Recently, the world has experienced a rapid urban growth that has brought many challenges due to unplanned urbanization and lack of coordination between spatial planning and economic development planning. Public services and infrastructure are essential for the well-being of people, but are also faced by many challenges. The main problems that face urban development in Egypt can be defined as follows:
<ol>
<li>Lack of coordination, horizontally and vertically, between different stakeholders;</li>
<li>Human and financial resources are inadequate for development of resilient cities;</li>
<li>Local economic development is not effective and very weak;</li>
</ol>
In order to face these main challenges, better urban planning and management are needed to make urban spaces more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Subsequently, the objective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), born at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, was to produce a set of universal goals that meet the urgent environmental, political and economic challenges facing our world.
How to support development of resilient and inclusive urban settlements?
"More than half the world&rsquo;s population lives in cities. By 2030, it is projected that 6 out of 10 people will be urban dwellers. Despite numerous planning challenges, well-managed cities and other human settlements can be incubators for innovation and ingenuity and key drivers of sustainable development"<a name="_ftnref1"></a><a href="#_ftn1">[1]</a>.
The proportion of the urban population that lives in developing country slums fell from 39 per cent in 2000 to 30 per cent in 2014. Despite some gains, the absolute number of urban residents who live in slums continued to grow, owing in part to accelerating urbanization, population growth and lack of appropriate land and housing policies. In 2014, an estimated 880 million urban residents lived in slum conditions, compared to 792 million urban residents in 2000<a name="_ftnref2"></a><a href="#_ftn2">[2]</a>. As more people move to urban areas, cities typically expand their geographic boundaries to accommodate new inhabitants. From 2000 to 2015, in all regions of the world, the expansion of urban land outpaced the growth of urban populations. As a result, cities are becoming less dense as they grow, with unplanned urban sprawl challenging more sustainable patterns of urban development.
Sustainable Development Goal 11, which aims to &ldquo;make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable,&rdquo; has many targets that try to deal with this issue. These targets include: 1) ensuring access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services, 2) upgrading slums by 2030, 3) providing access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, and 4) improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, such as women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.
In line with international efforts to promote the SDGs, the Egyptian Government has launched the Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt Vision 2030. The strategy is, thus, based on the idea that:
&nbsp;&ldquo;the new Egypt will possess a competitive, balanced and diversified economy, dependent on innovation and knowledge, based on justice, social integrity and participation, characterized by a balanced and diversified ecological collaboration system, investing the ingenuity of place and humans to achieve sustainable development and to improve Egyptians' life quality&rdquo;<a name="_ftnref3"></a><a href="#_ftn3">[3]</a>
In order to achieve its targets, specific measures shall be followed, which include:
Planned and balanced urbanization:
The official set of policies that targeted urban expansion focused on: the creation of new cities, undertaking major land reclamation projects, or the establishment of major economic and urban development projects. However, looking at real numbers, it becomes clear that 95% of the increase in urban population has not been absorbed by these mega projects including the new desert cities, but rather by the existing agglomerations. This has led to the rapid encroachment over agricultural and state owned land in form of informal and unplanned urban expansion. A linkage between spatial planning and investment planning should be established through a participatory approach where all relevant governmental stakeholders, civil society and vulnerable groups are participating in the planning process. Integrated infrastructure plans (including identification of the missing gap of communication between different entities responsible for preparing/implementing infrastructure) would be necessary to create safe and resilient cities.
Promoting Local Economic Development:
Local Economic Development (LED) is necessary for cities of all sizes to exploit their strengths with the final objective of creating a resilient and sustainable city with decent jobs and stimulating economic activity. In Egypt, rising unemployment is one of the key economic and social challenges with an unemployment rate of 13 per cent and rates for youth and women that are almost twice as high. A key aspect of LED is to create a positive and predictable business-enabling environment to support well-functioning markets that allow existing firms to thrive and attract new firms and foreign and domestic investment into the area. To create this environment, local governments can think about a portfolio of policy instruments including strengthening local institutions and regulatory frameworks, providing the needed infrastructure to support innovation, enhance human capital, and promote the fluidity of markets (e.g. land and finance).
Enhancing finance and investment:
Cities are assets, solutions and drivers of economic and social development. This requires good urban planning that supports urban compactness, integration, and connectivity. However, even the best urban plans risk ending up unused if they are not accompanied by financial and regulatory strategies for implementation. Strategic public investments must go hand in hand with strategic funding mechanisms and supporting governance systems. Local governments in Egypt should identify comparative advantages and priority areas for investment to leverage the existing assets of a region. Priority areas are identified through analysis of the local context that examines comparative advantage, competitive sectors&rsquo; opportunities for value-added activities and available natural assets. Specific activities can involve filling gaps in supply chains and building on sector specific value-chains to reduce economic leakage out of a region. While financing and investment planning are driving concerns for city leaders, investment alone cannot help economic development thrive; thus, coordinated decisions about land use, transport and infrastructure are essential.
Planned mobility and transportation:
The aim of transportation is to reach services, jobs, and different destinations with ease. It is important to plan roads and means of transportation in the same time as creating new urban communities and cities in order to encourage people to move to the new established cities and to reduce distances between different businesses and service hubs. It would be more accurate to concentrate on bringing people and their frequent destinations together, and creating accessible urban communities.
