OLD BUILDINGS ARE ...

Amazing, Beautifull, Constructed, Dreams, Ephemeral, ....... Valiant, Wonderfull, Xtraordinary, Y Zen destroy them?

1900bp stands for 1900 Buildings Preservation


This blog was set up as a device to launch a campaign against the often conscious and deliberate destruction of some amazing old buildings that are part of our common human heritage.

10.23.2007

Cairo GGG (part III)


The Effect of the Absence of Urban Planning on Pollution in Cairo


The dwellers of densely packed districts, such as Mohandessin, Shobra, Ain Shams and others must realize the fact that their lives are in direct danger. The dust alone that is carried into Cairo from the desert makes it unsuitable to live in according to experts. Add to that the fact that factories are built in urban areas, rice straw is burned yearly (following the instructions of the Ministry of Agriculture) causing a "black cloud" to hover over the city for weeks. According to the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, 15,000 to 20,000 deaths per year in Cairo are attributable to pollution-related causes (and we all know 'official' means multiply by two). In summer, while Cairo's more affluent move around in cool, air conditioned cars, sipping their warm cappuccinos, Cairo's lesser fortunate suffocate to death due to poor ventilation in overcrowded housing that also causes water shortages, poor or absent sewage, all exacerbating the heat waves that constantly drain the weak. We haven’t even started discussing vehicular traffic, which of course increases rapidly as the city grows. Instead of spreading out horizontally, Greater Cairo is growing vertically and the increasing number of vehicles are all circulating in a very limited radius. The dire consequences of the inconceivable number of cars puffing black smoke in our faces day in and day out must be made clear to everyone. Awareness must be raised, and problems must be solved from their roots. The buildings simply cannot keep getting taller! We cannot have more and more people crammed into the already overpopulated districts. Spread out, make space, leave the few small buildings alone, architectural heritage or not.

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