UN-HABITAT.:. Egypt | Activities | Strategic Urban Planning for Small Cities

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Strategic Urban Planning for Small Cities

Egyptian cities have grown fast in the past 30 years. This has led to the continuous formation of informal settlements on the periphery of cities. In the process, cities and villages have grown at a fast pace surpassing, in some cases, 800 per cent of its original footprint in 1985. This rapid urbanization has led to the loss of significant areas of prime agricultural land. The migration of the workforce seeking job opportunities has fuelled the expansion of cities. Primitive informal industries have flourished in poor migrant areas and a lack of basic urban services has led to environmental degradation.

Location:

Branch:

-	Regional Office for Arab States

Partner: Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development, Ministry of Economic Development, and Ministry of Local Development

Donor: Government of Egypt

Theme:

-	Land and Housing
-	Social Inclusion
-	Gender
-	Urban Development and Management
-	The Urban Legislation, Land and Governance Branch
-	Urban Economy and Financing Shelter

Cost: USD 7,500,000

Strategic Urban Planning for Small Cities Project Recognizing many cities in Egypt lack a vision for urban management, UN-HABITAT is supporting the General Organization for Physical Planning (GOPP) in preparing strategic urban plans for 50 small cities in Egypt whose population is less than 60,000. The project adopts a decentralized and integrated approach to address urban development and land management issues as well as identify urgent socio-economic and environmental concerns. The project has two main components, first, develop a strategic vision and second, enhance urban and land management. Developing the Strategic Vision is conducted through a participatory process, local and national stakeholders where they identify priority issues and actions. These action projects to improve housing conditions, urban services and local economy, provide a road map for developing the city for the next two decades. Enhancing urban and land management includes the training of local authorities in information management, strategic urban planning, land regularization, and urban administration. In addition, the project, by empowering local urban observatories will enable effective urban policy management. The project focuses on urban-rural linkages in order to develop small and medium rural enterprises; on sanitation issues including wastewater and solid waste management; and on improving the living conditions of slum dwellers. The project acknowledges the importance of governance, the needs of vulnerable groups and environmental issues as cross cutting themes that require special attention. The project was initiated in 2007 and is due to be completed in 2011.

Activities:
The main activities are:

Build the capacity of technical teams.
Prepare national shelter, BUS and LED policy papers.
Conduct national policy seminars.
Strengthen national and initiate local urban observatories.
Prepare strategic plans for 50 small cities.
Prepare detailed plans for development areas.

Results:
The achievements so far have included:

Local and national capacity strengthened to regulate integrated and participatory city strategic plans.
Physical administration and tenure security of villages enhanced.
National and local urban observatories strengthened.
Integrated urban development plans developed and implemented.