Regenerating Khedival Cairo: tourism gentrification in the nexus of state-led regeneration and real estate entrepreneurship

Maria Gravari-Barbas and Lamiaa Abudief Zied

Chapter 11 in Handbook on Tourism Gentrification, 2025, pp 183-200 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: In the first decades of the 21st century, the government of Egypt prioritised developing downtown Cairo along with other strategic areas for future development. Initially, the heritagisation of Khedival Cairo was backed with the partial implementation of neoliberal policies in Egypt, aimed at creating a new image for the decayed Belle Époque district in the centre of Cairo city. With the establishment of the new administrative capital and Egypt Sovereign Fund in 2018, however, the state has become a major player in the Khedival Cairo regeneration project. The modern heritage of downtown Cairo is being redefined considering the adoption of state capitalism, expressed by new privatisation policies and the repercussions of placing heritage assets owned by the state on the market for sale or rental. Due to its potential as a revitalised commercial, residential and cultural centre, downtown Cairo has attracted the attention of foreign investors and real estate developers, such as Al-Ismaelia Company for Real Estate Investments. The interest in downtown Cairo's bygone "golden days" has spurred both parties’ revitalisation plans. The objective is to attract investments, tourism consumption and competitiveness to enhance economic growth. Heritagisation is therefore used both as a vague slogan designed to “modernise” the district rather than preserving the area's tangible and intangible distinctive heritage character, as well as a vehicle for tourism development. The chapter examines the role of central government and entrepreneurial real estate developers in ambiguous heritagisation processes. It demonstrates that heritage preservation and urban regeneration in Khedival Cairo are prototypical examples of private-led and state-led processes, in which heritage is commodified as a financial asset.

Keywords: Khedival Cairo; Tourism gentrification; Al-Ismaelia Company for Real Estate Investments; State-led regeneration; Entrepreneurial city; Urban heritage preservation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035327348
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