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“The Unplanned Areas Upgrading and Employment Enhancing Programme in Egypt,” Needs Assessment and Activity Design Study for Informal Settlements in the Cairo and Giza Governorates, Egypt, 2011-2016

Abstract

Between 2011 and 2016, I2UD worked with the Egyptian Government, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and Social Fund for Development (SFD) to create a risk assessment study for four informal settlement areas in Egypt: ‘Izbit Khayrallah and Al Zawya al-Hamra in the Cairo Governorate and Mīt ‘Uqba and Ard el-Lewa in the Giza Governorate.

In October 2012, I2UD submitted an Expression of Interest for consultancy on a project in Egypt, titled “Redevelopment and Upgrading of Selected Unsafe and Unplanned Areas in Cairo and Giza Governorates.” I2UD posited that Egyptian authorities could evaluate current informal settlements as key components in the Greater Cairo Plan to forestall future development of unregulated settlements.

From 2015-2016, I2UD partnered with the Tarek Waly Center (TWC) and Environmental Quality International (EQI) on the “Needs Assessment and Activity Design Study.” The study reviewed policies and institutions that impact the delivery of services in four informal settlements. I2UD and TWC identified the types of micro-finance services, emphasized community participation via assessment, and conducted outreach training for community members.

Documents include a 2012 Expression of Interest, I2UD’s Deliverables No. 1 through No. 4 in multiple volumes, and a January 2016 presentation for the Cairo Governor, titled “Investment Programme for Izbit Khayrallah and Al Zawya Al-Hamraa, Cairo: The Unplanned Areas Upgrading and Employment Generation Programme in Egypt.”

Project Year:2012-2016
Project Type:Risk Assessment and Local Development Strategy
Geographic Regions:Cairo, Egypt / Giza, Egypt
Reports:

—
Full Document List:
Deliverable 1:
Deliverable 2:
Deliverable 3, Volumes 1-5:
Deliverable 4:
Authors:Tareq Abdalla; Wafik Arif; Mohamad Ashraf Al-Sayed Afifi; Abd el-Aziz el-Sayed Abd el-Aziz Mosa; Emad El-Din Nabil Al Bayoumi; John Driscoll; Emad Farid; Tarek Hamed; Maren Larsen; Enas El Mudaris; Mounir Neamatalla; Bruce Purdy; Shimaa Shaheen; Elda Solloso; Barbara Summers; Tarek Waly; Tariq Zulficar
Sponsors:French Development Agency (AFD); Social Fund for Development (SFD); European Union
Categories:Urban Finance
  
ID:2012_10_004

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Galleries 6-7: Egypt: Cairo and Helwan (1986, 1990)

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“Review of Ongoing USAID Shelter Sector Activities in Morocco,” Report for USAID/Morocco Office of Housing and Urban Programs, 1992-1998

Abstract

In 1992, the Unit for Housing and Urbanization (the Unit) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design contributed to a USAID/Morocco urban planning report, “Review of Ongoing USAID Shelter Sector Activities in Morocco,” to address challenges of rapid urbanization. These materials present a rich regional profile of public housing and land use in Morocco circa 1991-1992.

The Unit’s contributions from June 1992 presented an economic analysis with financial metrics on urban shelter programs, measuring the impact of two Moroccan agencies: the ANHI Low Income Housing Program and the Tetouan Urban Development Program. Research noted the increased demand for basic services in Morocco’s cities, like water supply and shelter, in connection to widespread unemployment and underemployment for the urban poor. Workshop elements outlined problems and objectives for future urban infrastructure programs, noting where public officials must make decisions to compromise the needs of urban communities with government economic priorities.

Documents include the final report (June 1992), with a summary by Mona Serageldin. Also included is a Phase I Report (January 1998) outlining a strategic planning workshop on supporting the long-term operation of ANHI’s programs, as well as an accompanying document containing documentation, references, and appendices.


[Excerpt: 1.1 Background – “Review of Ongoing USAID Shelter Sector Activities in Morocco” (June 1992)]

“The ongoing USAID shelter sector activities in Morocco were conceptualized in 1985 within a context of accelerating urbanization and massive rural urban migration. The urban programs initiated by USAID focused on priority areas:

— Rationalizing the land delivery process and regularizing informal land development.
— Institutionalizing sound administrative and fiscal practices in infrastructure management and finance and the delivery of urban services.
— Widening the scope of private participation in the shelter sector by increasing the production of affordable building plots and expanding the role of private developers of low cost housing.
— Reinforcing decentralization by strengthening local managerial capabilities and enhancing local revenues.”


