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This article puts into perspective the extravagant and wide-ranging planning projects undertaken by Egypt’s new leader, President Sisi, as part of the country’s longest territorial planning period. Yet this planning strategy is a continuation of the vision of President Sisi’s predecessors. Moreover, this article points out the risks of reproducing the pitfalls of past territorial policies, characterized by the continual expansion of the informal sector. The paper discusses (i) the launch of several mega-projects at the highest levels of the state without any involvement of second parties or transparency, (ii) the growing local acceptance of punitive/security-oriented urban planning since 2011, mainly in downtown Cairo, and finally (iii) the current situation of urban activists who sprung from the revolutionary movement of 2011, and who are caught in an ambiguous relationship with the new power. This leads us to ask whether an urban counterrevolution is currently underway.