Ring Road (Cairo)

Cairo's Ring Road is Egypt's most famous freeway. It is part of the ring road around the city of Cairo, along with Circular Road. Construction began in the late 1980s. It was originally planned to surround the greater Cairo region in 3 of its 4 sides,[1], but part of the road remains unbuilt because the original route took it very near the Giza pyramids, an area which has been on the UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1979.[2]

The total length of the ring road in 2001 was about 72 km (45 mi)[3] with more than 50% on desert land, 15% in urbanized area, and 35% on arable land. The highway has eight lanes. The total budget for the project was 3 billion Egyptian pounds.

There were three master plans for the urban development of Cairo, in 1956, 1970 and 1983. Ring Road first appeared in the second plan as a beltway encompassing 3 of the 4 sides of the Greater Cairo region,[4] and link all the 16 administrative regions that the plan created.[4] In the third master plan, approved in 1984 under the government of Hosni Mubarak and in collaboration with France, it appeared as a 73 km (45 mi) long beltway.[1][4] It would connect the new 16 administrative regions of the city and would isolate them from the rural areas.[4]

Ring Road had the main purpose of stopping the urbanization of arable lands by creating a barrier around the Greater Cairo region.[4][5] It was unsuccessful, with the urbanization tripling in amount and the remaining arable land inside the perimeter being to all effects condemned to urbanization.[5] There were also negative effects, like settlements being cut in two parts, with the outer part getting isolated.[5] It also helped rich people create luxury urbanizations outside of the main city nucleus, following the example of American cities like Los Angeles and straying away from the European model of compact cities.[6]

A secondary purpose was to reduce the traffic inside the city.[5]

Ring Road's original route in 1984 took it very near the Giza pyramids, an area which has been on the UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1979. In 1994 The Independent alerted the world[7] that the construction was probably destroying ancient burial sites since no proper controls were made.[8] Also, it would pass by the South of the Giza plateau, isolating it from the open desert by surrounding it with roads on its four sides and bringing enormous urbanistical pressure.[8] The UNESCO pressured the Egyptian government, causing in 1995 the halting of the construction of that part of the road.[2] A UNESCO committee recommended in 1995 to by follow the Mariutiya Canal or the El Mansuriya Canal, thus passing the road North of the plateau.[9] In 2002 there were discussions about building an underpass or a tunnel.[10]

The ring road connects to the Cairo–Alexandria highway, near the pyramids at Giza.[11]

Second and third ring roads have been proposed for Cairo.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b André Raymond (2000). Cairo (illustrated ed.). Harvard University Press. p. 351. ISBN 9780674003163. http://books.google.com/books?id=tdLALt9AbQQC. "A third master plan was prepared in 1983. (...) It envisaged the completion of the beltway, or "Ring Road", which would encircle the urban area along only three-fourths of its circumference (73 kilometers) so as not to encourage the urban development of agricultural zones." 
  2. ^ a b Galila El Kadi, Dalia Elkerdany (2006). "Belle-epoque Cairo: The politics of refurbishing the downtown business district". In Diane Singerman, Paul Amar. Cairo cosmopolitan: politics, culture, and urban space in the globalized Middle East (illustrated ed.). American Univ in Cairo Press. p. 371. ISBN 9789774249280. http://books.google.com/books?id=U_0RRizglmMC. 
  3. ^ Lothar Beckel (2001). Mega cities: the European Space Agency's contribution to a better understanding of a global challenge. GEOSPACE Beckel Satellitenb. GmbH. p. 78. ISBN 9783853130513. http://books.google.com/books?id=zyYdlyzxreAC. 
  4. ^ a b c d e Nezar Alsayyad (2011). Cairo: Histories of a City (illustrated ed.). Harvard University Press. pp. 263–264. ISBN 9780674047860. http://books.google.com/books?id=gAIVan5rx9AC. "Connecting all of these new areas, away from areas of arable land, is a seventy-three-kilometer automotive beltway, called the Ring Road." 
  5. ^ a b c d Elena Piffero (2009). What happened to participation? Urban development and authoritarian upgrading in Cairo's informal neighbourhoods. Libera la ricerca. Odoya srl. pp. 92–93. ISBN 9788896026182. http://books.google.com/books?id=Sxh_M891b_YC. 
  6. ^ Antonio Marquina Barrio and Antonio Marquina (2004). Environmental challenges in the Mediterranean 2000-2050. Springer. p. 340. ISBN 9781402019494. http://books.google.com/books?id=aPZb4qfsQ1UC&pg=PA340. 
  7. ^ Samir Gharib (June 1997), "Ancient and modern Egypt come face to face", UNESCO courier, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1310/is_1997_June/ai_20036749/ 
  8. ^ a b Nicholas Schoon, "Egypt threatened over roads `vandalism' near pyramids", The Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/egypt-threatened-over-roads-vandalism-near-pyramids-1388018.html 
  9. ^ "VII. 34 Memphis and its necropolis -- the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dashur (Egypt)", Decision - 19COM VII.C.2.35/36 - SOC: Islamic Cairo (Egypt), UNESCO, 4 December 1995, p. 24 in original document, http://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/3047 
  10. ^ Underpass or tunnel?, Al-Ahram, 6–12 June 2002, http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/589/eg5.htm 
  11. ^ United Nations Human Settlements Programme (2009). The State of African Cities 2008: A Framework for Addressing Urban Challenges in Africa. UN-HABITAT. p. 66. ISBN 9789211320152. http://books.google.com/books?id=UR0fckrquD8C&pg=PA66. 
  12. ^ World Congress, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (2001). Tall buildings and urban habitat: cities in the third millennium. Taylor & Francis. p. 283. ISBN 9780415232418. http://books.google.com/books?id=Z5yfoPpVhmUC&pg=PA283. 

External links