The evolution of Power Structures in Cairo through the critical reading of the maps of the city. 
From Colonizing Egypt to colonizing the clouds.

 

I am trying to understand the connotations of power structures found in the maps of Cairo between a single authoritative/official set of analog maps and a subjective/individualistic set of digital maps. It raises the question of who draws the city? and whether digital maps could be a tool of creating a counter map that voices the individuals instead of the states?  

 

This investigation requires a thorough understanding of the changes in the medium of the production of the maps in the first place. The shift from a paper map commissioned by a state to mark territories and set boundaries to a digital crowd sourced-map produced by hundreds and millions of anonymous internet users is placed under a microscope. Internet maps gave users the chance to detect the flow of traffic or the best restaurants or even the areas of highest levels of sexual harassment represents the changes in the power structures drawing the city. 

 

This website works both as a data mining tool and a platform of sharing ideas and findings.  It is composed of three basic sections. Frist; a directory of all the available digital maps of Cairo. Second: a crowdsourced map that is open to the contributions of the cyber residents of the city. Third; ans online archive of the analog maps of Cairo.

 

Due to the expolrative nature of this research this website is always under construction.