XLII. Cairo, Egypt — High Density

XXXXII. Cairo, Egypt

Cairo, Egypt

Cairo, Egypt

Cairo is the capital of Egypt. It lies on both sides
of the Nile River. It has been vastly growing in population since the Infitah Era. Many families have been moving from the rural areas into the city and it has since been growing very rapidly, mostly in the form of informal settlements. In recent years the government has been building public housing to accommodate some of that housing need.

Overview of Cairo

Greater Cairo Informal Settlements

Population:
Urban: 12,000,000 people
Metro (Greater Cairo): 22,624,000 people

Area:
Urban: 1,709 square km
Metro (Greater Cairo): 1,709 km2

Population Density:
Urban Average: 19,376 people/km2
Metro Average: 52,751 people/km2

Politics:
The Egyptian government has been trying to deal with the increase of informal settlements in Cairo in various ways. Although displacement is the easier option for them to get rid of the settlements, not all areas are as easy to implement this technique in. Displacing thousands of people from just one settlement and breaking down the vast network of jobs that has been created around that economy would be very controversial and would create immense unrest. The government therefore resorts to other means such as creating public housing projects for them to be moved into.

Cairo- High-Density Building Typologies

Overall View of Cairo’s Informal Settlements

Cairo- Urban Voids

Masr El Adeema (Old Cairo)- Histroric Neighbrohood:

Area: 11.40 square km
Population: 268,920 people
Population Density: 23,589 people/km2

Al Azbakeya - Partial Informal Housing:

Area: 1.331 square km
Population: 21,241 people
Population Density: 15,959 people/km2

Imbaba - Completely Informal Housing:

Area: 11.01 square km
Population: 682,349 people
Population Density: 61,975 people/km2

Embracing and Enhancing the Informal (Cairo)

Informal settlements in Cairo already have a strong potential in terms of high density with FARs reaching 9.0. And although, this site in Old Cairo is not as dense in its housing, it still holds a lot of potential and interesting oppertunties. The site lies south of several historical buildings in the Religions Complex. Transportation in the site is highly presentm and the housing is dense enough to pose potential for further densification. The biggest remaining challenge then becomes how to enhance the living conditions and quality of life in the site while densifying further? How to utelize the strengths that are typically present in such sites and make better the typically negative aspects of such sites?

This project tackles these questions by proposing ‘formal’ buildings that are more dense, that are mixed-ues, that follow the same language on site, and lastly that connects with eachother and with the surroundings buildings throughout the different levels. The periphery of the site connects with the nearby highway and bridges with a covered seating area that includes retail oppertunities for users waiting for their transportation.

Embracing and Enhancing the Informal - Axonom

Embracing and Enhancing the Informal - Site Plan

Embracing and Enhancing the Informal - Section

Embracing and Enhancing the Informal - Statistics