A friend of mine from the University of Konstanz connected me to friends of his who are in Cairo currently. One of them, I met at a Community Market today. She works in 'informal' nighborhoods. That are neighborhoods where people built their homes on land that does not belong to them. Often, that is state-owned land, land designated for agriculture, or cemeteries. However, I had to laugh heraing the term 'informal' ('informell'). What is formal in Egypt? Surely, I have not understood many of the behavioral formalities. But even making the distinction seems to be a futile attempt. Are the gardens or the animal shacks on the sidewalk formal or informal? Are the street vendors' shops that block the way of the pedestrians? Are the private mini-bus lines that seem to compete with official lines? Are the car repairs that barely keep it in one piece? Are opening hours that usually seem to differ from those on the sign? Are traffic laws nobody obeys?
Why even bother creating such distinctions in a city where order is more relative than in many other cities? In which cases is this distinction held up? Does it have anything to do with the fact, that many informal neighborhoods are populated by the poorest of the poor? (While others cannot be distinguished from any other neighborhood...)
Why even bother creating such distinctions in a city where order is more relative than in many other cities? In which cases is this distinction held up? Does it have anything to do with the fact, that many informal neighborhoods are populated by the poorest of the poor? (While others cannot be distinguished from any other neighborhood...)
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