In last weekend's Review section, there was a beautifully-
written study of the diverging property sector of Cairo by Ursula Lindsey. One one side are the
ashwa'iyat - the informal slums that are home to as many as 10 million people - and on the other side are the "exclusive new private developments, with names like country clubs or
bad discos - Utopia, Le Reve, Dreamland, Qattamiya Heights, Palm Hills,
Belle Ville - and slogans like 'The Egypt of My Desires'".
"One
advertisement, overlooking dilapidated buildings in the centre of town,
simply asks: 'Why Are You Here?'"
Photo caption: New Cairo. October 12, 2009. A worker lays cement curb blocks for a roadway fronting new development in a fast-growing suburb of Cairo. Dana Smillie for The National
Ms Lindsey writes: "Cairo's future, it seems, lies outside the city's boundaries, in the
desert - where it can be built from scratch. Today the outer edges of
the city are one vast construction site, full of subdivisions where
empty million-dollar villas stand among the sand dunes, and giant gated
communities that promise a luxurious escape from Cairo's pollution and
friction."
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