The need for a new approach : analysis of the built environment of informal settlements and public housing policy in Egypt

Abstract

Rapid urbanization in Egypt has brought on excessive demand for urban housing . The government agencies' attempt to satisfy this demand by the conventional means of public housing since the early 1960's has a mounted only to less than 7% of the urban housing stock. In contrast to this, the informal sector has been efficient in providing housing for those who are caught between the public housing projects and the expensive private sector market. It is estimated that the population of the informal settlements doubles every ten years and that informal housing constitutes 75% of the urban housing stock in Egypt. This thesis will concentrate on a documentation of the evolution of informal settlements, broken down into items and illustrated by narratives reconstructed from interviews. Then the process documented will be compared with the public housing policies in order to identify the gaps between those policies and the role the informal sector plays, outlining the feet that broad, generalized policies are, at most, inadequate, and that future policies should pay more attention to the specific characteristics of the informal sector. Those characteristics may differ according to context. The results of this comparison can be the basis for future recommendations and can also be integrated into established housing practices.