Understanding Cairo: The Logic of a City Out of Control

Sims, David

ISBN 10: 9774164040 / ISBN 13: 9789774164040

Published by The American University in Cairo Press, 2011

About this Item

The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR007319066

Bibliographic Details

Title: Understanding Cairo: The Logic of a City Out...

Publisher: The American University in Cairo Press

Publication Date: 2011

Binding: Hardback

Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis:

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. In the

About the Author:

David Sims is an American economist and urban planner who has led a number of studies about Cairo's urban development and housing. He has worked as a consultant in many Arab, African, and Asian countries, as well as in Egypt. He has been based in Cairo since 1974.