ABSTRACT
A private road will link it to Cairo’s road network, likely requiring the “cleansing” of the poor homeowners in the Jabal al-Ahmar area. Egypt’s military has a lengthy track record of forcibly evicting residents, sometimes using lethal force, in favor of private interests – but nearly always citing security as the reason. The Egyptian revolt is not usually discussed as an urban struggle, one that not only takes place in cities but also seeks to undo the very mechanisms that have produced Egypt’s uneven urban environment. The events of Tahrir Square were a protest against the extreme unevenness of development in Egypt, in which the state neglects the urban majority while providing concessions to Gulf investors and local entities linked directly to the military state apparatus. For the majority of Egyptians, cities have lost their vital role as places of economic possibility. Land is just one of many commodities monopolized by the military.
