In pics: Slum upgrading projects to be inaugurated in June

CAIRO – 24 April 2018: The social housing sector in Egypt has witnessed a boom of unprecedented development, especially in slum areas, some of which have been torn down and rebuilt as part of the government’s plan to develop informal settlements in Egypt. Some of the projects are scheduled to be inaugurated in June.

From the slums that have been under development are the Tal Al Aqareb area in Sayeda Zeinab, the Ahlina slums in Al Salam 1, Al Mahrousa 1, Al Salam slums, Manshiyet Nasser, El Asmarat District in Mokattam, and Maspero Triangle.

The Ministry of Housing estimates that 40 percent of the population of Cairo lives in informal settlements, while the Informal Settlements Development Fund (ISDF), now part of the new Ministry for Urban Development, estimates that 75 percent of urban areas throughout Egypt are unplanned and 1 percent are unsafe.

Hence, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has sought to tackle the housing problems in Egypt, and a plan was set to develop many unsafe areas in Cairo, which has the majority of Egypt’s slums, and to re-house residents of Egypt’s most dangerous slums. The government divided the slums into two categories. The first is the dangerous slums, which government pledged to make 2018 the final year for.

In May 2016, President Sisi promised to move all those living in slums to new flats over three years as a part of an ambitious project expected to cost about LE 14 billion ($790 million).

In the same context, the Tahya Misr (Long Live Egypt) Fund, launched by Sisi in 2014, has been working on a three-phase strategy to eliminate Egypt’s shantytowns and re-house those dwelling in slums including those in Doueyka, Establ Antar and Ezbet Khair Allah. The project includes 15,000 housing units to place 60,000 slum residents. The first two phases of Tahya Misr are comprised of 12,000 flats. The third phase opened in 2017 and is comprised of 20,000 flats.


FILE-Tal Al Aqareb project

Tal Al Aqareb area in Sayeda Zeinab

The residents of Tal Al Aqareb were evacuated in 2016, after several unsafe buildings had been demolished and were transferred temporarily to a new housing area until Tal Al Aqareb redevelop.

Khalil Shaath, head of Cairo governorate's informal-area-upgrading unit, said that, in coordination with the Ministry of Housing Utilities and Urban Development, 815 housing units, which would house 3,500 people, have been built at Tal Al Aqareb, along with 324 shops.

He added that 85 percent of the project was implemented and it is expected to be inaugurated on June 30.

Al Mahrousa 1 and 2 projects

FILE-Al Mahrousa 1 and 2 projects
In the same context, Shaath remarked that the government has completed the construction of 90 percent of the Al Mahrousa 1 and 2 projects, which includes 4,900 housing units and their internal finishing. Al Mahrousa 1 is comprised of 3,175 units, while Al Mahrousa 2 boasts 1,594 units.

Al Asmarat 3 project

Slums where people used to live in before being displaced to Asmarat - File Photo
At the beginning of 2017, the third district of the housing project in Al Asmarat at Moqattam, which comprises of 7,440 housing units, were built. The project is constructed by Tahya Misr Fund in collaboration with the Armed Forces Engineering Authority.

Together to develop slums in Al Salam 2 project

The project includes 3,312 housing units, which are built in collaboration between the Slum Development Fund and Together to develop slums.

Maspero Triangle project

Major General Mohammed Ayman Abdel Tawab, deputy governor of Cairo, said the government has been demolishing houses and shops in the Maspero Triangle since March in attempts to redevelop and modernize the three streets of the Bulaq Abul Ela district.

The slum area surrounding Maspero - Maspero Triangle Development Association