Egypt’s regime is reshaping the country's political landscape under the guise of 'sustainable development'. But such development is resulting in the forced eviction of ordinary Egyptians. Maria Gloria Polimeno reveals how the State is neglecting the dire consequences of its actions
On her recent visit to Cairo, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen confirmed the 2024 EU-Egypt partnership. The Egyptian government is using this, alongside the Italian government’s Mattei Plan, and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework, effectively to enact new policies forcing the eviction and dispossession of local communities in urban and extra-urban areas.
The government is evicting citizens from their homes to make way for luxury projects and road-building, schemes Egypt's government defines as 'for the public good'.
Their methods rely on a new approach to force. They reveal how Egypt’s political machine, no longer militarised in strictly purist terms, is reorganising the way it functions.
To better understand what is happening in Egypt, we should look at the government’s management of historic architecture and social culture – features that symbolise Egyptian identity. Of particular significance are the City of the Dead, a vast UNESCO-protected necropolis, and the social housing complex known as al-Asmarat.
The Egyptian government has been demolishing tombs in the City of the Dead to make way for new roads and infrastructure under its Vision of Egypt 2030 plan.
This has sparked outcry from Egyptian conservationists and local committees formed to protect the area's integrity. Naomi Klein calls practices that intersect industrialisation with neoliberalism ‘retail neoliberalism’. I argue that 'green retail neoliberalism' might be a more accurate description. 'Saher', a political writer and activist, told me that the State has zero tolerance towards protests against dispossession. When citizens resist eviction, he said, the police respond with forced detentions and violence.
Retail neoliberalism is not without risks to society and authority. 'There is a growing belief', said Saher, 'that development projects favour economic benefits — enriching only a tiny fraction of the population — over true social welfare. The government’s selling of land to business magnates for mega-projects and rather unsustainable fourth-generation cities, neglects residents in a sell-first-negotiate-later approach. Evictions in Dabaa, for example, have been particularly violent, leading to a major confrontation'.
The regime in Egypt often couches its arguments for development in the language of ecological protection — yet its motives are largely financial
When local bodies began to call for protection the City of the Dead, the government partially suspended demolition. Yet other areas, including a marina close to Alexandria, remain at risk of state-led redevelopment. In these cases, too, the regime claims it is pressing ahead with such projects for the benefit of nature and the environment.
In Egypt, the State often couches its arguments in favour of development in the language of ecological protection. The reality is that the regime's motives are financial and, above all, political. Its current policies are reshaping Egypt's brittle authoritarian regime. The IMF has imposed economic conditions on loans to expand the private sector and marginalise the State’s economic interference. Despite this, financial barriers have meant the private sector has struggled to grow.
In 2023, authorities ratified the demolition of so-called 'degraded areas' to make way for new roads that would help ease traffic congestion in the city centre. Its approach has changed since the 2011 collapse of Mubarak's regime.
Also in 2023, Egypt introduced Construction Violation Reconciliation Law No.187, which aims to legalise different categories of buildings. This new law protects 'ownership', but not private property if the State decrees development is 'for the public good.'
A new law in Egypt protects home 'ownership'. But that doesn't stop the State demolishing homes if it's 'for the public good'
Another local I spoke to, Nadine, explained how Egypt has been experiencing a severe financial crisis. Deep in external debt since the 1970s, the government's latest industrial plan has only exacerbated existing financial problems. In short, she added, Egypt urgently needs liquidity.
Nadine sees this new law as merely an excuse for the government to collect money. She told me that the government has failed to keep proper building records, making it impossible to establish which properties have been built illegally.
Asmarat is a residential complex in Cairo's Mokattam neighbourhood in which the Egyptian government is building thousands of social homes.
As part of its rhetoric of sustainable industrialisation, the regime has forcibly evicted many citizens from the Maspero area to Asmarat. According to Nadine, the government plans to redevelop the high-value land in Maspero. Its policy of forced evictions aligns with the Vision of Egypt 2030 plan, and is legitimised through the SDGs. The government appears to want to break up communities in Maspero. Indeed, it has followed displacement of Maspero citizens by 'securitising' downtown Cairo and Asmarat.
The Egyptian government is spending vast sums 'securitising' downtown Cairo while its citizens sleep rough on the streets
As a result, Nadine told me, Cairo — particularly Tahrir Square and downtown — is now thick with heavily armoured vehicles, alongside evicted people sleeping rough on the streets. These are things, said Nadine, that you would never have seen prior to 2013.
Forced evictions, relocation and the policing of public spaces are now commonplace under the guise of sustainable industrialisation. The government's approach is built on the premise that the more unstructured society becomes, the less risk its citizens pose to the regime's survival. This, however, is not a formula for long-term functioning of the State.
Insights from Nadine and Saher reveal how ordinary Egyptians are aware of what is happening. Their testimonies are evidence of the damaging consequences of green capitalism. This is not, as the government claims, 'economic emancipation', but a deep de facto reorganisation of State functioning.
For security reasons, conducting on-the-record fieldwork on this issue is impossible in Egypt. The author thanks Saher and Nadine for sharing their views.
Gloria has held teaching, supervision and research positions at a number of Russell Group universities, including the University of Exeter, SOAS, Queen Mary University of London and the University of Cambridge.
She has also held research positions as a Middle East expert on British Academy and ERC-funded projects.
Gloria holds a PhD in Middle East Politics from the University of Exeter, and is a nominated Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Egypt and the Rise of Fluid Authoritarianism: Political Ecology, Power and the Crisis of Legitimacy
Manchester University Press, 2024
