The city of Cairo is interesting! With a population of 23 million and an economy of only 600 billion, it is the first city in Africa to open a subway, and the new urban area is lined with high-rise buildings like Dubai.
Cairo is one of the oldest cities in the world and is also highly known on the mainland, with pyramids and sphinxes worldwide.
Today's Cairo is a populous city, with an area of 3,085 square kilometers that can only be considered average on the mainland, but the population is as high as 23 million, which can directly rank in the top five on the mainland; and the population density of Cairo's urban area is very high, up to 19,376 people per square kilometer, which is one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
As of 2019, Cairo's economy is about $100 billion, equivalent to about 600 billion yuan, which is put on the mainland, which is the level of an ordinary prefecture-level city.
Economically, Cairo is not as developed as it is, and may not be as good as most cities on the mainland, and cairo is also interesting in terms of urban construction, which is largely affected by the local climate and environmental conditions:
Cairo is located in the transition zone between the Mediterranean climate and the tropical desert climate, the summer is hot and dry, the winter is mild and rainy, but due to the influence of the subtropical high pressure belt and dry trade winds, coupled with the desert on three sides, Cairo has not only become a famous "desert city", but also the capital of the country with the least precipitation, with an average annual precipitation of only 29 mm;
Therefore, most of the buildings in Cairo's urban area are mud houses, courtyards or towers, fortress-style buildings, etc.; these buildings are generally not high in height, which can make better use of surface moisture; most of the building surfaces are light colors, which are easier to reflect the sun's light and prevent heat; in addition, doors and windows are also specially designed to protect against wind and sand.
In addition to the low-rise buildings, Cairo also has some high-rise buildings, but with limited height:
For example, one of the landmarks of Cairo, the Cairo Tower, built in 1961, is the tallest building in Cairo, with a height of only 187 meters; and the Pyramid of Khufu, built thousands of years ago, can be ranked in the forefront of Cairo, the original height of 146.5 meters, now there are 138.8 meters;
But the tallest building in Cairo's new city is very eye-catching, reaching a height of 385 meters, and it is also the tallest building in Africa, and it is also built by companies from the mainland.
The number of tall buildings in Cairo is small, after all, there are only 11 buildings in Egypt that are more than 140 meters high, and may not be as many as a county town in the eastern part of the continent;
Because of this, at a glance, the whole city of Cairo is almost all low earth yellow buildings, densely distributed, and there is almost no greenery, the whole city feels very desolate, but very historical, and the vast desert and pyramids outside the city are put together, and even have the feeling of an alien city.
Of course, Cairo also has a better place for greening, that is, Zamalik Island in the center of the Nile, where water resources are abundant, the island is lined with trees, it is not like a desert city at all, it is a rare green highlight of Cairo, so it has become Cairo's high-end luxury business district and embassy district, Cairo's landmark building Cairo Tower, located on this small island.
In addition to the lack of skyscrapers, cairo urban construction has another very prominent problem, lack of planning;
Since the early 1950s, in just a few decades, Cairo's population has soared from 600,000 to 23 million, and a large influx of people has led to a large number of residential houses in and around the cairo city, which are not planned and distributed in a chaotic manner, which not only affects the level of urban construction in Cairo, but also restricts Cairo's outward development, which is one of the reasons why Egypt wants to build a new capital.
Let's look at the infrastructure aspects such as transportation in Cairo;
First of all, the Cairo metro may surprise many people, it turned out to be the first city in Africa to open a subway, as early as 1987, the first subway line was opened and operated;
However, the development speed of the Cairo metro has been very average, so far only 3 lines have been opened, with a total length of 77.9 kilometers, and the average daily passenger flow is about 4 million passengers, which is quite good in terms of passenger flow intensity.
Secondly, due to the large size of the population, the number of cars in Cairo is also very high, currently about 2.3 million;
A large number of cars, on the one hand, will cause traffic congestion, Cairo is one of the best in the world, with an average commute time of more than 2 hours per day;
On the other hand, due to the lack of detailed regulations in Egypt in terms of vehicle emissions, car safety and scrap disposal, cars of all ages and brands can be found everywhere in Cairo' urban area, almost becoming an automobile history museum, but also causing a certain amount of exhaust pollution to Cairo.
Third, in terms of airports, Cairo International Airport is also one of the busiest airports in Africa; this airport is located about 15 kilometers northeast of the city center, dating back to the 1940s, and currently covers an area of about 37 square kilometers with 3 runways.
Finally, a word about the new capital of Egypt;
Located 60 kilometers east of Cairo and 60 kilometers west of Suez, the new city covers an area of 6,879 square kilometers and is expected to accommodate 6.5 million people and cost as much as $75 billion to $80 billion to build;
In terms of specific construction, Egypt has also learned the experience and lessons of the old city of Cairo, taking the planning first, the whole city will be grid planned, the large structure will be determined first, and then the various sections, roads and buildings will be planned, and finally the construction will begin, so the construction of the new capital is orderly;
Judging from the part that has been built so far, the effect is also quite good, the road network is neat, the high-rise buildings are lined up, the greenery and the water surface are also very good, plus the surrounding desert, and even have a feeling of Dubai, the improvement of the quality of the city is obvious.
After the completion of the new city, many of the problems currently facing Cairo can be effectively solved, and the skyline and urban construction level of the city will be improved a lot compared with the old city, with a more metropolitan sense and greater development space;
Hope a better tomorrow in Cairo, come on!
