Egypt's Desert Dreams by David Sims

Author:David Sims [Sims, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, Urban, Architecture, Urban & Land Use Planning, Human Geography
ISBN: 9781617976384
Google: kQJlCgAAQBAJ
Publisher: American University in Cairo Press
Published: 2015-01-01T04:14:14+00:00

Figure 35. Part of Ahmed Orabi Agricultural Cooperative, off the Cairo–Ismailiya Desert Road (satellite image dated May 2013, © 2010 Google, © 2014 CNES/Astrium)

Figure 36. Uptown Cairo luxury compound, al-Muqattam, Cairo. Private access road can be seen at top of image (satellite image dated September 2013, © 2010 Google, © 2014 Digital Globe)

There are many more recent examples of conversion of ostensible desert land reclamation projects into real-estate projects. For example, there are numerous far-flung suburban villa developments springing up along the Cairo–Alexandria Desert Road starting at Kilometer 48, as we have already discussed in chapter 3. Examples include al-Suleimaniya (including a ninety-nine-hole golf course), Wadi al-Nakhil, al-Rif al-Urubi (which translates into “European Countryside,” with separately themed large-lot villa neighborhoods called “Bavaria,” “Fransa,” etc.), and many other enclaves. These schemes are all on land originally allocated to private investors specifically for desert farm reclamation and were acquired from the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation at giveaway prices.64 Other examples of off-plan developments in the desert west of Cairo include the information technology office park called Smart Village, the brainchild of the former prime minister, Ahmad Nazif, located just at the toll gate of the Cairo–Alexandria Desert Road. Yet other examples can be found in the desert hills located between the old agricultural plain and Sixth of October, most of which are devoted to exclusive villa compounds that exhibit an extraordinary concentration of swimming pools. And in the far eastern desert yet more residential enclaves, as well as private language schools, have sprung up along the Cairo–Ismailiya Desert Road all the way to Tenth of Ramadan. In addition, there are large tracts of scrub and wasteland west of Alexandria that have been subject to slow urban encroachment over decades, mainly for housing but also for industry and seaside tourist villages. In a rare case of government intervention, a contract for the reclamation of 26,000 feddans of desert near al-‘Ayyat was canceled when it was discovered that the Egyptian-Kuwaiti Investment Company had started to convert the land into large villa compounds.65

These ‘off-plan’ or random projects in the desert continue to be created with full government sanction or at least acquiescence. Two extremely high-end gated communities in the deserts near Cairo were launched in the mid-2000s and have been heavily promoted since then. These are New Giza near the pyramids and Uptown Cairo on the Muqattam Plateau, both of which had been state land and both of which were acquired by private developers under extremely obscure circumstances. Because of their ideal location and accessibility, both sites could have been developed, at least partially, to serve some public purposes that would have greatly benefited millions. But no, both have gone for exclusive residential developments that benefit practically no one and have not even netted much in the way of revenues for the state.

Looking at the history of this ‘off-plan’ desert development, it is inescapable to suspect that much of this represents an opportunity for pure land speculation and windfall profits, especially for real-estate developers and those who have influence with the government.

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