[Excerpt: 1.0 Background – Phase I Report: “Strategic Planning Workshop” (January 1998)]

“ANHI is a state enterprise in charge of providing access to safe and sanitary housing for lower income families in Morocco. Its activities include the purchase of land, its subdivision and servicing to resettle squatters and to market affordable housing plots, as well as the upgrading of infrastructure in under-serviced and unserviced informal settlements. ANHI operates under the Ministry of Housing umbrella. It is headquartered in Rabat, Morocco and has nine regional offices throughout the country. Since its creation in 1984, ANHI has produced an average of 10,000 plots per year. ANHI’s land purchases and other investment cost are financed with beneficiary advances, foreign and local borrowing, and auto financing. It has benefited from US AID support through HG loans and grants, including the currently active HG loan of $100 million which allowed ANHI to increase production to 15,000 serviced plots in 1994 and 1995.”

Dersa, Vertical Expansion of Buildings with Ground Floor Micro-Enterprises. See more photo Excerpts, below.

Taza, Low Cost Housing with Commercial Ground Floor

Figure 6-4 City of Taza, Al-Qods 1 Project “Residential Plots, Commercial Lots, Community Facilities, Green Areas”

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Project Year:1992
Project Type:Report
Geographic Regions:Morocco
Reports:
Authors:Samir Kanoun (TSS, Inc.); Mona Serageldin
Sponsors:USAID Office of Housing and Urban Programs; International City/County Management Association (ICMA)
Categories:Informal Settlements and Urban Upgrading
  
ID:1992_00_004

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

Abstract

The Design Studio from 1989, “Rabat’s Urban Fringe,” presented the urban evolution of Rabat, Morocco from 1987 through the early 1990s. Hosted by the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the seminar covered Rabat’s urban development experience as a case study for Seminar attendees. Professors Francois Vigier and Mona Serageldin led the sessions, research, and discussions.

Seminar materials focused on analyzing methods to accelerate the release of land for urban development in Rabat, and to discourage imbalanced city growth patterns. The studio covered the application of standards that balance climate requirements, socio-cultural needs, and affordability, the creation of cost-efficient designs to support the economic life of projects, and the use of politically-feasible mechanisms to improve cost recovery and affordability. This topic was repeated in Urban Design Studio curricula from 1989 to 1993.

Documents include a seminar syllabus and overview report; a full report, “Rabat’s Urban Fringe,” with text by Mona Serageldin, supported by the Seminar’s research team; and a final student report on urban planning in Rabat.



[Excerpt: Syllabus, Overview, Spring 1989, Mr. Vigier, Ms. Serageldin, pp. 1-2.]

“Urban Housing in Rabat, Morocco,” An Overview:

“Urban areas of Third World countries are growing rapidly as a result of a high rate of natural increase of the population and of migration from rural areas. In older areas, usually highly accessible to a broad range of job opportunities, continued population pressures is causing a densification of the housing stock which is deteriorating rapidly from lack of maintenance and subdivision into smaller units. Their infrastructure systems are utilized well beyond their design capacity, creating an increasingly unsanitary environment and threatening the structural soundness of buildings. More recently, governments have had to cope with a dynamic private sector whose activities have proved difficult to control.”

“At present [ca. 1989], the urban fringe is developing rapidly as squatter and informal settlements, ranging in quality from little more than shacks to sound housing for moderate income households striving to improve their standard of living, are built illegally. Currently accounting for sixty to eighty percent of housing starts, these fringe developments present an unprecedented challenge to planners and public officials concerned with preventing urban sprawl and maintaining control over the dynamics of growth in order to provide efficiently the necessary infrastructure and services.”

“Planning and Design Issues. High rates of urban growth necessitate forceful public interventions to direct the development of the urban fringe and improve the functional efficiency of older districts. Located in both older areas and on the urban fringe, large-scale projects are being undertaken to upgrade the infrastructure, extend the capacity of transportation systems, provide public amenities, and build mixed-use developments.”

