When the French arrived in 1798, Cairo was a rough rectangle with 3 separate, yet functionally connected communities: Cairo, the main city; Bulaq, the northwestern industrial suburb; and Misr al-Qadiman, the southwestern suburb. The open agricultural lands connecting the 3 cities began to experience great growth and resulted in creating one contiguous city while still retaining much of the religious, ethnic, and occupational group segregation. Land-use patterns remained mixed for many years before specialization emerged.
Industrialization during the 1900s began to increase land specialization and as the population grew those who were financially able moved from older sections of Cairo to new developments where there were more public amenities. This movement of people created a physical separation of economic classes, which had been much less apparent in Cairo's growth before the industrialization period.
The low Aswan Dam was complete in 1902 and began to define the shore of the Nile. The wealthy districts of Azbakiya, Ismailiyah, and Maydan Opera were then constructed amongst the farming villages and agricultural lands. New tree-lined boulevards, a racetrack, an opera house, and a sporting club were some of the entertainment facilities built for the pleasure of the wealthy at the expense of the rich Dealt soil.
Middle to upper income suburbs were created at Heliopolis, northeast of Cairo, and at Nasr City, south of Heliopolis. Heliopolis was built with financing from Europe and was modeled after the British Garden City, by architects using their understanding of Islamic architecture. It was known as the "oasis" for Cairo's well-to-do. Heliopolis experienced its greatest growth from 1880 to 1920. The tramlines built in 1898 were a great incentive for people to move to Heliopolis, as the ride to the center city took only 30 minutes. Nasr City, grew between 1914 and 1970 and was built as a independent city with many urban functions, including, commercial, recreational, industrial, governmental, educational, and residential.
The High Aswan Dam was financed in 1956 and permanently defined the Nile's shoreline, permitting great population growth on strips of land along the river. Exclusive royal palaces, gardens, and orchards were built as the demand for high-class districts. Today these shoreline developments are some of the most affluent residential sectors, many of which share the names of the villages they replaced. In the 1950s apartment buildings began to appear and most new structures were built of reinforced concrete rather than the traditional mud brick which had been used for centuries.
As the Nile River narrowed and stabilized the central business district navigated towards the river, where it is today. This movement shifted the central gravity of the city to the west and left the old eastern sections in great decay. As people left the deteriorating inner-core, the expansion of the city stretched Cairo 30 kilometers between the southwest edge at Giza near the Pyramids to the northeast edge at the airport in Heliopolis. From the northern suburb of Shubra to the southern industrial sector at Helwan the city spanned 40 kilometers.
Including all the new developments Cairo’s land mass included 450 square kilometers, 40% of which was desert in 1896. Although the physical expansion of Cairo has been substantial, an unequal number of people have been able to move to the new suburbs. In 1996 15% of the population lived in 40% of Cairo’s area. For example, the suburb of Heliopolis is 20% of Cairo's land mass, yet only 3% of the metropolitan population lives there.
