Cairo working for a greener future
A few years ago, in the mid 90’s Cairo’s boarders were not too far away from the River Nile, the obvious reason for this was because this is where the water resources could extend to. Cairo was large but overcrowded and after a while, the government needed to do something. Anywhere around Cairo that was not civilized by the tall buildings, homes, businesses, farm lands and water resources was just desert. The government decided to sell this land cheap to businessmen in order for them to invest in it, get water to reach out and urbanize it. One of these areas is now known as 6th of October city and is now a province.
It took several years for this area to urbanize, but has succeeded. 6th of October city has an industrial area and many of the businesses have pulled out to there. This has proceeded to building residential areas in order for people to also move out near to their work areas and live there as well. Since residential areas came to be, schools and educational institutes have also opened and branched out to this new part of Cairo. As a lot of us know, Cairo is a beautiful city and has its’ own charm but is highly polluted and has reached to an extent where it is too difficult to clean up. So far, 6th of October is being very cautious in avoiding such polluting.
Many of the residential areas here try to go as green as possible and plant trees and garden spaces around their neighborhoods. A lot of time and money is being invested in keeping areas around this area clean, around the streets there are large trash bins and rubbish trucks actually come pick the trash up! Buildings are being built to look pretty and organized. Roads are being taken care of and are much more organized and smooth that those in the older parts of Cairo. This has also minimized the traffic. This had been a new project to improve Cairo’s condition and a lot of effort is being put into keeping this area as beautiful as it. Hopefully, we can look back at it in 10 years and find it more successful!
Comments
I believe that the steps being taken in Cairo now to minimize traffic, care for roads, cleaning streets and "going green" is an important step that can help the city become more efficient and beautiful on the outside. I find it ironic though that you mention 6th of October as an impetus for this work. It seems that Cairo was built and lived in for years as a city of plenty with abundant resources which were as a result used up and unable to eventually sustain the growing population. On the other hand, 6th of October began as a desert where every resource such as water and food had to be worked for and carefully guarded. Now the formerly desolate land has more hope for beauty and environmental resourcefulness than the former land of plenty.
I believe that much of this contrast between the two cities is created by the attitude which people approach their lives with relationship to their surrounding environment. I might guess that Cairo was built and expanded under a population that believed its resources unending, setting the city up to take the beauty and environmental aspects of the city which should have been protected for granted. 6th of October is working to "avoid such pollution." People are not greedy, they are cautious.
This attitude characterizes the feeling of plenty which is traditionally stereotyped by the American people. This is of course a gross generalization, however, America was colonized as the land of plenty, with unending resources. Its people are raised with this attitude as well, being told to relate and rejoice in the "American" historical ideals of expansion and progress. With modern crowding in cities and the need to carefully watch natural resources, this traditional attitude is counterproductive to helping the United States work towards still retaining its historical pride while recognizing that modern circumstances call for environmental reserve.
Perhaps if America could be inspired by its own 6th of October, it would help people to appreciate and protect the resources that they have.
Posted by: Shannon McClintock | April 27, 2009 10:09 AM
I am very excited that cities like this are now looking towards the future prior to development. So many times it has been proven that with a little extra money and effort spent in the beginning, the huge problems that came later could have been avoided, or at least lessened a great deal. The most prominent example I can think of has to do with safety. Taking precautions even when you don’t know if anything bad is going to happen could save your life. Taking steps to preserve what we know is invaluable to life on this planet ensures our own survival.
Posted by: Rebecca | April 27, 2009 12:35 PM
It is always better to go greener and think about the future of the environment. What are the consequences of our consumption today and what are the effects that they will ultimately have in the future? Many times increased urbanization is not always the best way to go in search of a greener future because the costs on the environment are often greater. With more space being made in the cities it is likely that more people will be drawn in and there will be an even greater population than before.
I guess that it does not always work out this way, but I think that if we focus on reducing the consumption and creating more effective waste disposal or recycling, in the areas that are already urbanized, rather than setting our sites on creating more space to do basically the same thing, we will have ultimately more worthwhile outcomes in the long run.
Posted by: Natalie Carpenter | April 27, 2009 12:36 PM
This is truly good news that the new province is making great efforts to stay clean and green. For big cities like Cairo, Mexico city, and other heavily polluted urban centers, I don't know what can realistically be done except small changes that will hopefully add up.
Posted by: Enwis | November 23, 2009 11:53 AM