Several generations of new towns
p. 78-79
Texte intégral
| 1979 | Less than 5% | 35 | 3 to 30% |
| Creation of the New Urban Communities Authority | Percentage of Egyptians living in new towns | New towns in 2019 | Average occupation rate of new towns |
| Sources: NUCA, 2018; Tadamun, 2015; Sims, 2014 | |||
1In the 1970s, in response to strong demographic growth and urban overpopulation, but also as a means of protecting agricultural land and curbing informal housing, the State began to establish new towns. These initiatives coincided with the infitah* policies and were accompanied by a campaign for urban and societal renewal. The Egyptian programme was inspired by European models and is one of the most ambitious in the world.
2Ten new towns were born between 1977 and 1982 to stand as independent industrial and residential centres on previously undeveloped peripheral sites. As part of the Ministry of Housing, the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) planned their development based on functional zoning. It coordinated social housing programmes, public investment in infrastructure and the allocation of land to private investors. However, the distance from existing population centres limited the attraction of the sites, which failed to reduce the national housing crisis.
3In the 1980s new settlements were planned: these dormitory towns on the edges of Cairo were grouped into two clusters: Sheikh Zayed and New Cairo. About ten new towns were also created in the provinces, either as a duplication of medium-sized towns (at Luxor, Aswan, Qena, Minya and Sohag), or as agro-industrial centres in the desert (New Toshka, East Oweinat).
4The record, however, is disappointing: much of the housing remains empty and the expected population size has not been achieved. The intra- and inter-urban distances, the absence of public transport, and the lack of local amenities have made the cost of living too high for low-income households. During the 1990s, with the reforms of the structural adjustment programme, the State partially withdrew from its role as builder and retreated to fulfil a simple but expensive role of investor in infrastructure (roads, water, and electricity). This facilitated the subsequent development of new towns by private companies, which were encouraged by the low cost of land and by tax exemptions.
4.13 Four generations of new towns

© Karine Bennafla
The rise of the compound
5Compounds*, gated residential districts run by private companies, have popped up all around the capital (New Cairo, Sheikh Zayed and 6th of October) and along the Mediterranean coast. They represent the preferred form of an investment strategy that is lucrative for the private developers and attractive to wealthy households, which consider property safer and more profitable than bank deposits.
6The compounds of the 1990s, such as Katameya Heights in New Cairo, featured luxury residences that were sought after by senior government officials, white-collar expatriates and businessmen. The housing on offer has since become more egalitarian and attracts a wider range of upper-middle class customers. Giant advertising billboards tout easy payment terms (over several years) plus the modernity and comfort of a green and leafy living environment. The private town of Rehab, built by the Talaat Mustafa Group at New Cairo for 200,000 inhabitants, illustrates the features of these second-generation compounds: a variety of housing (from apartments to villas), non-resident access to commercial and recreational zones, and the presence of varied social categories thanks to a privately-run bus service.
4.14 Rehab, a private town in New Cairo

Neoliberal city life
7These residential districts represent a means of urban creation where private developers make and run the town. The old local councils, or mahalleyat*, long denounced for their inefficiency, were dissolved in 2011 within the central urban zones. The management of local matters in the new town compounds is handled by centres (gehaz) run by the developers along technical and commercial, but not political, lines.
8Nonetheless, the new towns are costly for the State, which finances the infrastructure for the benefit of a minority of already wealthy inhabitants and a private sector that has launched a spiral of speculation. According to the NGO Tadamun, NUCA investments destined for new towns exceeded LE33 billion (€3.9 million) in 2016, that is more than five times the amount spent on healthcare. The environmental sustainability of the new towns and the underlying societal model are rarely questioned. The programme remains a government priority, demonstrated by the regular announcement of contracts for the sale of land to private investors, and for developments like the New Administrative Capital megaproject (2015).
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