This National Urban Development Plan is a nationwide sectoral document that includes the Vision of the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development (MHUUD) and the General Organization for Physical Planning (GOPP) to address the Egyptian urban system and improve the present situation concerning the urban, communal, and economic development. GOPP is the responsible organization for formulating general policies and plans for sustainable human settlement development and works in close collaboration with various development partners and interested parties. The mandate of GOPP is (i) to enable local communities to determine urban priorities and agree on the development strategies; (ii) generate new job opportunities to revive local economies; (iii) induce institutional transformations by adopting participatory planning. GOPP aims to expand the inhabited area from 5% into 22 % in the future. The foreseen outcomes of these efforts are basically (i) promoting economic growth; (ii) transforming local communities to be resilient and selfreliant, without jeopardizing the natural resource base for the benefit of future generations. The development Vision envisages (i) an advanced and competitive country at the global level with a knowledge economy that invests in human capabilities and resources; (ii) a society that adheres to the national identity, its cultural heritage, and its religious and civilizational values; (iii) a society in which all citizens enjoy the well-being and quality of life within the framework of an integrated environmental system and a climate that motivates sustainable development and active community participation. The Plan includes (i) strategic plans of the governorates to prepare the urban map for the governorates using a Geographical Information System (GIS) and compile the available database from GOPP with the opportunity to add any data by the governorate; (ii) strategic plans of the regions aiming at the following results (a) lower rates of growth for congested growing regions, such as that of Cairo and Alexandria; (b) a fairer share of investments directed to the depressed regions, such as that of Upper Egypt, and new employment opportunities and reduced internal migration to both Cairo and Alexandria; (c) increasing population and investments for the development axes, such as the North Coast, Suez Canal Region. Spatial development directions include (i) limiting the urban growth and concentration of economic establishments in Cairo and Alexandria, and Delta governorates as well as using a bundle of economic, financial instruments; (ii) reducing the rate of rural-to-urban migration by directing the investments to depressed regions southern Egypt, and new development frontiers along the North Coast and the Coast of the Red Sea, Gulf of Suez, and Gulf of Aqaba; (iii) upgrading slums and deteriorated areas through an integrated development approach that assures institutional transformations that stakeholders support; (iv) attracting population and investments to desert areas outside the Nile Valley and Delta through financial incentives and funding place-oriented programs. The Plan indicates detailed development strategies for the different regional areas of the country.
Egypt · 2014-04-01