Inside Cairo's desert ghost towns

By Catriona Davies, CNN

Updated 1057 GMT (1857 HKT) December 20, 2011

A new housing development in New Cairo.
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A new housing development in New Cairo.
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A golf course for residents of the SODIC built compound 'Westown' is proving hard to keep alive, even before any residents have moved in to the compound.
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A golf course for residents of the SODIC built compound 'Westown' is proving hard to keep alive, even before any residents have moved in to the compound.
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A street cleaner removes sand from the roadside in New Cairo. Each week teams of workers shovel several tons of sand fromthe road network, most of which blows in from the surrounding desert.
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A street cleaner removes sand from the roadside in New Cairo. Each week teams of workers shovel several tons of sand fromthe road network, most of which blows in from the surrounding desert.
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The name of a new plot of desert land set to be developed to the west ofCairo is erected before any other work has taken place.
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The name of a new plot of desert land set to be developed to the west ofCairo is erected before any other work has taken place.
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