Housing in Egypt

Second are the Formal Private Sector, mostly small to large-scale contractors and real estate developers that apply for permits on government-sanctioned subdivisions and build for middle to upper-income clients.

[9]pg 85 The minister of housing, Mustafa Madbouly, explained that "Egypt needs to build 500,000-600,000 new homes a year to keep up with demand, 70 percent of which should be aimed at the poor.

[10] In July 2016, thousands of rental units were made available, as renting is easier than home ownership for many poor Egyptians.

Whether those efforts would work to make a real difference remained to be seen, with critics saying the poor wouldn't qualify for the units.

In a program that began on 28 August 2012 through 2018, the European Union earmarked 40 million Euros for the upgrading of the infrastructure of nine informal areas in and around Cairo, Giza and Qalyubia Governorates.

The law (59/1979) initiated the building of new towns or cities through the Ministry of Housing affiliated developer the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), but over the years some of these new areas failed to reach their target populations- with Egyptians, for a variety of reasons, choosing to remain living in the old, overcrowded cities.

[24] This method of land distribution can lead to speculation; investors believe they can make quick profits with resells.

[25] Housing in Egypt has become extremely commodified and financialized through foreign investments in real estate development.

In March 2015, EGP 12.7 billion in contracts were in the works with Arab real estate developers constructing projects in New Cairo and 6th of October.

[26] During President Hosni Mubarak's time in office, land was sometimes sold by the ministry, much below market value, as in the case of the Madinaty project.

[2] Despite deprivation not being necessarily linked to geographic criteria, and despite many of the problems that could be addressed through the provision of services and policy change, most government projects have relied on slum clearance.

[28] This official interest after decades of self-built housing was a reaction to an urban disaster, the October 1992 Dahshur Earthquake that killed more than 560 people and left tens of thousands of families homeless; and a political disaster, the 'Republic' or 'Emirate' of Imbaba debacle where media exaggerated the social role played by Jama'a Islamiya after the earthquake in a working class district of Giza.

[34] Civil Society and Participatory Upgrading In parallel to the government's projects that mainly rely on slum clearance, a number of grassroots initiatives that have received little government support,[35][36] in addition to some aid agency projects have tried to address spatial inequities in certain areas through participatory planning.

[37] Home Improvement Microloans, Upper Egypt (1995- ), Better Life Association for Comprehensive Development (BLACD).

[43] Other NGOs, such as Plan International Egypt, work to reintegrate street children back into their families.