An ‘alternative framework for development:’ state-citizen relations, urban revitalization, and Downtown Cairo’s passageways

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the years since the ‘January 25th Revolution’ of 2011, Egypt has fallen on hard times, wracked by ongoing state instability and the unraveling of its economy. Against the backdrop of this political and economic turmoil, Cairo has emerged as an object of renewed interest and attention. The resulting sociospatial interventions have ranged from restoration projects targeting Cairo’s numerous architectural legacies to mapping and documentation initiatives intended to generate reliable urban data. This article queries the reconstitution of the urban landscape via an exploration of the work of the Cairo Lab for Urban Studies, Training and Environmental Research (CLUSTER), an independent urban research group established after January 25th. I begin by locating the organization’s work in the broader context of sociospatial transformations in Downtown Cairo, a neighborhood that has long played an important role in the urban and national landscapes and which is currently undergoing rapid change. I then unpack the group’s activities in the district–especially those pertaining to the neighborhood’s so-called passageways–and the political ideologies underpinning them. I conclude by suggesting that CLUSTER's interventions are vulnerable to appropriation by other actors working in the area.