[Excerpt: I. Background: Mona Serageldin]

“The involvement of architects and planners with housing for lower income groups began in the 50’s and 60’s when national governments in the post colonial era embarked on slum eradication programs. Slum dwellers were to be rehoused in public housing estates. To the designers of these first projects, the overriding concern was decent shelter and sanitary conditions and not affordability. That their vision was influenced by prevailing international norms was the natural outcome of their professional training. Their failure to foresee the implications of demographic and economic trends over the next 2 decades invalidated their approach. Their efforts were overwhelmed by population growth, surplus labor, and an influx of rural migrants which could not be checked.

“Throughout the 60’s housing shortages increased and slums proliferated. Frustrated authorities turned to legislative controls, a politically expedient short-term remedy. The longer term impacts were devastating. Stringent controls accelerated the deterioration of the regulated stock, distorted private production, undermined the tax base, hampered residential mobility and warped occupancy patterns.

“The low cost shelter solutions advocated in the 60’s and 70’s produced a variety of expandable core housing prototypes to meet the needs of the urban poor. They were valid models in parts of Africa and Asia where the process happened to coincide with local practices as in Khartoum and Dakar. Elsewhere, the lack of enthusiasm among housing authorities for these approaches stemmed from an accurate perception of their unsuitability as a housing solution for the middle classes, the only client group of political consequence. Leverage and funding from international agencies launched projects in many countries which otherwise might have never experimented with minimal shelter programs. The improvements provided were on a scale too small to be meaningful in relation to the magnitude of the problem or noticeable in the midst of sprawling chaotic cities. By the mid 70’s their demonstration effect had lost its significance.”

“The shock waves in world economics and the resultant movements of labor and capital transformed the character of urban growth throughout the third world. By 1981, 15 million expatriate workers funneled between 25 and 35 billion dollars of foreign exchange back to their home countries. As the bulk of these remittances found their way into real estate, the urbanized area of cities doubled or tripled in extent shaped by uncontrolled housing construction on an unprecedented scale. Functionally defective and aesthetically chaotic environments became the dominant feature of cities, those annual rate of expansion of 4% to 7% outstripped the capacities of municipalities to provide urban services. As a result, their efficiency was impaired and there has been a sharp deterioration in the quality of life.”

“World Migration Report,” Background Papers on Displacement, Migration and Resettlement in MENA (Middle East and North Africa), International Organization for Migration, 2014

“Migration, Remittances and Housing in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Study on Senegal, Kenya, and South Africa, with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), 2007-2008

“Migration, Remittances and the Empowerment of Women in Central America and the Andean Region,” for PROMESHA, Lund University, 2007-2008

“Habitat III Regional Report for the Arab Region,” for UN-Habitat (ROAS) and United Nations (ESCWA), 2015-2016

“National Urban Strategy for Governorates in Iraq,” Development Strategy for Phase II of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Iraq Ministry of Planning Local Area Development Programme (LADP II), 2014-2018

“National Urban Policies in Arab States,” Regional Assessment and Case Studies on NUPs in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, 2014

UN-HABITAT Spatial Regional Plan and Assessment for the Kurdistan-Iraq Region Housing Program, 2014

“Inclusive Cities and Access to Land, Housing, and Services in Developing Countries,” Urban Development Series: Knowledge Papers, February 2016, No. 22. World Bank’s Social, Urban, Rural & Resilience Global Practice, 2016

“Basic Services for an Urbanizing World,” Third Global Report on Local Democracy and Decentralization (GOLD III, UCLG). Chapter on “Middle East and West Asia” by Mona Serageldin, I2UD, 2013

World Bank MNA Urban Action Plan – Policy and Strategy Papers: “The Evolving Regional Urban Agenda: Key Challenges and Opportunities,” & “From Spring to Renaissance: Repositioning the Arab Cities,” 2013

“GCC Regional Spatial Strategy – Elements and Considerations,” Urban Development Plan, UN-Habitat Gulf States Regional Office Workshops, 2013

State of Arab Cities 2012 UN-Habitat Report & Conference – “Challenges of Urban Transition: Municipal Management and Urban Development Conference For Sustainability in Arab States,” Kuwait, May 2012

“Comprehensive Plan for Makkah, Madinah and Mashaer,” Urban Development Strategy for Ancient Holy Sites in Saudi Arabia, 2009

Executive Training Course 2006: “Strategic Planning for Sustainable Infrastructure Development,” Workshop Curriculum with Case Studies, Pretoria, South Africa, 2006

“Development Corridors and Urban Development Strategies” and “Slum Improvement Strategies and Social Inclusion,” Presentations by Dr. Mona Serageldin, 11th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, São Paulo, Brazil, 2004

“Migratory Flows, Poverty and Social Inclusion in Latin America,” Research Report by Dr. Mona Serageldin with Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), 2004

“Community-Based Urbanization and Favelas Rehabilitation Processes,” Case Study in Academy Editions, “The Architecture of Empowerment: People, Shelter and Livable Cities,” for Fortaleza, Brazil, 1997

“Review of Ongoing USAID Shelter Sector Activities in Morocco,” Report by Dr. Mona Serageldin with ICMA, TSS Inc. for USAID/Morocco Office of Housing and Urban Programs, 1992-1998

Design Studio 1989: “Rabat’s Urban Fringe,” Urbanization Analysis of Rabat, Morocco – Seminar Curriculum

Design Studio 1988: “Urban Infrastructure Planning and Programing in Developing Countries,” Chapters 1-7, Seminar Curriculum

“World Migration Report,” Background Papers on Displacement, Migration and Resettlement in MENA (Middle East and North Africa), International Organization for Migration, 2014

“The Development and Morphology of Informal Housing,” Research Paper, Published with Aga Khan Award for Architecture Seminar Proceedings, Dr. Mona Serageldin, 1988.

Design Studio 1984: “The Revitalization of a Traditional Urban Quarter” for the Medieval Darb al Ahmar District, Cairo, Egypt, Seminar Curriculum

“Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme,” Review of International Urban Development Projects, for the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UN-Habitat), 1995

Habitat III Regional Report for the Arab Region: Papers on “Inclusive cities,” “Migration and Refugees in Urban Areas,” and “Land Structure, Process, and Outcome,” for UN-Habitat (ROAS) and United Nations (ESCWA), 2015-2016

World Bank MNA Urban Action Plan – Policy and Strategy Papers: “The Evolving Regional Urban Agenda: Key Challenges and Opportunities,” & “From Spring to Renaissance: Repositioning the Arab Cities,” 2013

“Comprehensive Plan for Makkah, Madinah and Mashaer,” Urban Development Strategy for Ancient Holy Sites in Saudi Arabia, 2009

State of Arab Cities 2012 UN-Habitat Report & Conference – “Challenges of Urban Transition: Municipal Management and Urban Development Conference For Sustainability in Arab States,” Kuwait, May 2012

“Basic Services for an Urbanizing World,” Third Global Report on Local Democracy and Decentralization (GOLD III, UCLG). Chapter on “Middle East and West Asia” by Mona Serageldin, I2UD, 2013

UN-HABITAT Spatial Regional Plan and Assessment for the Kurdistan-Iraq Region Housing Program, 2014

Keynote for City Debates 2015, American University of Beirut: “The Dynamics of Neighborhood Transformation: Long Term Trends and Immediate Responses to Turmoil and Civil Unrest,” Dr. Mona Serageldin

“Inclusive Cities and Access to Land, Housing, and Services in Developing Countries,” Urban Development Series: Knowledge Papers, February 2016, No. 22. World Bank’s Social, Urban, Rural & Resilience Global Practice, 2016