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    Alexandria: Linear City: Rental Car Tour: ALEXANDRIA 1

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    Kandarp Rajyaguru
    Alexandria is a linear urban area approximately 100 miles long situated along the Mediterranean coast. It developed as a suburb of Cairo to the east but also functions as an exurb for weekend visitors from the capital city. The urbanization stretches west from the dense core city of Alexandria in a narrow ribbon no more than 3 miles wide, becoming less developed toward El Alamein, where the North African campaign of World War 2 ended. Informal and illegal high-rise housing makes up much of Alexandria's expansion from the 1960s-1980s as rural migrants arrived with few resources. Beyond this lies the core city center with its iconic waterfront corniche road.

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    Alexandria: Linear City: Rental Car Tour: ALEXANDRIA 1

    Uploaded by

    Kandarp Rajyaguru
    57 views7 pages
    Alexandria is a linear urban area approximately 100 miles long situated along the Mediterranean coast. It developed as a suburb of Cairo to the east but also functions as an exurb for weekend visitors from the capital city. The urbanization stretches west from the dense core city of Alexandria in a narrow ribbon no more than 3 miles wide, becoming less developed toward El Alamein, where the North African campaign of World War 2 ended. Informal and illegal high-rise housing makes up much of Alexandria's expansion from the 1960s-1980s as rural migrants arrived with few resources. Beyond this lies the core city center with its iconic waterfront corniche road.

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    Linear City

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    Alexandria is a linear urban area approximately 100 miles long situated along the Mediterranean coast. It developed as a suburb of Cairo to the east but also functions as an exurb for weekend visitors from the capital city. The urbanization stretches west from the dense core city of Alexandria in a narrow ribbon no more than 3 miles wide, becoming less developed toward El Alamein, where the North African campaign of World War 2 ended. Informal and illegal high-rise housing makes up much of Alexandria's expansion from the 1960s-1980s as rural migrants arrived with few resources. Beyond this lies the core city center with its iconic waterfront corniche road.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    57 views7 pages

    Alexandria: Linear City: Rental Car Tour: ALEXANDRIA 1

    Uploaded by

    Kandarp Rajyaguru
    Alexandria is a linear urban area approximately 100 miles long situated along the Mediterranean coast. It developed as a suburb of Cairo to the east but also functions as an exurb for weekend visitors from the capital city. The urbanization stretches west from the dense core city of Alexandria in a narrow ribbon no more than 3 miles wide, becoming less developed toward El Alamein, where the North African campaign of World War 2 ended. Informal and illegal high-rise housing makes up much of Alexandria's expansion from the 1960s-1980s as rural migrants arrived with few resources. Beyond this lies the core city center with its iconic waterfront corniche road.

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    ALEXANDRIA: LINEAR CITY

    FAST FACTS
    Metropolitan Area Population

    3,800,000

    Urban Area Population

    3,500,000

    Urban Land Area: Square Miles


    Urban Land Area: Square Kilometers
    Population per Square Mile
    Population per Square Kilometer
    *Continuously built up area

    113
    293
    31,000
    11,950

    Similar To
    Phoenix, Montreal, Melbourne,
    Rome
    Detroit, Guangzhou, Athens,
    Berlin
    Canberra, Madison, Orleans,
    Abidjan
    Tangier, Caracas, Guangzhou,
    Maputo

    A City of History
    Few cities can compare to the history of Alexandria. The long-gone lighthouse is one of the
    seven wonders of the ancient world. There was also ancient biblioteque (library), which has seen
    a modern resurrection in the new facility along the Mediterranean shoreline.
    Linear City
    If one were to drive from one end of the Alexandria area to the other, the distance would
    approach 100 miles. From the east, the first 35 miles would be in the urban core. At its widest
    point, the urbanization is three miles. The Mediterranean Sea is to the north and a lagoon is to the
    south for most of the distance. The final 65 miles, toward the west, is a narrow strip of
    development no more than one-half mile wide.

    Rental Car Tour: ALEXANDRIA

    On the Road to El Alamein


    Alexandria is a linear urban area that could be characterized as on the way to El Alamein. El
    Alamein is the location of the battlefield where in 1942, Allied forces, those of British Empire,
    defeated the armies of Germany and Italy, lead by General Rommel. Today El Alamein contains
    a military museum and three impressive military cemeteries, Allied, German and Italian. El
    Alamein was virtually the end of the Axis North African campaign, as its armies retreated to
    Libya and then back to Europe.
    Today, El Alamein is the end of Alexandrias development. From El Alamein, a thin ribbon of
    urbanization stretches all the way to central Alexandria, approximately 70 miles to the east.
    Much of the western extension to El Alamein consists of second homes and resorts. There are
    many multi-story, multi-unit buildings as well as detached residences. As the distance expands
    from the more developed city, the waters of the Mediterranean Sea become a more azure tropical
    color.
    While these developments are strictly suburbs of Alexandria, they might be as accurately
    described as exurbs of Cairo, due to the influx of weekend and summer visitors from the capital,
    little more than 100 miles away. The only break in this strip of development is a reserve for a
    waterway that could serve an eventual hydroelectric project to generate power by moving water
    from the Mediterranean Sea to the Qattara Depression. The Qattara Depression is more than 400
    feet below sea level (lower than Californias Death Valley, at minus 282 feet).
    Eventually, however, the attractive second home developments give way to informal housing
    similar to developments in the Cairo area. Even closer to Alexandria, the development is linear.
    For most of the remaining distance to the core, the development is less than two miles wide, and
    does not exceed 3.5 miles. Much of the more highly developed city is located on a barrier
    peninsula, to the north of a lagoon.
    Alexandrias Informal Housing
    Like elsewhere around the world, Alexandria has experienced a large influx of people from rural
    areas. The new residents have come with few financial resources and the available government
    programs have been insufficient to meet the need, as has been the case in virtually all developing
    world urban areas (developing world urban areas have faced similar difficulties).
    Informal housing was built principally from the 1960s through the 1980s. It continues nearly to
    the urban core. The informal housing is considerably different from the favelas of Brazil or the
    shantytowns of other Latin American nations. Alexandrias informal housing is generally has
    high-rise --- illegal housing built of brick and concrete that may rise to five or more stories.
    Many buildings show evidence of partial construction even higher and others have not been
    completed. The streets are extremely narrow, at less than 10 feet wide. There are few, if any
    arterial streets. The exterior construction of the informal housing appears to be very regular and
    certainly looks sturdier than informal housing in Latin America.

    Rental Car Tour: ALEXANDRIA

    Alexandrias Core
    Beyond the informal housing is the core of Alexandria. The business center is very dense with
    generally narrow streets. However, a very wide and attractive street, the Korniche abuts the
    Mediterranean for approximately 10 miles. On the south side of the Korniche there is high rise
    housing that is generally attractive and presumably expensive.

    Rental Car Tour: ALEXANDRIA

    Desert Road: Cairo to Alexandria

    Entering Alexandria

    Exurban Shopping Center

    Alexandria

    Korniche

    Rental Car Tour: ALEXANDRIA

    Korniche

    Korniche

    Core Alexandria

    Market Day
    Port Area

    Core
    Alexandria

    Church, Alexandria

    Western Suburbs

    Rental Car Tour: ALEXANDRIA

    Northwest Coast

    Western Suburbs

    Northwest Coast

    Northwest Coast

    Rental Car Tour: ALEXANDRIA

    Northwest Coast

    Northwest Coast

    Northwest Coast

    Northwest Coast

    Northwest Coast

    El Alamien Museum

    Biblioteque

    Biblioteque

    Rental Car Tour: ALEXANDRIA

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