Housing Ministry targets increasing per capita share of greenery

CAIRO - 13 June 2014: Increasing the per capita share of green spaces in new cities and existing urban areas has been a priority for the government, said Minister of Housing Assem Al-Gazzar on Thursday. 

As an example, Gazzar said New Mansoura City, which is one of the fourth generation cities, has an area of ​​greenery of 1,800 acres, representing 25% of the city’s area.

There are also the central park in the new city of Aswan, the parks of Obour city, the 10th of Ramadan, New Tiba, and the central parks in the New Administrative Capital, which has an area of ​​1,000 acres of green.

All new cities that enjoy a sea or Nile view have a green walkway being established as an outlet for its residents.

Old urban areas have also been developed to increase green and vacant spaces, such as the Fustat Hills Park in Cairo, with an area of ​​500 acres adjacent to the Museum of Civilization, Ain Al-Sira Lake, the Religious Complex, and the Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque areas. 

Dr. Abdel-Khaleq Ibrahim, Assistant Minister of Housing for Technical Affairs, explained that the scientific phenomenon known as the heat island leads to an increase in the feeling of high temperature in major cities a result of urban and traffic congestion, from which Egyptian urbanism has been suffering since before 2014. 

Hence, the government has accelerated the establishment of new cities to encourage people to move out of densely populated areas. It has also replaced unsafe slum areas with well-planned urban areas. 

In every newly developed area, at least 15% of its space is green, according to Ibrahim.

To alleviate congestion and heat, new axes have been built to facilitate traffic flow. In the process, the government may have had to cut some trees, but they are compensated many times over in many garden and park projects.

Over the past couple of weeks, which witnessed high temperatures in Egypt, people on social media have posted alleged before and after pictures of streets that were shaded by big trees and are today bare and exposed to the heat of the sun.