Housing in Egypt
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File:Ard El Lewa, Imbaba, Giza Governorate, Egypt - panoramio.jpg
Even though mathematically more housing than needed is produced in Egypt resulting in millions of vacant homes,{{Cite web |date=2016 |title=Egypt Housing Profile |url=https://unhabitat.org/egypt-housing-profile |access-date=2022-12-18 |website=UN-Habitat}} large portions of its residents live in inadequate housing that may lack secure tenure, safe drinking water and wastewater treatment, are crowded or are prone to collapse, as better housing is widely unaffordable.{{Cite web |date=2016 |title=Overall Indicator of Deprivation in the Built Environment |url=https://10tooba.org/bedi/en/ |access-date=2022-12-18 |website=Built Environment Deprivation Indicator (BEDI) |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=Urbanization |url=https://www.progressegypt.org/en/topic.html#urbanization |access-date=2022-12-18 |website=Egypt Social Progress Indicators}} There is also a problem with homelessness especially amongst children.{{cite web |title=A new approach to Egypt's street children |url=http://www.unicef.org/sowc/egypt_30616.html |publisher=UNICEF}}
Egypt has also witnessed a number of urban disasters that have led to many deaths and mass homelessness, including the 1992 Dahshur Earthquake, the 1994 Floods in Upper Egypt, and the 2008 Duweiqa Rockslide, Cairo.
Efforts to address housing inequity date back by a century at least, ranging from designing model villages, to rent control, and building public and cooperative housing. Since the 1980s, housing policy in Egypt has focused on what was termed the 'housing shortage',{{Cite book |last=Hanna |first=Milad |title=الإسكان والسياسة |publisher=الهيئة المصرية العامة للكتاب |year=1996 |location=القاهرة |language=Ar}} a quantitative estimate of needed homes, to be solved by almost solely by building public housing estates in new towns in the vacant desert periphery of existing cities.{{Cite book |last=Sims |first=David |title=Understanding Cairo: The Logic of a City Out of Control |publisher=American University in Cairo Press |year=2010 |edition= |location=Cairo and New York |pages=Ch. 5&6}} This single dimensional approach to the problem has not been able to solve it, especially in the face of increasing deregulation of the housing market, spurring the commodification and finacialization of housing.{{Cite web |last=Shukrallah |first=Salma |date=2017-11-17 |title=Analysis: Government Policy Commodifies Housing |url=https://marsadomran.info/en/2017/11/1218/ |access-date=2022-12-18 |website=Built Environment Observatory |language=en-US}}
Housing Production
Egypt's residential construction involves three main sectors: The Informal Private Sector; individuals that usually self-built as well as contractors that build without a building permit on either agricultural land or formal sub-divisions - some of which is referred to as slums or
According to the latest statistics, Egypt saw 738,000 units built in 2020/2021 by its three major producers. The informal private sector produced 402,000 units comprising 54% of all units produced last year, leading the two other sectors by a wide margin. It was followed by the formal private sector, building 170,000 units, or 23% of the total. In close third place was the public sector with 167,000 units, also garnering 23% of total production.
Public Housing
It is a struggle for Egypt to keep up with housing needs due to its quickly increasing and existing population. For years, the state has taken it upon itself to provide housing for the poor but this has become unsustainable as it doesn't have the budget for this type of continued providence.{{cite book |last1=Piffero |first1=Elena |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sxh_M891b_YC&pg=PA86 |title=What Happened to Participation? Urban Development and Authoritarian Upgrading in Cairo's Informal Neighbourhoods |date=2009 |publisher=Odoya srl |isbn=9788896026182 |accessdate=3 November 2016}}pg 85
The minister of housing, Mustafa Madbouly, explained that "Egypt needs to build 500,000-600,000 new homes a year to keep up with demand, 70 percent of which should be aimed at the poor."{{cite news |last1=Noueihed |first1=Lin |last2=Georgy |first2=Michael |date=December 9, 2015 |title=Egypt to build one million homes for poor to help ease shortage: minister |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-housing-idUSKBN0TS14620151209}} The situation has been so dire that for years some Egyptians have resorted to living (and working) near and in the cemeteries. One such place is The City of the Dead in Cairo.
