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A holistic approach to slum reduction: finding gaps in Cairo’s ‘how-to-deal’

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DOI: 10.1080/23748834.2020.1735156

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A holistic approach to slum reduction: finding gaps

in Cairo’s ‘how-to-deal’ model with international
collected experience

Jawdat Goussous & Lama Tayoun

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reduction: finding gaps in Cairo’s ‘how-to-deal’ model with international collected experience, Cities
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CITIES & HEALTH
https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2020.1735156

CASE STUDY

A holistic approach to slum reduction: finding gaps in Cairo’s ‘how-to-deal’

model with international collected experience
Jawdat Goussous and Lama Tayoun
Department of Architectural Engineering, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Nowadays, one in eight people worldwide lives in a slum, which amounts to around a billion Received 15 April 2019
people. The number of people living in slums continues to grow, and the challenge of slums Accepted 11 February 2020
remains a critical factor in the presence of poverty in the world. Looking for a solution to the KEYWORDS
slum problem, this paper explores the characteristics of a slum, the reasons for their formation, Characteristics of slums;
and worldwide policy issues addressing their prevention. The reasoning for the formation of ‘how-to-deal’ collected
slums is explained on three levels, namely the national, regional and local level. Likewise, model; policies for slum
international policies are divided into three enquiries, namely (I) socio-economic activities and prevention; Egyptian
policies, (II) architectural and urban tools, and (III) artificial processes modeling for locating approach to slums
urban activities. Applied together, these enquiries introduce a ‘how-to-deal’ collected model of
slum reduction. This paper presents a case study of one of the largest slums in the Middle East,
ashwa’iyyat in Cairo, reporting what policies, activities, and tools are being insufficiently
implemented in the current Egyptian ‘how-to-deal’ model as compared to the collected one.
The research encourages built environment practitioners, architects, urban planners, policy-
makers, sociologists, volunteers, and engineers to follow a holistic approach in dealing with
slum reduction and to follow the international ‘how-to-deal’ collected model based on the
analysis of a multidisciplinary view of the presence and growth of slums.

Introduction centuries in both developed and undeveloped urban

regions (Vale 2007). In Europe, slums were concerted.
Mankind, which began in a cave and behind Starting from the early 1920s, ‘slums’ in England had
a windbreak, will end in the disease-soaked ruins of became a common vulgar expression, whether it
a slum. meant various bars and ‘eating houses’, ‘loose talk’ or
H. G. Wells
‘gypsy language’ (Eckstein 1990).
Over the last century, there has been rapid growth in UN-Habitat (2016) published the Slum Almanac,
the urban population. In 2018, 55% of the world’s which states that the challenge of slums is a critical
population lived in urban areas, a proportion that is factor in the persistence of global poverty.
expected to increase to 68% by 2050. Most urban Nevertheless, low-income and lower-middle-income
growth now occurs in developing countries, where the countries should have the same opportunities as the
average annual population increase is four times that in more developed countries to benefit from this trend of
more developed countries (United Nations Secretariat continuing global urbanization. Thus, the existing lit-
2001). In developing countries unable to adequately erature on sustainable development focuses on the
meet the demands of their growing populations, measurement and reduction of the challenge of
slums have emerged and continue to spread rapidly urban poverty presented by slums. The aim of the
(Mahabir et al. 2016). Globally, one in eight people 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2015b)
lives in slums, which means that around one billion was to ‘ensure access for all to adequate, safe and
people currently live in slum conditions (UN-Habitat affordable housing and basic services, and upgrade
2016). The proportion of people living in slums is slums by 2030’.
recorded to be highest in Africa (61.7%), followed by Although widely studied (Mahabir et al. 2016), most
Southern Asia (35%), Southeastern Asia (32%), Eastern work on slums has focused on one of three lines of
Asia (28.2%), Western Asia (24.6%), Oceania (24.1%), enquiry inside a single country, namely (I) Socio-
Latin America and the Caribbean (24.5%), and finally economic activities and policies (Sola 2013, Marx et al.
North Africa (14.3%). The world’s largest slum was 2013, Bag and Seth 2018), (II) Change of the physical
recorded in Mexico City (Davis 2006). characteristics using approaches such as urban zoning
The phenomenon of slums started to emerge in and architectural design (Abdel Aziz and Shawket 2011,
Europe and the United States in the 19th and 20th Kohli et al. 2012), and (III) Modelling artificial processes