Conclusion:
Finally, there is a need to develop and support the urban development of urban settlements to create inclusive and safe communities, while focusing on the management and planning of the main sectors to enhance services provision. Accordingly, the main drivers for a better urban development strategy can be summarized as follows:
<ul>
<li>A knowledge-based and results-based management system in order to achieve a well-informed decision making process;</li>
<li>Efficient land use and infrastructure planning is also important in order to create sustainable urban areas;</li>
<li>Institutional reform and effective coordination mechanisms between local and national decision-makers, civil society, academicians, practitioners and rights' holders are also important to produce</li>
</ul>
References:
<ul>
<li>&nbsp;Angel, S., Parent, J., Civco, D. L., &amp; Blei, A. M. (June, 2012). Atlas of Urban</li>
<li>Expansion. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Retrieved from <a href="https://www.lincolninst.edu/sites/default/files/pubfiles/atlas-of-urban-expansion-chp.pdf">https://www.lincolninst.edu/sites/default/files/pubfiles/atlas-of-urban-expansion-chp.pdf</a></li>
<li>Cohen, M. (2016.) Report: Urban Economic Challenges and the New Urban Agenda.</li>
<li>New School, New York .Retrieved from <a href="http://unhabitat.org/urban-economic-challenges-and-the-new-urban-agenda/">http://unhabitat.org/urban-economic-challenges-and-the-new-urban-agenda/</a></li>
<li>European Research Council. (April, 2018). Transport and mobility: Spotlight on ERC projects. European Commission. Retrieved from <a href="https://erc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/document/file/ERC_transport_mobility_2018.pdf">https://erc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/document/file/ERC_transport_mobility_2018.pdf</a></li>
<li>Sims, D. 2015. Egypt's Desert Dreams: Development or Disaster. AUC Press.</li>
<li>Sims, D. 2010. Understanding Cairo: The Logic of a City Out of Control. AUC Press.</li>
<li>Egypt&rsquo;s Vision 2030. <a href="http://sdsegypt2030.com/?lang=en">Sustainable Development Strategy</a>: Egypt Vision 2030. Retrieved from <a href="http://sdsegypt2030.com/?lang=en">http://sdsegypt2030.com/?lang=en</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>UN-Habitat. 2008. Building Financial Resilient Neighborhoods: The Case of Jos&eacute; Carlos Mari&aacute;tegui&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </li>
<li>Lima, Peru. UN-Habitat. Retrieved from <a href="https://unhabitat.org/books/building-financial-resilient-neighborhoods-the-case-of-jose-carlos-mariategui-lima-peru/">https://unhabitat.org/books/building-financial-resilient-neighborhoods-the-case-of-jose-carlos-mariategui-lima-peru/</a></li>
<li>UN-Habitat. 2011. People and Mobility, Promoting non-motorized transport options and compact citiesas complements to public transport. UN Habitat. Retrieved from <a href="https://unhabitat.org/books/people-and-mobility-promoting-non-motorised-%20transport-options-and-compact-cities-as-complements-to-public-transport/">https://unhabitat.org/books/people-and-mobility-promoting-non-motorised- transport-options-and-compact-cities-as-complements-to-public-transport/</a></li>
<li>UN-Habitat. 2015. The Challenge of Local Government Financing in Developing Countries.UN &ndash; Habitat. Retrieved from <a href="https://unhabitat.org/books/the-challenge-of-local-government-financing-in-developing-countries/">https://unhabitat.org/books/the-challenge-of-local-government-financing-in-developing-countries/</a></li>
<li>United Nations Secretary General. (July 5, 2016). &ldquo;Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals: Report of the Secretary-General.&rdquo;&nbsp; United Nations: Economic and Social Council. Retrieved from <a href="https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/files/report/2016/secretary-general-sdg-report-2016--en.pdf">https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/files/report/2016/secretary-general-sdg-report-2016--en.pdf</a></li>
<li>United Nations. Sustainable Development Goals. United Nations. Retrieved from <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs">https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs</a></li>
<li>United Nations Task Team on Habitat III. (May 31, 2015). Habitat III &ndash; Issue Papers, 11- Public Space. UN-Habitat. Retrieved from http://habitat3.org/wp-content/uploads/Habitat-III-Issue-Paper-11_Public-Space-2.0.compressed.pdf</li>
<li>World Bank. 2018. Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals 2018: From World Development Indicators. World Bank. Atlas;.Washington, DC: World Bank. Retrieved from <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/29788">https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/29788</a></li>
<li><a name="_ftn1"></a><a href="#_ftnref1">[1]</a> United Nations Secretary General, (July 5, 2016), &ldquo;Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals,&rdquo; United Nations. Retrieved from <a href="https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/files/report/2016/secretary-general-sdg-report-2016--en.pdf">https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/files/report/2016/secretary-general-sdg-report-2016--en.pdf</a></li>
<li><a name="_ftn2"></a><a href="#_ftnref2">[2]</a> United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals, Retrieved from <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs">https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs</a></li>
<li><a name="_ftn3"></a><a href="#_ftnref3">[3]</a> Egypt&rsquo;s Vision 2030, <a href="http://sdsegypt2030.com/?lang=en">Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt Vision 2030</a>, Retrieved from <a href="http://sdsegypt2030.com/?lang=en">http://sdsegypt2030.com/?lang=en</a> &nbsp;</li>
</ul>

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