Declining red brick factories in Greater Cairo (Egypt)

Unveiling military-led urbanization through its productive peripheries

Bibliographic Data

ID24224924
AuthorsCorten Pérez-Houis (0000-0002-6970-3279, UMR Géographie-cités (Aubervilliers, France))
Year2026
Volume81
Issue1
Pages207-222
Publication date2026-03-19
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeographica Helvetica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0016-7312 • E-ISSN: 2194-8798
PublisherCopernicus GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.5194/gh-81-207-2026
OpenAlexW7138962469
LanguageEN
References cited49

In the context of demographic and urban growth, Cairo's urbanization is mainly approached in terms of housing and development. By focusing on the Egyptian capital from the point of view of one of its main building materials – red brick – this article calls for a politicization of the planetary urbanization theory and for better analysis of productive peripheries' diverse trajectories. Despite the omnipresence of this material in urban spaces, red brick production has been declining since the late 2010s. Using a qualitative methodology based on interviews conducted throughout the red brick supply chain and the analysis of satellite images, this article aims to examine the contemporary transformations of the Egyptian capital from its industrial peripheries. This round trip between brick factories and the city, centred on red brick, allows us to explore and politicize the entanglement between production practices, technical standards and planning policies, which underpin the capitalist and military-led urbanization of Cairo.

building materials · Deindustrialization · Greater Cairo · urban periphery · urban planning policy · Latin American Urban Studies · Urban Development and Societal Issues · Urban Planning and Governance

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