CONTACT Lama Tayoun [email protected] University of Jordan, Queen Rania St., Amman 11942, Jordan
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
2 J. GOUSSOUS AND L. TAYOUN

for locating urban activities (Patel et al. 2012, Krishna general characteristics from one country to another;
et al. 2014). However, each line of enquiry is often however, they usually share a lack of health and sanita-
described according to its own list of characteristics and tion as well as basic services such as clean water and
assumptions, thereby introducing a one-sided view of the dependable electricity. The residences of slum dwellers
problem of slums. It should also be noted that the above often range from small shacks to built dwellings, but
lines are interrelated at different levels of work on slums they are generally poor in their quality and design or
and, hence, should be considered and studied as joint construction and infrastructure (UN-Habitat 2003b). It
parts of sustainable development. Likewise, the United is important to note that the definition of a slum is
Nations (2015a), in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable highly generalized and should thus be reviewed and
Development, outlined the socio-economic and policy broadened in the context of any given country.
aspects of sustainable development, namely ‘end poverty Generally speaking, a slum household is one in which
everywhere; end hunger; ensure healthy lives; and pro- the inhabitants suffer from one of the following ‘house-
mote peaceful and inclusive societies’. Toward slum pre- hold deprivations’: (i) Lack of access to an improved
vention, the United Nations (2015a) aims to enhance water source, (ii) Lack of access to improved sanitation
physical characteristics of sustainable development facilities, (iii) Lack of sufficient living area, (iv) Lack of
through making cities and human settlements inclusive, housing durability, and (v) Lack of security of tenure
resilient and sustainable; and modelling artificial pro- (UN-Habitat 2016). Terms such as autonomous, illegal,
cesses by building resilient infrastructure. Thus, slums irregular, marginal, spontaneous, uncontrolled, and
should be analyzed using an interdisciplinary approach, unplanned have all been applied to distinguish these
thereby ensuring a more holistic and systematic assess- settlements (UN-Habitat 2012).
ment (Mahabir et al. 2016). On the one hand, the terms ‘slum’ and ‘informal
Motivated by the need for a more holistic approach settlements’ are used synonymously (UN-Habitat
to studying slums and developing a ‘how-to-deal’ holis- 2012); on the other hand, slums are urban areas char-
tic model, this paper first presents a theoretical frame- acterized by poverty and substandard living condi-
work to develop an understanding of what makes tions, while informal settlements are areas developed
a slum a slum, and to recognize the challenge of outside of planning regulations and legally sanctioned
slums. Another section of this paper reports the inter- housing and land markets. There is significant overlap
disciplinary reasons for the formation of slums, the between the two, but some slums are part of the formal
understanding of which aims to frame the context of housing sector and some informal settlements may
slums identifying the various factors relating to their have very good living conditions and can actually be
existence and growth. An exploration of the cause-effect quite affluent (Jason and Silva 2018). While informal
relationship between slums’ characteristics and the settlements offer opportunities for housing and work
above factors leads to a clearer understanding of the that are otherwise not available for the vast majority of
three lines of enquiry with regard to slums. people, slums represent a system that creates human
Furthermore, a wide understanding of the various and ecological vulnerabilities to poverty, unemploy-
slums’ contexts enables the development of an abstract ment, diseases, crime, and homelessness.
concept of the slums’ ‘how-to-deal’ collected model. In Based on the low-quality characteristics of slums, it
such a ‘how-to-deal’ model, the focus is on the challenge can be expected that they suffer from many risks, such
of analyzing the operational models of different coun- as vulnerability to both natural and unnatural hazards
tries and studies. In the next part, the research paper like floods, earthquakes, toxic pollution and traffic
gives an explanation of what has been done in Cairo, congestion. They also suffer from unemployment
Egypt, towards solving the problem of slums. The paper and therefore low economic conditions, as people liv-
argues that for the Egyptian model to work on slums, it ing in slums have neither proper education nor living
needs a wider understanding and should be enriched skills nor access to sources of education (Mitra and
with international knowledge, which may advance the Gupta 2002). Violence is another expected result of
local ‘how-to-deal’ model and enable a better under- informal dwellings; experimental data show that crime
standing of the nature of slums. The last section of the rates are higher in these areas, as are the numbers of
paper summarizes what is missing in the Egyptian victims. People living in slums are usually at high risk
model and highlights areas for further research. of exposure to diseases due to the lack of healthcare
and poor environmental conditions (Figure 1).
Diseases that have been reported in slums include
Theoretical framework cholera, malaria, and diarrhea (Victoriano et al.
2009). Children living in slums are also prone to mal-
What makes a slum a slum
nutrition, which can sometimes lead to death.
UN-Habitat (2007) gave a simple definition of a slum as Extended child malnutrition in slums is also linked
‘a heavily populated urban area characterised by sub- with the income of each family, their educational level,
standard housing and squalor’. Slums differ in their and maternal job vacancies (Tada et al. 2002).
 CITIES & HEALTH 3

