Slums are a global phenomenon that exists in most societies. It began as an urban phenomenon, but they cannot be separated from the social and economic conditions of the state. Egypt is one of the most prominent countries that are facing serious housing and informal settlements issues.
Slum in Cairo, Egypt.
The Growing Crisis
In a recent report, the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that the number of slums in Egypt was over 1,000, with more than 300 of them in Greater Cairo. These numbers have sharply increased, especially after the construction of more and more slum areas due to the increased lawlessness and diminishing security that have accompanied the political turmoil in Egypt over the past four years.
With a population growing at a rate of approximately 2 percent per year, Egypt is faced with an urbanization crisis, as many of its cities find themselves increasingly overcrowded. The most visible symptom of Egypt’s urbanization problem has been the lack of low-income and social housing available across the country. The housing ministry has estimated that 500,000 new homes need to be built every year for five years to keep pace with the expanding population and to address the estimated backlog of 3 million housing units.
Causes of Slum Growth
Egypt's slums exhibit a complete lack of urban planning and building control. Several factors have contributed to the proliferation of slums in Egypt:
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- Neoliberal Policies: The social policy adopted by late president Gamal Abdel Nasser, providing low-cost housing for the underprivileged, prevented the rapid growth of slum areas, but the effects of neoliberalism associated with the policies of presidents Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak were detrimental, and the housing sector became dependent on home-ownership rather than rental properties.
- Informal Economy: A major issue facing Egyptians is that the informal economy has reached what many analysts describe as an unmanageable level. “Small, illegal developers have found they make a lot of money from-low cost housing,” says Yehia Raafat, a partner at Egypt’s Raafat Miller Consulting.
- Crime and Lawlessness: Within these inner-city slums in major metropolitan hubs, such as Alexandria and Cairo, crime and lawlessness have emerged as major side effects of this increase in informal housing. Petty and major crimes have become widespread as local gangs strong-arm residents and illegal developers.
- Lack of Infrastructure: Slums in Cairo Governorate lack basic facilities such as electricity, water, and sanitation.
- Government Policies: Government policies in the 1960s and 1970s were instrumental in creating a gap between supply and demand in the housing market, leading to an increase in the size of informal settlements.
The high levels of poverty in Egypt are seen as an indirect cause of political unrest. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi currently enjoys widespread support from poor urban communities, but these very communities also played a significant role in the large anti-government protests against both the Mubarak and Morsi governments.
A family living in the slums sits in front of their shack, escaping the heat wave.
Most of the residents of these informal areas are below the poverty line, earning less than $3 per day. Zeinab, 14, lives in the Bahr al-Bakkar slum working with her father in his small workshop making pottery. Old women sit in front of their houses selling homemade food, while younger women work as housekeepers and babysitters in richer neighbourhoods. The children loiter in the streets looking for something to eat or a simple job to do for a pound or two.
Government Initiatives and Solutions
Egypt's government set a new timeline for the completion of public and middle-income housing units, according to a cabinet statement in April. The statement went on to say the government has committed to delivering about 300,000 housing units by the end of 2016.
To house some of Egypt’s poorest, the government has opted for a series of slum redevelopments. The state has provided many successful models in developing slums. About 2 million citizens benefit from it, with a total of 246 thousand housing units, at a cost of 63 billion pounds, with 33 unsafe areas of the first class, 269 unsafe areas of the second class, 34 unsafe areas of the third class, and 21 unsafe areas of the fourth class.
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The government have paid special attention to the socio-economic dimensions of the lives of slums’ dwellers, especially women and children. Activities included: free health care, literacy classes, as well as providing training to ensure decent work opportunities. In addition to creating job opportunities. This initiative contributed to reducing the negative impacts of COVID-19 Crisis as it served in narrowing the gap between rural and urban areas to ensure geographical equity.
Some key strategies include:
- Public-Private Partnerships (P.P.P.): Better utilisation of the public-private partnership (P.P.P.) model. The private sector has been reluctant to develop low cost housing but could be enticed if it co-developed the property with the government with various incentives offered.
- Land Allocation: Unlocking large plots of land across the country.
- Procurement Methods: Changing the procurement methods of large housing projects. Contracts are currently being awarded on a build-only basis.
- Foreign Investment: Seeking foreign investors: this model is currently being applied in Bahrain where contractors from China, South Korea and Europe are being invited to serve as investors.
The provision of accessible and affordable housing is pivotal to Egypt’s rapidly growing population, not only to help meet the growing housing gap for low- to middle-income citizens, but also to help curb and eliminate the informal settlements.
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Case Study: The Asmarat Project
During the last decade, Egypt has witnessed a new development in addressing the issue of informal settlements: the establishment of new urban communities as alternative areas for rehousing those living in slums. This paper analyzes the Asmarat area as the most prominent governmental project in this regard.
The Asmarat area in the Mokattam neighborhood was chosen for the study; it is one of the government’s most prominent urban development projects launched in the last decade to provide alternative housing for relocated residents from a number of informal areas selected by the government for demolition.
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The project was established on an area of 11 feddans and consists of 25 residential buildings, each building has 12 floors and each floor contains 4 residential units with an area of 90 meters with an electric elevator for each building. 32 housing units of them have been allocated for people with special needs. Ramps and wide doors were made specially for them. An electrical network and 1121 electricity meters for residential and administrative units, a water supply network, a 1,100 cubic meter tank to serve the project, two sewerage and rain networks were established. There is also a fire network for all residential, administrative and service buildings. 4 water wells to irrigate green areas were established as well.
A shopping mall and 84 stores of various sizes were built so as to provide job opportunities for the residents of the region. A primary school with a total of 28 classrooms was fully finished and equipped.
The project cost 700 million pounds, and included 34 buildings, each building containing 12 floors, and each floor containing 4 units, for a total of 1,632 residential units. The first phase consists of 16 five-storey buildings having a total of 816 residential units.
The alternative-housing project is also earthquake-resistant, given it lies 11 meters above the surface of the rest of the area. The second phase is being implemented in the Fatimid architectural style.
Egypt advanced in global indicators after the extent of its achievement in developing slums, according to the World Bank’s classification of Egypt in the “slum population as a proportion of urban population” index.
The study area: Al-Asmarat neighborhood
Types of Areas:
- Unsafe areas: represent 1% of the urban cluster in cities.
- Areas that are dangerous in the 1st degree
- Areas that are dangerous in the 2nd degree: Inadequate housing.
- Areas that are dangerous in the 3rd degree: Areas that threatens public health.
- Areas that are dangerous in the 4th degree: Areas with unstable tenure.
- Unplanned areas: represent 37% of the urban cluster in cities.
Challenges and Future Directions
An inability by the government to build fully integrated communities outside of the city-and lure current low-income earners from the main urban cities-will also mean that prime real estate across cities such as Cairo and Alexandria will fail to attract both local and foreign investors. Foreign direct investment is an important component of Egypt’s plans to improve the economy.
For the time being, Cairo has maintained its commitment to press ahead with the New Capital City. However, the task of building a new city and pursuing a strategy of de-urbanization is not only a matter of constructing more housing units. The government must ensure that new developments include proper services, such as health, education, and other public facilities and adequate transportation to give communities an opportunity to thrive and prevent them from degenerating into worse slums.
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