Securitizing the Urban Geography: Cairo Between Destruction and Construction

TEXT BY OMNIA KHALIL
PHOTOGRAPHS AND ARTWORK BY AZZA EZZAT

Few cities in the world have experienced the level of mass destruction and construction to which Cairo has been subjected in the past decade. A majority of the city inhabitants live in so-called “informal” neighborhoods and live with the threat of seeing their living environment destroyed to give way for new developments or large highways – some of which linking the new capital to the old one. In this text, Omnia Khalil offers a synthesis of her long-time research on this topic.

The satellite map of Cairo underwent significant changes between 2018 and 2022. The Global Positioning System (GPS) began to malfunction for commuters and drivers due to frequent demolitions and new constructions. Streets were no longer accurately recorded, and GPS systems provided contradictory information. A new urban agenda was announced in Egypt, leading to the widespread use of bulldozers across various neighborhoods. Mega-projects and urban redevelopment became major focuses for the current Egyptian government, which implemented extensive and ongoing changes to the city’s urban geography.