Figure 1. Polluted canal in Boulaq al-Dakrour, Cairo (© GTZ Egypt).

Characteristics of slums urbanization, namely occupation, construction, infra-

structure provision, planning, regulation, and legaliza-
Socio-cultural characteristics
tion (if any) (Acioly 2010). Hence, the illegal
Slums usually begin in the suburbs of cities. During
ownership of slum lands is proven by its inhabitants.
their initial formation, slums are usually located in the
least-wanted lands close to the town or city that are
owned by the government or have no landholder. Over Architectural and urban characteristics
time, the city expands past the originally established From an architectural point of view, slums are also
slums, thereby enclosing them inside the urban area. characterized by low-quality housing that is often struc-
In cities located on high mountains, slums begin in tured with unsuitable materials such as paper, plastic,
difficult-to-reach areas or start at the bottom of valleys; mud or damaged metal pieces, and the construction
they are usually hidden from the view of the city center techniques usually make them further vulnerable to
but remain close to water features and natural heavy rain, high winds or other local weather condi-
resources. In cities that are located near rivers, slums tions. Another feature of many slums is overcrowding.
often start as elevated structures above water. On flat Many slum dwellings contain one room that is occupied
land, they usually begin on lands not appropriated for by a family of five or more and is also used for all living
cultivation and farming, near city trash dumps, or next functions, from cooking to sleeping (Figure 2). Some of
to railways – such as in India – or in other undesirable the worst characteristics of those informal settlements
locations (Fernandez 2011). These strategies protect shared by slums around the world are the inappropri-
slums from being noticed and then removed as they ate – or even complete lack of – infrastructure, from
are vulnerable to the government and property holders. a lack of clean drinking water and unreliable electricity
Regarding the governance of slums, the informality to a lack of basic healthcare, police services, public
of land ownership is the main issue during the forma- transportation, ambulance services, sanitation services,
tion of urban slums; for example, some immigrants to and paved roads. Hence, there is a low level of quality in
the region may take unoccupied land without holders the urban environment.
and live on it. Some slums at first took the landowners In addition, slum districts are characterized by
into consideration, but as they grew over time, the a chaotic mix of attached houses and narrow streets
residents stopped asking about the land and to that follow neither a linear nor an axial composition.
whom it belonged as they were not registered with Nevertheless, streets in slums have multiple functions,
the city and were usually not known by the city or more so than in other neighborhoods; they host multi-
state governments (Field 2005). ple activities during different parts of the day, serve to
In relation to the logic of settlement development, provide pathways for pipes, lighting and drainage sys-
slums start with occupation, which is the last stage in tems, and are a commercial setting, a playground for
the development of formal urban settlements. Slum children, a stage for celebrations and so on. (UN-
development follows the informal logics of Habitat 2012).
4 J. GOUSSOUS AND L. TAYOUN

Figure 2. One room for everything in Manshiet Nasser, Cairo (© GTZ Egypt).

