What to know about 'Rawdet Al Sayeda' alternative-housing project lying in heart of Old Cairo

CAIRO – 9 June 2022: Rawdat Al Sayeda, launched in 2016, was a very dangerous slum called Tal Al Aqareb (Arabic for the Hill of the Scorpions) encompassing huts and houses vulnerable to collapse.

The first phase has been accomplished and delivered, while the second one is still under-progress. Both are located in the historic Sayeda Zeinab neighborhood, and their architecture has been designed to match the identity of the place.

The first phase consists of 16 five-storey buildings having a total of 816 residential units, while the second comprises just nine having a total of 578 units. It will also have a nursery, sports complex, and two buildings for civil services.

The alternative-housing project is also earthquake-resistant, given it lies 11 meters above the surface of the rest of the area. The cost of the project is LE330 million, and it also houses 198 commercial units.  

Chairman of the Civil Development Fund Khaled Sediq told Al Watan newspaper in April that five areas are being renovated within the first phase of the Historic Cairo rehabilitation plan.

Sediq noted that Historic Cairo, also known as Islamic Cairo and Medieval Cairo, was designated a World Heritage Site in 1979 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The five areas are the surroundings of Al Hakem Bi Amr Allah Mosque, Bab Zoweila, Darb Al Labana, Haret Al Rom, and Hussein Mosque. The ongoing works include restoring the exterior of buildings that enjoy constructional safety, and rebuilding news ones replacing those sold by owners to the government.

Speaking of unplanned areas, the fund's chairman noted that the total surface area of those is 152,000 feddans dispersed across 227 cities nationwide. Yet, the development of 10,037 feddans of those is ongoing.

Assistant Secretary of Cairo Municipal Authority Ibrahim Awad told Al watan newspaper in April that, within a month, the remainder of slum inhabitants at Cairo Citadel Aqueduct area would be moved to Al Khayala alternative-housing project as each family would be granted a fully-furnished unit.

Al Khayala is an alternative-housing project spanning over an area of 40 feddans (one feddan equals 4,500 acres), and consists of 42 nine-storey flat-buildings having a total of 2,268 residential units.

The official noted that 900 out of 1,600 families had been already moved, and that all the 520 flat-buildings in the slums of El Sokar wa Al Laymoun, Hosh Al Ghagar, and Al Gayara would be gone in the coming few days.

Awad added that a list of the dwellers of Ezbet Wahba slum had been prepared, as the 300 flat-buildings existing there will be demolished in May and the residents will be given houses in state-built neighborhoods.

The other slums that were removed from Old Cairo, and whose residents were also granted fully-furnished flats are Ezbet Abou Qarn, Batn Al Baqara, and Tal Al Aqareb.