In last weekend's Review section, there was a beautifully-
written study of the diverging property sector of Cairo
by Ursula Lindsey. One one side are the
ashwa'iyat
- the informal slums that are home to as many as 10 million people - and on the other side are the "exclusive new private developments, with names like country clubs or bad discos - Utopia, Le Reve, Dreamland, Qattamiya Heights, Palm Hills, Belle Ville - and slogans like 'The Egypt of My Desires'".
Ms Lindsey writes: "Cairo's future, it seems, lies outside the city's boundaries, in the desert - where it can be built from scratch. Today the outer edges of the city are one vast construction site, full of subdivisions where empty million-dollar villas stand among the sand dunes, and giant gated communities that promise a luxurious escape from Cairo's pollution and friction."