Reasons for the formation and growth of slums issue. Moreover, many cities cannot provide low-cost
housing for large numbers of people and, faced with
Slums form and grow rapidly in many different parts
having nowhere else to go, people turn to slums to meet
of the world and for many reasons. Some of these
their most basic housing needs (Vasudevan 2015).
reasons include fast migration from villages to the
city, economic slumps and depression, high unem-
ployment rates, poverty, poor urban planning, politics, Regional level – lack of governance
natural disasters (volcanoes, hurricanes, etc.) and One more reason for slum formation is poor housing
social conflict (Patton 1998). planning, such as when there is no affordable low-cost
housing for immigrant workers. Choguill (2007) sta-
ted that a large population of slum dwellers indicates
National level – rural-urban migration the lack of a practical housing policy. Whenever there
The National Organization for Migration (2014) is a large gap between the growing requests for hous-
reported that the primary reason behind slum formation ing and an insufficient provision thereof, more slums
is rural-urban migration. Since 1950, the world popula- form as a consequence. The two main causes of poor
tion has grown at its highest rate (Roser et al. 2019) and housing in urban areas are insufficient financial
the World Population Growth study (2019) reported that resources and a lack of governmental coordination.
200 years ago, the world population was just over Wars causing the occupation of lands also lead
one billion. Since then, the number of people on the people to abandon their living places. The housing
planet has grown more than seven-fold, reaching policies available to accommodate these people are
7.7 billion in 2019. Agriculture jobs have become less usually not well-formulated, and due to insufficient
desirable, less paid and more mechanized (less manual financial resources, migrant families attempt to start
labor), using tractors and other farming equipment. The slums. These slums are rarely improved because they
percentage of people with jobs in agriculture has declined are neglected by the authorities (UN-Habitat 2003a).
by 30% over the last 60 years, even though the global In addition, the poor are forced by social exclusion
population has increased by 250% (UN-Habitat 2007). and poor infrastructure to adapt to conditions beyond
Some experts assume that urbanization creates their control. Some poor families cannot afford public
slums because local governments control the rapid transportation, so they may end up in informal settle-
growth of both urbanization and affordable housing ments located close to their jobs (National Heart
for the migrant workers to live in. Rapid growth in Foundation of Australia 2011). Low economic growth
urbanization accelerates urban growth, and this causes creates fewer job opportunities, which in turn encou-
people to look for jobs and work opportunities in rage people to stay in the slums. Furthermore, some
urban areas (Arimah 2010). governments refuse to provide urban services to slum
The belief of a large number of people that they can dwellers in the fear that they will only escalate the issue
find more promising jobs is the main reason for immi- of slums (Opeyemi et al. 2012). On the one hand,
gration to urban areas, followed by a better education theoretically, governments can provide vital social
for their children and varied income opportunities and physical safeguards and coordinate all-round
compared to what farms usually provide in rural improvement (Turok and Borel-Saladin 2018); on
areas. However, some migrants find themselves unable the other hand, practically, this requires the establish-
to immediately find job opportunities because of their ment of more property rights for slum dwellers, which
lack of experience and the progressively competitive job many governments are unwilling to provide (Fox
markets; thus, financial difficulties become the main 2014).
 CITIES & HEALTH 5

