Living in Cairo exhausting, difficult -- even for Spider-Man

CAIRO — Crossing a street in Egypt's capital on foot is no easy feat: It often requires a quick scurry or sprint between vehicles that disobey road rules and rarely slow for pedestrians.

Yet walking across the street is only one in a mountain of daily challenges residents face in Cairo, one of the world's oldest and best known cities where the quality of life has drastically declined in recent years.

"Everything is going down, down — for the worse," said taxi driver Ahmed Abdel Aziz, 52.

Many Egyptians hoped the opposite would be true when they pushed a longtime leader out of power almost four years ago in an uprising that called for bread, freedom, social justice and human dignity. Today, however, pessimism, worry and frustration are the prevailing sentiments among many in greater Cairo, home to more than 19 million people.

In 2014, Cairo ranked 120 out of 140 for the world's most livable cities, a significant decline since its highest mark at 102 in 2007, when Economist Intelligence Unit first published its "Global Liveability Ranking."

The city is troubled by traffic knots, pollution, power outages, scattered trash, sexual harassment, time-consuming bureaucracy and limited employment opportunities that Cairenes say make living in Egypt's capital exhausting and difficult.

Moving from place to place alone can be draining. Buses and metro cars are frequently packed. Even Spider-Man is not immune from such hardships: A recent stunt meant to highlight how difficult life here can be — and to cheer up Egyptians — showed photos of the comic book hero having trouble getting a seat on the metro and catching the bus.

Road traffic is often unruly and dense, leading to frustrations and impacting the country's economy. Cairo's traffic congestion costs up to 4% of Egypt's GDP yearly in wasted fuel, health effects and impacts on economic productivity, the World Bank said in a recent report.

It is also deadly: About 12,000 are killed in road traffic crashes every year in Egypt, at a fatality rate of 42 deaths per 100,000, according to the World Health Organization. By comparison, 10.7 people were killed per 100,000 population in the United States in 2012, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

"When you drive on the road, you'll be surprised about all the things that appear in front of you," said bus driver Wael Fawzy, 34, who knows the dangers too well and blames them on problems with city infrastructure. "There are bumps, manholes, ditches and pedestrians who suddenly cross the street. You will be on a lane with three lanes and suddenly it will turn into two."

On and off the streets, women face rampant sexual harassment, which about 95% of female respondents to a survey said they have experienced, according to a July report by the Cairo-based organization Harassmap.

"There is always this threat, which is emotionally exhausting," said Noora Flinkman, marketing and communications manager at Harassmap, which digitally charts cases of sexual aggression. "It's a social epidemic and it has been for many, many years. It hugely affects women's lives."

Men and women share a slew of other hardships such as sporadic power outages and health concerns due to air pollution. Complaints are widespread over problems with unemployment — which decreased slightly to 13.1% in the third quarter of 2014 from 13.3% — and economic issues such as a decline in the tourism industry sparked by Egypt's 2011 uprising and a rise in fuel prices that affect millions of Egyptians.

Still, some Cairenes herald improvements since the election of former defense minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to the presidency in May.

"Life has gotten easier," said Saeed Abdo Georgi, who owns a furniture store. "Security is better, and people are optimistic now."

That sentiment doesn't jive with Ayad El-Ashry, who said most of the $14 to $21 he makes driving a taxi for up to 17 hours a day is used to cover fuel and living expenses.

"If anything were to happen, if I get in an accident or anything, I will spend everything I have," El-Ashry said. "I want to do other work, but I can't find other work. I don't have a proper house. I don't have a proper job."

El-Ashry drove through a Cairo neighborhood on a recent afternoon where scattered trash buzzed with flies on a sidewalk. Two children covered in dirt begged for coins. Behind them, plumes of dust kicked up in the whoosh of passing traffic.

Scenes like that are common in Cairo. For Islam Ali, in a district nearby, they are also disheartening. He burned incense inside the shop where he works to mask the stench of trash piled high on a road outside.

"Everyone hopes his country will be the best in the world, but when you see stuff like that — a problem like this garbage — you get disgusted," he said. "There is neglect, neglect of everything."