Bidding for “global city” status: a prescription for sustaining Cairo’s financial health

Abstract

This paper is not only about the financial health of North Africa’s largest city, but it is also about creating opportunities for future generations in tune with the recommendations of the Arab Human Development Report which was recently published by the UNDP. On a continental level, furthermore, this research seeks to enhance Africa’s bid for “global cities” status. This is important, for apart from Johannesburg, and to a much lesser extent, Cape Town and Durban, Africa boasts no global cities to speak of. The much-lauded Cape to Cairo axis, for one, needs two anchors to be sustained. Cairo, however, has not yet qualified for “global city” status due to the lack of a strategic vision, a paucity of financial resources and a limited institutional capacity at the local government level. Cairo’s lag is especially disconcerting given its pivotal political stature in the Middle East, its unmistakable draw, and numerous cultural assets. This research will, first, review selected global city literature. Second, it will present the modest inventory of regional organizations and multi-national companies established in Cairo as proof of the city’s unrealized potential. Third, it will offer a synopsis of strategic planning initiatives that have catapulted Sydney, Singapore and London to “global city” status within a short time frame. Fourth, a SWOT analysis of the Cairo case study will highlight potentials and caveats. The following synthesis will attempt to establish the sine qua non of global cities. Finally, the recommendation section will call for the institution of a vision and an integrated effort that would, hopefully, jettison Cairo to “global city” status by the year 2020.