Local level – informal economy that the world has largely begun to realize that forced
When the term informal was introduced in the 1970s, evictions and slum clearance do not represent real
it was used to refer to a sector of the economy that is options. Rather, wholesale urban renewal programs,
seen as residual and temporary. Today, there is some slum regularization, upgrading, and community-based
recognition that the informal economy is neither tem- slum networking are increasingly attracting the attention
porary nor residual. It is the lifeblood of many cities, of city managers worldwide. Administrative reforms for
providing employment for many, if not the majority, greater efficiency and the reduction of corruption permit
of urban dwellers, supplying essential and affordable the implementation of pro-poor social policies with tan-
goods and services to both low- and middle-income gible successes in the area of social housing, transporta-
populations and providing inputs to the wider urban, tion, education, and public participation. Thus, every city
national and even global economy (UN-Habitat and that has slums should be seen individually, and
Cardiff University 2018). a unification of policies towards slum reduction seems
Firstly, the ‘informal economy’ is that part of an impossible to produce. Nevertheless, this research paper
economy that is neither licensed nor registered. It does aims to list and compare aspects of ‘how-to-deal’ models
not produce taxes and is not monitored by the state or from different countries in order to understand what
the federal government (Becker 2004). An informal policies and activities are fundamental to advancing in
economy generally grows faster than the formal econ- the reduction of slums and, as a result, poverty.
omy when government laws and regulations are The analyzed activities and policies are divided into
impermeable, and this causes a greater demand for overcoming the three abovementioned reasons for the
workers and therefore increases the growth of infor- presence and growth of slums, namely on the national,
mal settlements. Similarly, the informal economy also regional, and local levels. Furthermore, there is some
refers to employment without social protection. significance in taking the holistic approach to the
Secondly, informal settlement dwellers and infor- problem of slums (Mahabir et al. 2016), as mentioned
mal economy workers contribute to both the informal in the introduction of this paper. Thus, this paper
and formal economy – for example by providing represents activities and policies in the scope of (I)
cheap labor, providing outsourcing for manufactur- Socio-economic activities and policies, (II)
ing, or through the payment of small fees for conduct- Architectural and urban tools, and (III) Artificial pro-
ing business. While slum dwellers are often perceived cesses modelling for locating urban activities.
as ‘non-contributors’ to taxation, they often pay sig-
nificant amounts to local authorities and others for the
right to operate a business. Thus, the informal econ-
General ‘how-to-deal’ guidelines for the
omy also presents a benefit for the government and
prevention of slums
formal businesses as it provides cheap labor. For
instance, the size of the informal economy may be The Slum Almanac 2015–2016 (UN-Habitat 2016) out-
significant in some lower-income countries, contri- lined the main activities and tools to track improvement
buting 30–60% of GDP and providing 4 in 5 urban in the lives of slum communities as part of the
jobs (UN-Habitat and Cardiff University 2018). Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme.
Importantly, the planned activities consider various
scales of work and various areas in which work needs to
Analysis of worldwide ‘how-to-deal’ be done. Furthermore, all the following activities address
experiences of slum problems sustainable development and aim to develop a ‘how-to-
At the beginning of the new millennium, world leaders deal’ model for slums based on the three reasons for the
gathered at the United Nations to share a broad vision formation and growth of slums, as listed in the previous
to fight poverty in its many dimensions. Since slums section of this paper, namely at the national, regional, and
are the most problematic ‘source’ of poverty in less local levels. To sum up, the keys for successful slum
developed countries (UN-Habitat 2003a ‘SotW’), there upgrading and prevention within the framework of the
is a need for a well-structured unified vision for ‘how- 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New
to-deal’ with slums. The Millennium Development Urban Agenda (UN-Habitat 2016) are:
Goals (United Nations 2015a) are intended to tackle
poverty in general and, hence, slums. Nevertheless, the (1) Recognition of the challenge of slums.
work on poverty reduction in slums is not yet com- Acknowledging the need to enforce the rights
plete (UN-Habitat 2003a), and it requires a holistic and realize the potential of slum dwellers must
analysis of what activities had been done and what be a priority. Importantly, housing should be
activities remain to be done in the future. placed at the center.
Importantly, many studies (UN-Habitat 2003a (2) A people-centered approach. The final aim of
‘GRoHS’) on slums state that the analysis of policies every slum upgrading intervention should be
and activities toward the reduction of slums indicate transforming the lives of the people living in
6 J. GOUSSOUS AND L. TAYOUN

