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A general view of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) headquarters, also known as Maspero, on the bank of the River Nile, next to the now-demolished buildings of the Maspero Triangle slum, Cairo, Egypt April 29, 2018.
Egypt’s Urban Development Fund (UDF) is planning a nation-wide slum redevelopment project at a total investment of 425 billion Egyptian pounds ($17 billion) over the next five years.
The project involves development of the unsafe zones in the first phase, following by unplanned zones in the second, and informal markets in the third, UDF’s CEO Khaled Sadeek told Zawya Projects.
He said a total of 357 areas designated as unsafe zones would be re-developed to host 24,6053 residential units at a total investment of EGP40 billion ($1.6 billion). He said the land cost has been estimated at EGP23.2 billion ($938 million).
Examples of unsafe zones under development include:
Cairo governorate - Al-Khaiala (2,268 units), Al- Mahroussa (4,895 units).
Red Sea governorate - Hallayeb and Shalateen development projects (2,000 units), Zerzara area in Safaga (234 units).
Sharm El-Sheikh – Al- Rwayssat development (496 units).
In the case of unplanned zones, Sadeek said 152,000 acres would be developed at a total investment of EGP318 billion ($13 billion)
“The main goal is to develop the infrastructure of these areas," he said.
In the third phase, UDF will collaborate with the ministry of foreign trade and industry to redevelop and renovate 1,105 informal markets at a total investment of EGP44 billion ($1.8 billion).
The Egyptian government has set a target to make the country slum-free by 2030.
(1 US Dollar = 24.69 Egyptian Pounds)
(Reporting by Marwa Abo Almajd; Editing by Anoop Menon)
