Two-sided peri-urbanity: Cairo’s desert sprawl against fertile encroachment

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.20242310458

Keywords:

Peri-urban Cairo, Informal housing, New desert cities, Urban morphology, Rural space

Abstract

Set amidst the desert and the valley of the Nile, the peri-urban area of Cairo megalopolis is a unique case of urbanization,  made complex by the blend of planned and informal: moving away from the centre, formal districts blend with irregular additions, eventually giving way to compact informal neighbourhoods fluidly extending from the very same network of canals and fields that had previously sustained a now receding rurality: Canals transform into streets, fields into multiform volumes. Throughout, expressways cross this lush landscape, contrasting it with a more global type of urbanisation, with disjointed, segregated compounds, which expand over the desert: a mix of low-density, leisure spaces and facilities of all kinds. two contrasting landscapes in peri-urban Cairo, akin to the two sides of a cassette tape. The "A-side" represents the organic growth of compact, community-driven informal settlements encroaching upon former rural areas. In contrast, the "B-side" depicts multiform urban compounds, purportedly planned desert cities, yet behaving as exclusive monofunctional sectors reliant on vast car infrastructures. This extreme duality, between Nile and Sahara, forges a unique peri-urban dichotomy, which emerges as an unlimited megalopolis.

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Author Biographies

  • Aleix Saura-Vallverdú, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

    Aleix Saura Vallverdú (Barcelona, 1997) is an Architect (ETSAB 2022), with a Master's Degree in Advanced Studies in Architecture (MBArch – Urbanism track, 2023) and currently a PhD candidate (FPU-UPC, 2022) and researcher at the Laboratori d’Urbanisme de Barcelona (LUB, DUTP-UPC), linking his studies with urban research (MEFP 2020 Research Scholarship) through his participation in several international projects such as the European Competitive Project “IMPAQT” (2018-19) in collaboration with the Laboratori d’Urbanisme, and the “RiConnect-Rethinking Infrastructure” Project (Winner of the Catalunya Territori award, 2023), part of the European Network “URBACT”, in collaboration with the Planning Department of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB). Furthermore, he has co-authored publications such as Attaba: vibrant hubscape in Central Cairo (RU books, 2022) in which he has joined with local researchers to analyse the Egyptian capital.

  • Carles Crosas, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

    Carles Crosas Armengol (Manlleu, 1975) is an Architect (ETSAB, 2000), PhD in Urbanism (UPC, 2009) and Associate Professor in the Department of Urbanism, Territory and Landscape - ETSAB - UPC, of which he is currently Director. Linked to teaching and research since 2001 (FPI grant), he was a close collaborator and last assistant professor of Manuel de Solà-Morales at the Laboratori d'Urbanisme de Barcelona (LUB). Guest lecturer at several universities in Europe, America, and Asia, he develops his academic work in the framework of the LUB, where he has been coordinator and participant in several international projects. Author and editor of numerous monographs published from LUB and AMB, he is author of recent contributions in journals such as Journal of Urban Design (2023), Journal of Urbanism (2021) and publishers such as Jovis (2018). He is co-author of projects, plans and urban and territorial studies awarded in national and international competitions (Europan).

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Published

2024-12-26

Issue

No. 23 (2024): Peri-urban landscapes

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Topic papers

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Copyright (c) 2024 ZARCH. Journal of interdisciplinary studies in Architecture and Urbanism

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How to Cite

Saura-Vallverdú, A., & Crosas, C. (2024). Two-sided peri-urbanity: Cairo’s desert sprawl against fertile encroachment. ZARCH. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Architecture and Urbanism, 23, 152-165. https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.20242310458
Received 2024-04-13
Accepted 2024-10-08
Published 2024-12-26

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