The city of Cairo has suffered from poor urban
planning for a long time. That said, over the
last two years, the situation has rapidly gotten
out of hand, largely due to the diminished rule
of law — to such an extent that this unique
historic city is now in great danger.
For instance, this door (see photo below) on Bab
al-Wazir Street, in the centre of historic
Cairo, was razed with the blessing of public
authorities last May. It was built sometime
between the mid-1800s and the early 1900s and
led to the house where the Grand Mufti of Cairo
lived from 1921 to 1928. Its destruction was
highly controversial. Mohamed Abdelaziz, the
project manager for historic Cairo, argued that
the door was not one of the monuments on the
city’s heritage list.
The Bab al-Wazir
door before its destruction.
The Villa Casdagli, on Simon Bolivar Square, was
vandalized and burned down last February. I went
there after hearing the news. The thieves took
all the marble that was there. The 1910 villa
had been on the city’s heritage list.
Photo of Villa Casdagli, published on the
Cairobserver blog.
Outside view
of Villa Casdagli.
Buildings are being destroyed, even though they are
several centuries old and classified as historical
monuments by the Supreme Council of Egyptian
Antiquities. We’re seeing 15-to-16-story eyesores
popping up in their place.
Furthermore, these new buildings endanger
people’s lives, as they are often not built
according to safety norms. Since the revolution,
the government is far less present on the
ground. This turn of events is a boon to corrupt
developers who build very close to historic
monuments without any authorisation whatsoever.
Some do get authorisations, but by
bribing unscrupulous bureaucrats. There are
also uneducated private citizens who are
illegally razing ancient buildings, even though
they often have historical value – such as in
the neighbourhoods of Addarb Al-Ahmar and Al-Sayyeda
Zainab – in order to expand their homes or open
up a store.
During a meeting last week, we asked the
governor why he is not tearing down these
illegal constructions. He answered that he could
not send his employees in these neighbourhoods
out of fear for their safety, since they could
be attacked by residents. And the police have
more urgent things to do than to protect them.
A street in the Addar al-Ahmar neighbourhood.
These wooden beams were extracted from houses in
this historic neighbourhood to be sold. Photo
published on
Facebook.
We’ve demanded a freeze on all construction
permits for a year, so that we could evaluate
the state of our architectural heritage. The
government also needs to step up and stop
illegal construction. In fact, we requested that
an office be created to track these violations,
with the participation of civil society members.
Our final demand is for the city to develop a
plan to improve the quality of life and
jumpstart the livelihoods of artisans in
historic Cairo.