In July 2016, thousands of rental units were made available, as renting is easier than home ownership for many poor Egyptians. Three thousand rental units were made available in Suez.{{cite news |date=July 18, 2016 |title=Ministry of Housing offers 6,000 units for rent |agency=Daily News Egypt |url=http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2016/07/18/ministry-housing-offers-6000-units-rent/}}
The Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces is normally the authority tasked with building government-subsidized housing (Social Housing Program), as in the 6000 units that were built in Alexandria in 2016. Whether those efforts would work to make a real difference remained to be seen, with critics saying the poor wouldn't qualify for the units.{{cite news |last1=Farid |first1=Doaa |date=April 27, 2014 |title=Construction complete on 6,000 government-subsidised homes in Alexandria: Housing ministry |agency=Daily News Egypt |url=http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/04/27/construction-complete-6000-government-subsidised-homes-alexandria-housing-ministry/}}{{cite web |title=Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, April 2014 |url=https://consultations.worldbank.org/Data/hub/files/eipr._recommendations_for_social_housing_programme_english.pdf |website=Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights}}
= Subsidised Mortgage Programs =
The system for providing mortgages to low and middle-income citizens expanded in 2017.{{cite news |last1=Mounir |first1=Hossam |date=12 February 2017 |title=Mortgage companies participating in CBE initiative to finance low- to middle-income housing |agency=Daily News |url=http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2017/02/12/615183/}}{{cite web |title=Signing the Implementation Contract for German International Cooperation on Upgrading Infrastructure – 18th July 2018 |url=http://egypt-urban.net/signing-the-implementation-contract-for-german-international-cooperation-on-upgrading-infrastructure-18th-july-2018/ |website=Participatory Development Programme in Urban Areas}}
= Public-Private Partnerships =
In March 2014, a multibillion-dollar housing project was being discussed with Arabtec, a Dubai-based contractor,{{cite news |last1=Knecht |first1=Eric |last2=Smith |first2=Matt |last3=Al Sayegh |first3=Hadeel |date=October 8, 2015 |title=Egypt's stalled $35 bln housing scheme: big dreams to harsh reality |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/egypt-arabtec-idUSL3N1251KF20151008}}{{cite news |last1=Farouk |first1=Ehab |last2=Smith |first2=Matt |date=March 17, 2015 |title=Egypt, Arabtec near agreement on $40 bln housing project -govt |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/egypt-arabtec-housing-idUSL6N0WI2NV20150317}}{{cite news |last1=Carvalho |first1=Stanley |last2=El Dahan |first2=Maha |last3=French |first3=David |last4=Heneghan |first4=Tom |date=November 27, 2014 |title=Egypt housing project talks slowed by Arabtec board changes-minister |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/arabtec-egypt-housing-idUSL6N0TH0I820141127}} but was never implemented.
