Whether the motive is politics or profit, Cairo is in the midst of a construction boom that threatens what was already a commodity in short supply in Egypt — public and green spaces. Megaprojects such as a new capital city set to open this year have also severely strained the country’s budget and created the possibility Egypt will default on its foreign debt. When Omar Etman went to stay with his grandmother in Cairo in 2021, he was surprised by the changes he found — some small, some massive. 

In this episode: 

• Omar Etman (@thedigradio), producer of The Dig Presents: A Garden in Cairo
• Timothy Kaldas (@tekaldas), Deputy Director, Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by David Enders, Negin Owliaei and Malika Bilal. Alexandra Locke and Negin Owliaei fact-checked this episode.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik. Munera Al Dosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.

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