“While we can argue about what a slum is, everyone understands what a city without slums could look like.”
In Egypt’s capital Cairo, located in an urban region of 16 million inhabitants total, seven out of ten citizens live in so-called Muntiqat al-Ashwa’iyya (slums). These informal settlements originated planlessly and illegally. The German GTZ, a governmental organization that initiates PPP-projects in developing countries around the world, has recently published a book on Cairo’s slums with good photography and journalistic stories on the history of the informal settlements, challenges and potentials, everdyay life, nightmares and neighbourhood projects.
Cairo’s Informal Areas. Between Urban Challenges and Hidden Potentials. Facts, Voices, Visions. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, Cairo, 2009. (see PDF column left).
Posted in Background Stories, News
Written by Birgit Heitfeld on 16 Nov 2009
