City
New Cities
At the World Population Conference held in Cairo in September, President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi said that 24 new cities had been built to absorb population growth.
In Al-Borsa, real estate experts believe that the Nile Delta region offers numerous investment opportunities and will become the leading destination for developers within five years, especially in the new coastal cities, particularly New Mansoura and New Damietta.
Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly spoke about the site of the New Administrative Capital and said that other options had been considered for the government district, including Warraq Island.
Historic Cairo
Destruction of the Imam Shafi’i area (see August 2023 Press Review) was halted early September and signs were removed from tombs that were slated for demolition. Over 300 architects, heritage experts, and public figures signed a petition against demolition. Their request was turned down by the Council of State, which argued that the area “lacked interest“. For its part, UNESCO rejected the government’s request to reduce the area of historic Cairo. The new map excluded the districts of Bulaq, parts of Fustat, and the Imam Shafi’i and Sayyeda Nafisa graveyards. An Al-Monitor article retraces the recent history of the City of the Dead.
Green Spaces
In response to rumors, the Ministry of Agriculture denied that rare trees had been cut down in the Zamalek Aquarium Garden.
Power Cuts
Power cuts continued to dominate the news in September and October. In mid-September, Cairo24 relayed some citizens’ complaints on social media. The complaints continued until the end of October, when power cuts were extended from one to two hours a day, with the exception of hospital areas. In the Nile Delta governorates, citizens complained that power cuts were repeated several times during the day. In Alexandria, in particular, they lasted up to 4 hours a day. At the end of October, the government justified its decision by pointing to rising temperatures and, consequently, higher consumption.
Urban Rhythms
The country changed time late October.
Mobility
Transportation
At the World Population Conference, held in Cairo in early September, President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi said that almost 10,000 billion EGP had been spent to provide for the infrastructure needs of Egypt’s 100 million inhabitants. A former Minister of Transport added that these were forward-looking investments that would ultimately reduce costs.
Tourism
The new Grand Egyptian Museum on the Giza plateau is almost complete. Among the exhibits are Khufu’s boats and 5,000 artifacts from Tutankhamun’s treasure, including 2,000 displayed for the first time. The museum is due to open by the end of 2023. The footbridge linking it to the pyramids will soon be installed.
Cairo’s Coptic Museum building in Cairo has been listed as a historic monument.
The Cairo Citadel’s Sariya al-Gabal mosque was renovated and reopened to the public.
Alexandria’s Greco-Roman Museum reopens after 18 years of restoration. The work cost over EGP 550 million.
Environment
The Cairo Governorate began preparing for the winter period in October and for the management of rainy episodes.
An air quality monitoring station will be installed in Port Said.
Florian Bonnefoi