= Slum Clearance and Rehousing =
Housing needs are also addressed through loans. In 2015, the minister of housing said that part of the money from a $500 million loan to be received from the African Development Bank would go to social housing.{{cite news |last1=Knecht |first1=Eric |last2=King |first2=Larry |date=December 13, 2016 |title=UPDATE 1-AfDB approves $500 million loan payment to Egypt |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/egypt-afdb-loans-idUSL5N1E835F}} In 2016, it was reported that the Informal Sector Development Fund and Cairo Governorate would cover the costs of upgrading three slums in Cairo. A grant from the German Society for International Cooperation was also to contribute to the costs.{{cite news |date=January 3, 2016 |title=Ministry of Housing signs agreements to develop 3 informal settlements in Cairo |agency=Daily News Egypt |url=http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2016/01/03/ministry-of-housing-signs-agreements-to-develop-3-informal-settlements-in-cairo/}} Housing needs are also addressed through aid (grants) received from foreign governments. In a program that began on 28 August 2012 through 2018, the European Union earmarked 40 million Euros for the upgrading of the infrastructure of nine informal areas in and around Cairo, Giza and Qalyubia Governorates.{{cite web |title=Upgrading Informal Areas in the Greater Cairo Region |url=https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/8741/upgrading-informal-areas-greater-cairo-region_en |website=European Union External Action}}{{cite news |date=September 10, 2015 |title=EU provides €59 million of socio-economic support to Egypt |agency=European Union External Action |url=https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/neighbourhood/pdf/key-documents/egypt/20150910-memo-egypt-aap-2015.pdf}}
New Urban Communities
President Anwar Al-Sadat began addressing the overcrowding in cities like Cairo by mandating the establishment of new urban communities, as new towns or satellite cities. The first new city was 10th of Ramadan. The law (59/1979) initiated the building of new towns or cities through the Ministry of Housing affiliated developer the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), but over the years some of these new areas failed to reach their target populations- with Egyptians, for a variety of reasons, choosing to remain living in the old, overcrowded cities.{{cite journal |last1=Hegazy |first1=Ibrahim Rizk |last2=Moustafa |first2=Wael Seddik |date=June 2013 |title=Toward revitalization of new towns in Egypt case study: Sixth of October |journal=International Journal of Sustainable Build Environment |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=10–18 |doi=10.1016/j.ijsbe.2013.07.002 |doi-access=free}}
= Land Sales =
When NUCA has land available for sale, investors apply for it and provide a deposit. A lottery is held and those investors who did not get a plot are refunded their deposits by the Housing and Development Bank.{{cite news |date=December 29, 2016 |title=More Land Plots Available at 10th of Ramadan City in January |agency=Invest Gate News |url=http://invest-gate.me/news/more-land-plots-available-at-10th-of-ramadan-city-in-january/}} This method of land distribution can lead to speculation; investors believe they can make quick profits with resells. The repossession of land when projects are not completed is "rarely enforced" leading to empty lots and half-finished projects, as has been seen on 6th of October.
In 2016, the ministry reported a profit of EGP 22.2 bn, made by selling land and residential units.{{cite news |date=December 29, 2016 |title=The Ministry of Housing Achieves a EGP 22.2 bn Profit in 2016 |agency=Invest Gate |url=http://invest-gate.me/news/the-ministry-of-housing-achieves-a-egp-22-2-bn-profit-in-2016/}}
Housing in Egypt has become extremely commodified and financialized through foreign investments in real estate development. In March 2015, EGP 12.7 billion in contracts were in the works with Arab real estate developers constructing projects in New Cairo and 6th of October.{{cite news |last1=Farouk |first1=Ehab |date=March 15, 2015 |title=Egypt signs MOUs with developers for $12.7 bln in projects-minister |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/egypt-economy-investment-housing-idUSL6N0WH0E320150315}}
= Corrupt Land Deals =
During President Hosni Mubarak's time in office, land was sometimes sold by the ministry, much below market value, as in the case of the Madinaty project.{{cite news |last1=Rios |first1=Lorena |date=2015 |title=Egypt's Capital Mirage |agency=Roads and Kingdoms |url=http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2015/egypts-capital-mirage/}}
The bureaucracy involved in getting official building permits, and passing inspections on building projects enocurages average middle-class people to avoid the process. Paying petty bribes allows people to bypass regulations quicker.
Self-built/ Informal settlements
Some officials and experts view housing inequity as a geographic phenomenon, where according to the housing minister, as of 2015 between 40 - 50% of homes in urban areas were informal.
Statistically, over two thirds of housing built between 2008 and 2018 was informal. Though not all informal or self-built housing is inadequate or deprived of basic services. In 2016 one third of Egyptian households (34.1%) were found to be deprived from one or more of six quantifiable components that have been used to define adequate housing; affordability, durable housing, secure tenure, sufficient living space (crowding), safe water and improved sanitation.
Despite deprivation not being necessarily linked to geographic criteria, and despite many of the problems that could be addressed through the provision of services and policy change, most government projects have relied on slum clearance.
