Came Memo- Informal settlement in Cairo
Introduction
Cairo is the capital of Egypt and highlighted by the city’s several names—al-Qahirah (‘the Victorious’), Umm al-Dunia (‘Mother of the World’), or simply Masr (the nation as a whole) (Howeidy,2009:13).
Issue
Cairo suffers from the burden of supporting a population growing faster than its ability to expand infrastructure and provide basic services. It is a very dense city with problems of transportation, inadequate drainage and lack of usable spaces. Among the most visible manifestations of the challenges posed by rapid urbanization are the informal settlements on the periphery of Cairo (El-Batran,2012:217).
The failure of the Egyptian government's housing policy to provide affordable, viable housing for a significant number of inhabitants has led many to build homes illegally. These so-called informal settlements are where approximately 70% of the inhabitants of Greater Cairo are now living. They are probably not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Cairo.
Demography
According to the 2013 census the most recent population count of the city of Cairo is approximately 9,120,000 people.
Based on the total land area and the total population of the city, the population density of Cairo is about 44,500 people per square mile.
The Urban Economy
As the capital of Egypt, the economy of Greater Cairo largely reflects that of the nation and, indeed it probably contributes half of the GDP (67%) (Sims,2012:3).
Cairo has a well-developed tourist economy. Along with the formal economy, Cairo also has an immense informal economy, made up of hundreds of thousands of small and micro-enterprises. The informal sector absorbs over half of the city’s labour force and informal employment is expanding at a faster rate than formal employment. Despite all of this, Cairo tends to be full of slums and plagued with poverty.
The Urban Governance
The Egyptian government kept power centralized, granting very...