This Handbook simultaneously provides a single text that narrates the Cairo of yesterday and of today, and gives the reader a major reference to the best of Cairo scholarship. Divided into three parts covering Histories, Representations and Discourses of Cairo, the chapters provide comprehensive coverage of Cairo from both a disciplinary and an interdisciplinary point of view, with scholars from a great range of disciplines. Part One contains chapters on the history of specific parts of the city to provide both a concise picture of Cairo and an appreciation for the diversity of its constituent parts and periods. Part Two of the book deals with the various forms of representations of the city, from high-end literature to popular songs, and from photographs to films. Finally, Part Three covers current discourses about the city, comprising historical reflections on the city from the present, surveys of its current condition, analysis of it serious urban problems and visions for its future. The Routledge Handbook on Cairo provides a unique and innovative look at the ever-evolving state of Cairo. It will be a vital reference source for scholars and students of Middle Eastern Studies, Middle East History, Cultural Studies, Urban Studies, Architecture and Politics.

Table of Contents:
Part 1: Histories 1.1. Cairo: The State of a City Nezar AlSayyad 1.2. Al-Qata’iʿ: A Lost City in Cairo – Revisited Tarek Swelim 1.3. Cairo as a Palace: Rituals of the Fatimid Caliphate Ayman Fouad Sayyid 1.4. Building Mamluk Cairo: The Capital of a Sultanate Omniya Abdel Barr 1.5. Coopting the Street: The Urban Character of Mamluk Architecture in Cairo Nasser Rabbat 1.6. 1340 Years of Cairo’s Medieval Necropolis Galila El Kadi 1.7. Policing Cairo in the Nineteenth Century Khaled Fahmy 1.8. Khedivial Cairo: The Genesis of the Modern City and the Prospects of its Downtown Soheir Hawas 1.9. Tahrir Square: The Roundabout and the History of Modern Cairo Mariam Abdelazim Part 2: Representations 2.1. The Skylines of Cairo: A Photographic Essay Karim Badr 2.2. The Earliest Images of Cairo’s Islamic Architecture Doris Behrens-Abouseif 2.3. Seeing Cairo Through Paris: Nineteenth Century Literary Observations by Egyptian Intellectuals Kinda AlSamara 2.4. Sayings and Songs: On the Intangible Culture of Cairo Ahmed O. El-Kholei 2.5. Cairo Through Her Eyes: Space and Gender Dynamics in Naguib Mahfouz’s Bayn Al-Qasrayn Mohammad Salama 2.6. The Judge, the Officer and the Demiurge: Figures and Figurations of Old Cairo Ann Madoeuf 2.7. Cairo on Film: The Modernity of a Cinematic City Nezar AlSayyad 2.8. Revolutionary Cairo: The City Still Remembers Dina Ezzat Part 3: Discourses 3.1. The Normalization of Hijab: Islamic Reveiling in Cairo Sherifa Zuhur 3.2. Informal Cairo: The Making of an Urban Fabric Ahmed M. Soliman 3.3. Cairo’s Desert Backyard: The Future of an Ever-Growing Metropolis? David Sims 3.4. (Re)Connecting with Wounded Spaces: Encountering Memory, Place and Narrative in Cairo’s Historic Landscape Gehan Selim 3.5. An Untold Urban Narrative: Transcending Gender, Culture and Modernity in Cairo’s Old Quarters Mohamed Gamal Abdelmonem 3.6. Rethinking Urban Transformations in Cairo: A View From ‘Middle’ Class Housing in al-Mohandiseen Khaled Adham 3.7. Government Visions: A Planner’s Perspective on the Remaking of Cairo Sahar Attia 3.8. The Transformation of Public Space in Post-Revolutionary Cairo: A Diary from Tahrir, 2011-2013 Mona Abaza