Open AccessPOWER AND THE CITY. CAIRO AN ARENA FOR PROFIT, CLASSES DISPUTE OR POLITICAL PROPAGANDA?
Author(s) -
Sadek Saad
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of engineering applied science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2455-2143
DOI - 10.33564/ijeast.2021.v05i11.012
Subject(s) - authoritarianism , autocracy , political economy , politics , sociology , corporate governance , power (physics) , urbanization , political science , law , economic system , democracy , economic growth , economics , management , physics , quantum mechanics
The city can be seen as the end-product ofhuman civilisation, imposing various meninges, it can be anarena for political, economic, sociocultural and classesdisputes, imbedding authoritarian power, control anddiscipline.This study investigates the architectural and urbantraces of authoritarian power, control, and classes disputesin Cairo from around the end of the 18th Century until thefirst two decades of the 21st Century. The study adopts adescriptive and synthesis research method and approach byrelating significant authoritarian urban projects in Cairo topolitical, economic, and sociocultural forces in action.The traces of authoritarian power shifted from thecelebrative authoritarian architecture level before 1800 tomedium-scale urban monumental interventions after thesecond half of the 19th Century. After 1960 Cairo witnessedseveral shifts in authoritarian power representation,leading to massive urbanisation and new spectacularcapital. Cairo presented various power players shiftingnodes along with its urban governance network. The powershift was accompanied by authoritarian control, discipline,and political propaganda while adopting a colonial topdown autocratic urban process