Home / Physical Landscape / History / Transportation / Issues / Future / Bibliography
The Later Years
In 1798 Napolean came in and introduced Cairo to the modern era. He destroyed many beautiful buldings and parts of Cairo. In teh place of the destruction he built many roads and grid patterns. These changes still exist today.
Next came the famous Mohammed Ali. He extended Cairo to the northwest. He is responsigble for transforming the capital into the Eurpoean city the it slightly resembles today. He added broad boulevards. new districts As the growth grew, traditional Cairo was ignored, density grew, and so did the poor conditions.
The real birth of Modern Cairo came with the ruller Ismail. He was the one responsible for destroying large sections of the most gorgoues quarters and mousques to build a giant boulevard. He built this boulevard throught the traditioanl city and latter called it the Mohammed Ali boulevard in honor of the old ruller. THe name has since been changed. He was also responsible for the modern suburb Heliopolis in 1906.
in 1867 head of Egyptian throne, Ismail, attended the Exposition Universalle in paris and later became obsessed with Paris urban design.
By 1869 a new extensive grid pattern was placed over the existing streets and built north and west of the old city.
Ismail made the unspeakable attrocity of making the boulevard of Mohammed Ali. He was so obsessed with Paris grids and planning that he decided Cairo needed a long stragiht boulevard. He cut through some of the most beautiful quaters in all of Cairo. He ruined palaces and gardens just to keep the stragiht line. When built, he included arcades, but his grandson thought they looked to anchient and set the city back so he got rid of them during his rule. In the process of destroying them, he also destroyed more of the landscape.
his grand scheme also drove Egypt into bankruptcy.urope came in to protect, but under this protection they also built a self contained modern city in Ismalia and expanded it westward to the nile. Soon thereafter luxury developments spread along the nile. That is is the way it is today.
Home / Physical Landscape / History / Transportation / Issues / Future / Bibliography