The green agenda in cities is about ensuring the natural ecosystems of land, water and air are
part of the city and its management. The brown agenda is about managing wastes, energy,
transport and buildings. This paper uses the case study of Cairo to illustrate how these two
agendas can be integrated and how town planning is necessary to facilitate this process.
There are few cities that have managed to bring both aspects of the environmental agenda into
any kind of coherent set of policies. Cairo is by no means a shining example of success but it
does show some promising signs. Cairo faces the very real struggles of a mega city to achieve
a better future for its inhabitants in light of its many environmental challenges in both the
green and brown agendas. Developing mega cities like Cairo may lag behind in providing
many aspects of the “developed city”, such as sufficient service provision, efficient
infrastructure and adequate housing for the population, but they are linking the green and
brown agendas in earlier stages of development. Indeed, in observing the successes and
failures of Cairo, there are lessons to be learned by all cities.