National Project to Upgrade the ashwaeyat (1993 - 2008)
Between 1993 and 2008, 'ashwaeyat were defined as "those [areas] difficult to control in terms of security because of their informal nature", according to a Parliamentary study outlining the first government project for the development of informal areas.{{Cite web |title=Government failure to upgrade informal settlements in Egypt: a brief history |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/government-failure-upgrade-informal-settlements-egypt-brief-history/ |access-date=2022-12-25 |website=openDemocracy |language=en}} This official interest after decades of self-built housing was a reaction to an urban disaster, the October 1992 Dahshur Earthquake that killed more than 560 people and left tens of thousands of families homeless; and a political disaster, the 'Republic' or 'Emirate' of Imbaba debacle where media exaggerated the social role played by Jama'a Islamiya after the earthquake in a working class district of Giza.{{Cite book |date=2009-10-15 |title=the Siege of Imbaba, Egypt's Internal 'Other,' and the Criminalization of Politics |url=https://academic.oup.com/cairo-scholarship-online/book/15449/chapter/170057305 |language=en |doi=10.5743/cairo/9789774162886.003.0005|last1=Singerman |first1=Diane |pages=111–143 |isbn=9789774162886 }}
The government's main aim was imposing state control on the forgotten informal areas through infrastructure projects like water, sewage, and roads, in 1201 areas it identified as informal, in addition to the demolition of 20 areas it decided unfit for development.
After 14 years—and the "development" of only a third of these areas according to the CAPMAS report—the definition of informal areas was changed and the national project quietly killed off.
National Project to Upgrade Unsafe Areas (2009- )
The death of more than 115 people after a rock-slide in Al Duweiqa district in Cairo in September 2008{{Cite web |last= |date=2018-09-07 |title=The Duweika Disaster Ten Years On – Part 1: Disaster and Aftermath |url=https://marsadomran.info/en/2018/09/1638/ |access-date=2022-12-25 |website=Built Environment Observatory |language=en-US}} led the government to focus on what they called “unsafe areas”. These were seen as endangering residents due to four different criteria: their presence in unstable cliff areas or flood zones, the buildings' pronounced state of disrepair, the presence of sources of pollution, or the absence of secure tenure.
The Infromal Settlements Development Facility (ISDF) was founded, producing a National Map for Unsafe Areas comprising 208,000 housing units in 404 unsafe areas and home to over 800,00 people.{{Cite web |title=Khalifa, M.A. (2011) Redefining Slums in Egypt Unplanned versus Unsafe Areas. |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S019739751000024X |access-date=2022-12-25 |website=Habitat International}}
Despite the drastic downsizing, only 14 percent (by unit number) of "unsafe areas" were "developed" by 2015, mainly due to inhabitants in most of the areas slated for development resisting the plans.
In early 2016, plans began for upgrading some of the slums in Cairo namely in Sayeda Zeinab, Mokattam, and Abdeen. In addition to government funding, the presidency affiliated Tahya Misr (Long Live Egypt) Fund charity contributed some funding.{{cite news |last1=Ismail |first1=Amina |last2=Noueihed |first2=Lin |date=June 30, 2016 |title=In Egypt, Sisi's star fades as problems pile up |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-sisi-idUSKCN0ZG2EI}} The fund's board of trustees included Basil El-Baz, Naguib Sawiris, Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, Mohamed al-Amin, Major General Mohamed Amin Ibrahim Nasr, and headed by Alaa Youssef.{{cite news |last1=Masriya |first1=Aswat |date=December 22, 2014 |title=Presidential decree appoints board of trustees of "Tahya Misr" fund |agency=Ahram Online |url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/118626/Egypt/Politics-/Presidential-decree-appoints-board-of-trustees-of-.aspx}} The first phases of Tahya Masr rehoused people living in slums, with 12,000 new units built.{{cite news |last1=Mourad |first1=Mahmoud |date=14 June 2016 |title=Egypt builds new homes to replace crumbling slums |work=Reuters |issue=Wider Image |url=https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/egypt-builds-new-homes-to-replace-crumbling-slums |accessdate=16 October 2018}}
