Paper short abstract:

This paper looks at urban revitalization initiatives in central Cairo after January 25th, 2011. It explores how and why, in a moment of protracted political turmoil, specific urban spaces and historicized structures have become canvases for the articulation of new sociopolitical values and ideas.

Paper long abstract:

In post-Revolution Egypt, Cairo has emerged as the object of countless urban revitalization initiatives by local and non-local actors intent on staking a claim to some corner of the city. These efforts have been dizzying in both scope and scale, ranging from government-sponsored redevelopment plans to locally organized conservation projects to mapping and documentation initiatives intended to generate reliable urban data. In the aggregate, this work suggests that the entire urban landscape is being reconstituted.

My paper draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted from 2014-2016 to explore this shifting politics of urban revitalization, with particular emphasis on the preservation of architectural heritage in an area known as wust al-balad or "Downtown Cairo." This centrally located neighborhood, which abuts the now iconic Midan al-Tahrir, has a rich architectural legacy dating back to the mid-19th century. It has therefore played an important symbolic and material role in the urban and national landscapes; however, in the five years since Egyptians took to the streets demanding the "fall of the regime," Downtown Cairo appears to have seized popular consciousness, generating unprecedented interest and activity among Egyptians.

After tracing the history of the neighborhood and its relation to the broader urban fabric, this paper narrows in on current revitalization projects born of this interest. Through my discussion of this work, I engage the question of how and why, in a moment of protracted political turmoil, specific urban spaces and historicized structures have become canvases for the articulation of changing social and political values and ideas.