.

• THE RISING WATER TABLE, COMBINED WITH THE SERIOUS LACK OF MAINTENANCE, PARTICULARLY OF THE ROOFS, HAS LED TO RAPID DETERIORATION OF THE MASONRY AND WOODEN ROOFS LEADING IN SOME CASES TO THE TOTAL COLLAPSE OF BUILDINGS.

• THE SCALE OF COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY ENCOURAGES LARGE VEHICLES FOR DELIVERY PURPOSES AND HAS A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE MONUMENTS. THE NUMBER OF VEHICLES, COUPLED WITH HEAVY PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENT, PRODUCES ACUTE CONGESTION AT A NUMBER OF POINTS.

11BIBLIOGRAPHY

• HTTP://WWW.BRITANNICA.COM/PLACE/CAIRO