“Yet, the prevalence of poverty has overtaxed the ability of governments to provide adequate public services or enforce even minimum sanitary standards of housing for the majority of urban households. Government housing policies have sought to reconcile three potentially conflicting objectives:

— “A commitment to improve the standard of life of a population largely unable to afford safe and sanitary housing on the open market.”

— “The desire to utilize planning and design standards reflecting international norms as the means to provide an acceptable level of amenities in both older areas and the developing urban fringe.”

— “The necessity to keep public subsidies at a manageable level in the face of the rising demand generated by the rapid growth of the urban population.”

Al Quds City Model House, for Casablanca, showing Front and Side Elevation, Sections, Ground, First and Second Floor, and Foundation building layouts. Original Source: Ministry of Housing and Land Development
Graphic Map showing the Distribution of Urban Settlements, Morocco, showing data for large settlements in Casablanca, Rabat, Fez, Marrakech, Meknes, Sale, Tangier, and Tetouan.

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Project Year:1989
Project Type:Urban Design Studio
Geographic Regions:Rabat, Morocco
Reports:
Authors:Mona Serageldin; Samir Abdulac; Fathahah Debbi; Agnes Deboulet; Isabelle Ouetta; Jennifer Wayne; Hung-Song Oh; Randa Tukan
Sponsors:Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture
Categories:Design Studios; Education
  
ID:1989_01_001

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Gallery 10: Morocco: Fes, Casablanca, and Rabat (1983-1993)

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“Urban Strategies for Economic Development: Towards an Agenda for the 90s,” Regional Report and Workshop for Amman, Jordan, 1987

Abstract

A 1987 report, authored by the Unit for Housing and Urbanization and funded by the World Bank, “Urban Strategies for Economic Development: Towards an Agenda for the 90s,” addressed the growth of informal settlements and the lack of adequate housing opportunities for low-income families in Amman, Jordan.

Documents include a Background Report on Amman, Jordan by John Driscoll, a report by Mona Serageldin from September 1989 titled “Infrastructure Financing and Land Development,” and a workshop summary from October 1989.

Excerpt



[Excerpt: “Infrastructure Financing and Land Development,” Context, Mona Serageldin, pp. 1]

“Within a given economic context, the ability of urban areas to stimulate and drive development is determined by the range and quality of their infrastructure. Throughout the 80’s, intractable budget deficits and increasing debt burdens have led to the curtailment of funding for urban infrastructure in all but one of the OECD countries. In developing nations weak urban institutions inherited from colonial times almost collapsed in the face of mounting needs and dwindling resources. The dynamic private sector could neither muster the capital nor the organizational capabilities needed to operate on the scale required for infrastructure development. Throughout the 70’s and BO’S informal developers maximized profits by externalizing the environmental cost of unplanned urbanization; a cost that the public sector is now forced to absorb. Municipalities struggling to simultaneously service building plots and retrofit uncontrolled settlements have been stretching distribution networks without improved trunk capacity. In many cities, overload well in excess of design capacity risks to collapse whole sectors of the system.”

___


[Excerpt: “Introduction, Background Report on The Urban Development Department” of Amman, John Driscoll, pp. 3, 5.]

“According to World Bank studies, 34% of the urban population lives (ca. 1987) in cramped conditions with four or more persons per room in contrast to the national average of 2.6 persons per room. Development standards prescribing a minimum plot size of 250 to 300 sq. meters with high land prices have made it difficult for the moderate income households to obtain serviced land. Rent control has also distorted the housing market and led to the typical situation of substantial key money requirements, a condition which severely affects new families altering the housing market. Urban population growth, estimated at 5%, coupled with the lack of affordable legal alternatives resulted in the growth of informal settlements on the urban periphery. Ninety percent of housing construction is done by the private sector. Public sector construction is distributed between the UDD, the government owned Jordan Housing Cooperation and smaller housing programs.
….
“In 1980, UDPl represented a major change in government policies regarding the provision of low-income housing and basic services for the urban poor. New development standards made housing more affordable for lower-income groups. The process of comprehensive community upgrading of selected informal settlements and the development of new sites-and-services projects employing cost-recovery principles were a departure from past government practices and policies.”

Project Year:1987
Project Type:Regional Report
Geographic Regions:Amman, Jordan
Reports:
Authors:John Driscoll; Mona Serageldin
Sponsors:World Bank
Categories:Reconciliation and Development
  
ID:1987_09_001

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