Civil Society and Participatory Upgrading
In parallel to the government's projects that mainly rely on slum clearance, a number of grassroots initiatives that have received little government support,{{Cite web |title=Urban Initiatives - Tadamun |url=http://www.tadamun.co/urban-initiatives/?lang=en |access-date=2022-12-25}}{{Cite web |date=2015-07-08 |title=Parallel Urban Practice in Egypt |url=https://www.10tooba.org/en/?p=144 |access-date=2022-12-25 |website=10Tooba |language=en-US}} in addition to some aid agency projects have tried to address spatial inequities in certain areas through participatory planning. Below are some examples:
Hayy al-Salam, Ismailia Sites and Services project (1977-1984 ) USAID and Culpin Planning.{{Cite book |url=https://forbesdavidsonplanning.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Hai-els-alam-habitat-1994-complete.pdf |title=Hai el-Salam Sites and Services |publisher=UN-Habitat |year=1996}}
Home Improvement Microloans, Upper Egypt (1995- ), Better Life Association for Comprehensive Development (BLACD).{{Cite book |url=https://world-habitat.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Local-Housing-Mvt-report-6MB-1.pdf |title=Local Housing Movement Program, Egypt |publisher=World Habitat Awards |year=2014}}
Participatory Slum Upgrading at El Hallous and El Bahtini in Ismailia (2011). UNDP and GOPP.{{Cite book |url=https://forbesdavidsonplanning.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Ismalia-Documentation-Final-Report-03.08.2011-s.pdf |title=Participatory Slum Upgrading, Documented Experience from Ismailia, Egypt. |publisher=UNDP |year=2011}}
Maspero Parallel Participatory Project, Cairo (2013-2015). Maspero Residents' Guild, Madd, Ministry of Urban Renewal.{{Cite book |url=https://issuu.com/maddplatform/docs/maspero_parallel_participatory_proj |title=Maspero Parallel Participatory Project |publisher=Madd |year=2016}}
The Participatory Urban Development Programme in Cairo (2004-2018), Ministry of Housing, Utilities & Urban Communities (MoHUUC) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.{{Cite web |title=About » Participatory Development Programme in Urban Areas {{!}} GIZ Egypt |url=http://www.egypt-urban.net/1568/,%20http://www.egypt-urban.net/about/ |access-date=2022-12-25}}
Homelessness
Homelessness in Egypt is a significant social issue affecting some 12 million people in the country. Egypt has over 1,200 areas designated for irregular dwellings that do not conform to standard building laws, allowing homeless people to build shacks and other shelters for themselves.{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2015/01/egypt-homeless-poverty-corruption-sisi-winter-makeshift-home.html|title=Egypt's large homeless population suffering|date=25 January 2015|publisher=Al Monitor}}
Reportedly, in Egypt, homelessness is defined to include those living in marginal housing. Some scholars have stated that there is no agreed upon definition of homelessness in Egypt due to the difficulties government would face if an official definition were accepted.El-Sheikh, Tarek A. "HOMELESSNESS IN TEMPORARY/PERMANENT HOUSING CONCEPTS: QUESTIONING SUSTAINABILITY."
According to UNICEF, there are 1 million children living on the streets in Egypt.{{cite web|url=http://www.unicef.org/sowc/egypt_30616.html|title=A new approach to Egypt's street children|publisher=UNICEF}} Other researchers estimate the number to be some 3 million.{{cite web|url=http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/study-3-million-children-living-egypts-streets|title=Study: 3 million children living on Egypt's streets - Egypt Independent}} Homelessness NGOs assisting street children include those such as Hope Village Society, and NAFAS.{{cite web|url=https://www.homelessworldcup.org/partner/egypt/|title=Egypt - Homeless World Cup|publisher=Homeless World Cup}} Other NGOs, such as Plan International Egypt, work to reintegrate street children back into their families.{{cite web|url=http://www.planegypt.net/Details.aspx?ID=7XBBMmn7EAM%3d&Child=T|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804143040/http://www.planegypt.net/Details.aspx?ID=7XBBMmn7EAM%3D&Child=T|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 4, 2021|work=Street Children Program information, Plan Egypt|title=Plan Egypt dot Net}}