Egypt’s Desert Dreams

Sims David

Description

Egypt has placed its hopes on developing its vast and empty deserts as the ultimate solution to the country’s problems. New cities, new farms, new industrial zones, new tourism resorts, and new development corridors, all have been promoted for over half a century to create a modern Egypt and to pull tens of millions of people away from the increasingly crowded Nile Valley into the desert hinterland. The results, in spite of colossal expenditures and ever-grander government pronouncements, have been meager at best, and today Egypt’s desert is littered with stalled schemes, abandoned projects, and forlorn dreams. It also remains stubbornly uninhabited.
Egypt’s Desert Dreams is the first attempt of its kind to look at Egypt’s desert development in its entirety. It recounts the failures of governmental schemes, analyzes why they have failed, and exposes the main winners of Egypt’s desert projects, as well as the underlying narratives and political necessities behind it, even in the post-revolutionary era. It also shows that all is not lost, and that there are alternative paths that Egypt could take.

Sujets

• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Sociology
• Urban

Informations

• Publié par: The American University in Cairo Press
• Date de parution: 18 septembre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781617978845
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

“In Desert Dreams , unlike many urban researchers who examine urban desert expansion, Sims contextualizes urban expansion in the desert within the bigger desert development story. Through his simple and jargon-free writing style, he critiques mega agricultural projects, new urban communities, and mega economic projects, such as the Desert Development Corridor, special economic and industrial zones, and tourism-centric coastal development. This diversity and wealth of information makes the book beneficial beyond the typical audience of urban researchers.”
—TADAMUN: The Cairo Urban Solidarity Initiative (on UrbanAfrica.Net)

“David Sims . . . provides us with a lucid account of the underlying reasons that led Egyptians to pursue a costly strategy of developing large parts of their desert. He explains why such an approach may not have been fully justified, and why it generally did not succeed. This important book is a must-read for planners and others interested in the development of Egypt. Policy makers would do well to listen to his advice.”
—Nezar AlSayyad, University of California, Berkeley

“Sims’ in-depth knowledge on the legal situation in Egypt and the country’s complex political background is spectacular. His book is highly investigative and . . . goes beyond basic inquiry towards a call to action. . . . Moreover, by unveiling the context surrounding the failures of previous ‘desert development’ projects, the book makes a remarkable point against corruption, nepotism and bureaucracy.”
—Jasper A. Kiepe, Arab West Report

“Sims’ detailed critique of Egypt’s desert development is revelatory, constituting an essential addition to the literature on both the politics of development and the politics of Egypt. It shows not just failures in Egypt’s desert ‘dreams,’ but more generally a distorted political economy that purposefully empowers elites and disempowers most Egyptians.”
—Anthony Chase, Occidental College
EGYPT’S DESERT DREAMS
Development or Disaster?

David Sims

Foreword by
Timothy Mitchell






The American University in Cairo Press Cairo New York
This electronic edition published in 2018 by The American University in Cairo Press 113 Sharia Kasr el Aini, Cairo, Egypt 420 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10018 www.aucpress.com

Copyright © 2014, 2018 by David Sims

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978 977 416 857 4 eISBN: 978 161 797 884 5

Version 1
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acronyms
Acknowledgments
Foreword to the Hardback Edition Timothy Mitchell
Preface to the Paperback Edition

Introduction
1 Egypt’s Deserts: History, Geography, and Early Development
2 A Roll Call of Desert Schemes and Dreams, 1952 to 2014
3 Greening Egypt’s Desert
4 Building Cities and Settlements in the Desert
5 Desert Tourism and Environmental Challenges
6 Industry, Mining, and Everything Else
7 A New Population Map for Egypt?
8 The Fatal Flaw: Disastrous Management of Public Land
9 Summing Up: Will Lessons Ever Be Learned?
10 A Way Forward

Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Illustrations
Figures
1 Neolithic rock carvings near Kharga Oasis
2 Qasr al-Sagha, Middle Kingdom temple north of Lake Qarun, Fayoum
3 Cleared and marked-out desert, attributed to Amenophis III, Eighteenth Dynasty, Luxor West Bank
4 Roman fortress at Deir al-Munira, Kharga Oasis
5 Perimeter wall of Saint Paul’s Monastery, South Galala Plateau, Red Sea Governorate
6 Muslim tombs near Qalamun, Dakhla Oasis
7 Smallholder farms and settlement (Qaryat al-Tahrir), al-Nubariya, Buheira Governorate
8 Mostly failed agricultural cooperative holdings off Cairo–Ismailiya Desert Road, Ismailiya Governorate
9 Wad‘ al-yadd smallholding competing with a public housing project for land on the desert fringe, Armant, west bank of Luxor Governorate
10 New established central pivot farming, north Toshka
11 East ‘Uwaynat land reclamation project
12 Lake Nasser at Abu Simbel
13 Central pivot irrigation for the cultivation of alfalfa (bersim) , Toshka
14 Plasticulture on wad‘ al-yadd reclaimed lands, Western Desert fringes, al-Minya Governorate
15 Fields prepared for drip irrigation, wad‘ al-yadd reclamation, 75Western Desert fringes, al-Minya Governorate
16 New Lands Development Project, Bangar al-Sukkar, Nubariya
17 The al-Hammam Canal and very sparse orchard reclamation at Kilometer
18 The al-Hammam Canal Extension, Kilometer 487
19 Typical section of West Delta Project area along Cairo–Alexandria Desert Road
20 Southwest extension of Wadi Natrun investor reclamation area using high-salinity groundwater
21 Southern half of the Salihiya Reclamation Project off the Cairo–Ismailiya Desert Road
22 Mit Abul Kom al-Gadid cooperative, East Bitter Lakes Reclamation Area, Sinai
23 Tomato crop, wad‘ al-yadd fields, fringe of Western Desert, al-Minya Governorate
24 Extensive wad‘ al-yadd fields near Deshna, Qena Governorate
25 Contrasting intensity and productivity of cultivation, Old Lands and New Lands
26 Entrance to New Qena City
27 New Qena City, established
28 Burg al-‘Arab New Town, established 1978
29 Al-‘Ubur New Town layout, 1990
30 Public housing estates, Tenth of Ramadan New Town
31 Individual housing subdivision started in 2003 in al-Shuruq New Town
32 Qattamiya Heights private-developer compound with golf course
33 Ibni Beitak subdivision, Sixth of October New Town
34 Sewage outfall from treatment plant, Tenth of Ramadan New Town
35 Part of Ahmed Orabi Agricultural Cooperative, off the Cairo–Ismailiya Desert Road
36 Uptown Cairo luxury compound, al-Muqattam, Cairo
37 Uninhabited al-zahir al-sahrawi village, off Western Desert Road, al-Minya Governorate
38 Uninhabited al-zahir al-sahrawi village, off Wadi al-Rayan Road, Fayoum Governorate
39 Uninhabited al-zahir al-sahrawi village, adjacent to ‘Izbit al-Gabal, Fayoum Governorate
40 Land reclamation village, Sahil al-Tina, Sinai
41 Large informal Eastern Desert fringe settlement near al-Wasta, Beni Suef Governorate
42 Informal sprawl into the desert, south of Dandara, Qena Governorate
43 Informal sprawl into the desert, South Fayoum
44 Madinaty, huge development by Talaat Mustafa Group, New Cairo
45 Wall-to-wall tourist village development, South Hurghada
46 Tourist village 51 kilometers north of Marsa Alam with 670-meter reef walkway
47 Holiday chalet units under construction at Ain Sukhna
48 Ras Abu Soma resort complex
49 New tourist village at Ras Banas, 114 kilometers south of Marsa Alam
50 Na‘ama Bay at Sharm al-Sheikh, South Sinai
51 Summer resorts west of Sidi Krir
52 Exposed whale fossil at Wadi al-Rayan Nature Protectorate
53 Heavy Industry Zone, Tenth of Ramadan City
54 Core of Industrial Zone, Sixth of October City
55 Largely vacant Qift Industrial Zone, Qena Governorate
56 Most developed section of Wadi al-Tiknilujya industrial zone, Ismailiya Governorate
57 Sector One of the Gulf of Suez Industrial Zone
58 Ismailiya Small Industries Cluster, Industrial Projects Authority
59 Small and Medium Enterprises Subdivision, Sixth of October Industrial Zone
60 Ras Shuqeir–Ras Gharib Petroleum Zone
61 Safaga–Kharga Railway, disused switching yards at Qena
62 Safaga–Kharga Railway, abandoned line
63 Western Desert Highway near Mallawi
64 Giza Governorate Cemetery on Fayoum Road
65 Effluent outfall from the Sixth of October sewage treatment plant
66 Rubble dumped along Fayoum Road near Sixth of October City
Maps
0 Indicative land use for Phase One of the administrative capitalxxxi
1 The Western Desert
2 Northern part of the Eastern Desert
3 Sinai Peninsula
4 Development corridor proposed by Farouk El-Baz
5 Al-Salam/Sheikh Jabir al-Sabah Canal Project
6 ‘Clean slate’ site of Madinat al-Sadat as planned in 1978
7 Locations of New Towns and New Settlements as planned in 1983
8 The eight New Towns of Greater Cairo with 2009 boundaries
9 Location of the new towns in Egypt
10 Locations of the largest nature protectorates in Egypt
11 Gulf of Suez Industrial Area
Tables
1 GARPAD statistics on reclaimed land in Egypt 1950–97
2 Horizontal expansion projects
3 Populations of established New Towns, various years
4 Desert population estimates, 1996 and 2006
Plates
1 Graduate smallholder settlement (Qaryat al-Tabarani) and fields in al-Nubariya
2 Disorganized smallholder reclamation in the Kharga Oasis
3 Agribusiness olive grove irrigated with groundwater, south of the Cairo–Alexandria Desert Road
4 Irrigation canal system built in the early 1980s and never used, Qena Governorate
5 Olive grove irrigated with groundwater in agribusiness farm off al-Alamein Desert Road, Wadi Natrun
6 Wadi al-Rayan smallholder and graduate reclamation scheme with wad‘ al-yadd extensions, Fayoum Governorate
7 The largest land reclamation scheme on Lake Nasser, showing the problems of lake level changes
8 Salihiya Canal eastern extension in 2004 and coopera