Mohandessin used to be a mostly royal and state-owned agricultural estate held under waqf (endowment) until the early 20th Century with villages, such as Mit Okba,[2] and 'izbas (hamlets) such as al-Hutiyya, and 'Awlad Allam.

[3] From the 1930s the Ministry of Awqaf, that owned the land, had piloted plans to turn the estates into a new suburban district of Cairo as Dokki to its south flourished.

[4] The new district was subdivided into a number of large plots sold at subsidised prices - after the July 1952 Revolution - to twenty housing cooperatives representing professional syndicates with over two thousand members, including those set up for the military, navy, police, judges, medical doctors (Aṭibbā’), radio and television (Madinat al-'ilam), journalists (Ṣaḥafiyyīn), teachers (Mu‘allimīn), and engineers (Madinat al-Mohandessin).

[5] Today we know the area simply as Mohandiseen based on the Engineers’ City cooperative housing sub-district planned and built by leading architects of the time,[5] while administratively it forms most of the Agouza and part of the Dokki, districts.

The main shopping area in Mohandiseen is called Sour Nadi el Zamalik, which is a magnetic location for Arab Tourists that visit Cairo in the summer and on vacations.