Visions of our urban futures, representing abstracted “social” and “environmental” concerns, tend to systematically exclude us from the process. We have seen enough of this, recorded in the MPISG archives, and we are glad such plans are in habit of gathering dust in government offices.
Blessed or cursed shall you be in a city. Although cities are exciting places where facilities and workplaces are usually available, living in a big city can have major disadvantages such as pollution, noise, and lack of safety. In Egypt, countless studies have outlined local issues and visions for our urban future. Such studies, which cost the state millions of pounds, are gathering dust in the drawers of governmental institutions. A closer look shows that it is a blessing that the schemes and projects of the proposed visions did not see the light of the day.
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Ironically, the glamorous vision of Giza 2030 is to provide a sustainable approach with visions of social, economic, and environmental concerns. Accordingly, the government will transform the arable land and natural protectorates into concrete buildings. Moreover, it will support car movement through running freeways through the urban core. It will also disperse the social fabric of informal areas through resettling lower-income groups in the unknown. Mega-projects will cost the country billions and billions of Pounds. This prodigality will lead the country to a civil war, a financial crisis, and eventually to bankruptcy. Can we call the vision of Giza 2030 the destructive technique? The answer is, Yes.