Towards a greener Cairo
Cairo is among the most polluted and crowded capitals in the world. A couple of factors contributing to the problem seem uncontrollable in the short-term, particularly when it comes to population explosion and the concentration of economic activities and development to Cairo. Other factors, however, are directly linked to the deterioration of the Egyptian state and its incapacity of proper planning; consider for instance the urban sprawl and mushrooming shanty towns, as well as the corruption of the government which leads to buildings springing up in areas without proper consideration of space. Hence, the capacity of many districts is exceeded by far. In addition, we’re also seeing a lack of investment in economical housing in Cairo’s desert belt. There is an element related to cultural attitudes here, attitudes that assign a disproportionate social status to car ownership. The attitude is augmented by the government’s mismanagement of the rickety public transportation networks.