slums rather than transforming merely the be unified within a country. Five statements should be
physical characteristics of slums. developed at the regional level and, thus, may be unified
(3) Government leadership. Governments can within a region, province or state. Meanwhile, the
provide an enabling environment to develop majority of activities must undoubtedly be focused on
and implement the appropriate policies and improvements at the local level. This proves that even
plans to trigger change for, and in partnership though tools can be generalized, the principal tools
with, poor urban dwellers, actively working must be developed individually for each specific case
with regional and municipal governments. involving slum. Generally speaking, the table provides
(4) Strengthening of a policy response. A dedicated clear picture showing that the most important areas of
policy framework to regulate sustainable urban work are socio-economic activities and policies that
development and the upgrading and prevention must consider the regional and local levels as frame-
of slums is a precondition for effective, sustain- works for the developing of the ‘how-to-deal’ model.
able, long-term, and large-scale responses. Here, it is important to note that urban policies can be
(5) Systemic and city-wide ‘at scale’ approaches. highly successful in reducing slums (UN-Habitat 2003a
All tiers of government are critical to systema- ‘GRoHS’); however, they need to be implemented
tic and ‘at scale’ slum upgrading strategies and within the context of broader urban-regional and
programs that both improve current condi- macro-level socio-economic policies. Particularly
tions and prevent new slum formation. where there are national or international components
(6) Integration of people and systems. All levels of to the urbanization process, it would be unrealistic to
government concerned must develop and expect local-level urban policies alone to be able to
coordinate broader integrated policies and address all of the outcomes of migration patterns.
frameworks to ensure a complex understand-
ing of the communities living in slums.
Detailed ‘how-to-deal’ collected model
(7) Appropriate long-term financial investment
and inclusive financing options. After the explanation of the general ‘how-to-deal’
(8) Addressing of land issues and providing slum guidelines for the prevention of slums and the division
dwellers with the security of tenure. of all the actions into three enquiries, this paper goes
(9) Participatory approach and community partici- on to explain what has been found by different studies
pation. All stakeholders must be involved in the to describe slum prevention. The scope of different
decision-making process for slum upgrading. knowledge from different studies allows the introduc-
(10) Combining slum upgrading with employment tion of the ‘how-to-deal’ collected model of slum pre-
generation and local economic development. vention. Hereby, socio-economic activities and policy
(11) Development of participatory, robust, stan- solutions at the regional and local levels will be
dardized and computerized data collection explained in more detail.
processes.
(12) Creating peer-learning platforms. Enquiry (I) – Socio-economic activities and policies
As with any informal settlement, a slum is more similar to
Table 1 shows that the majority of activities address formal urban areas than to rural areas in terms of employ-
(Enquiry I) socio-economic activities and policy solu- ment rates and quality (Turok and Borel-Saladin 2018).
tions to the problem of slums (and hence the problem of Thus, slum upgrading programs should be city-oriented,
poverty); namely, 9 out of 12 enquiries belong to such as Citywide Street-led Slum Upgrading Programme
Enquiry (I). Two key statements target the change of Cycle (Acioly 2010). The program cycle starts from the
the physical characteristics of slums (Enquiry II), and 3 policy formation, namely tenure regularization, land
out of 12 consider the modeling of artificial processes market reforms, financial and institutional reforms, offi-
for locating urban activities (Enquiry III). All the key cial recognition of the right to housing, the establishment
statements consider different levels of expansion. of policies that support the work with civil society and the
Undoubtedly, the problem of slums cannot be solved private sector, and a regulatory framework for slums and
by working only on a single level, for example only on low-income housing areas. Likewise, policies should aim
the local level. A third part of the key statements refers to solve the problem of slums mainly at the regional level.
to the national framework; thus, these statements may The formation of policies is followed by city-level actions
(local level), which are constituted by the collection of
information on the slums, mapping, urban planning,
Table 1. Participatory slum upgrading programme. building regulations, and the drafting of a citywide slum
Enquiry (I) Enquiry (II) Enquiry (III) upgrading action plan with stakeholder participation.
National level 1 7 4 - - 12 - Later on, slums are included in the municipal budget
Regional level 3 8 6 -
Local level 2 5 9 and become platforms for the application of institutional
10 11 co-ordination mechanisms and governance.
 CITIES & HEALTH 7

A report titled ‘Streets as Tools for Urban development programs, and community participation
Transformation in Slums: A Street-led Approach (UN-Habitat 2012).
to Citywide Slum Upgrading’ (UN-Habitat 2012) The Heart Foundation of Australia (2011) suggests
states that a global evaluation of the policy guidelines to create healthy residential areas for inha-
responses to informal settlements and slums carried bitants in slums:
out during the 1990s for the UN-Habitat-World
Bank Urban Management Programme revealed (1) Quality of open space: Easily reachable and
four major approaches: (1) Legalization of tenure accessible, with well-designed parks for chil-
focusing on land-use and property regularization; dren and public use.
(2) Settlement upgrading to achieve a rational (2) Walking and cycling: Designing a well-
urban layout pattern and optimal land use process, connected network of workability, with trails,
which included re-blocking and densification; (3) shared lanes, and hop on – hop off transport.
Overly ambitious settlement upgrading aimed at (3) Developing connected, safe, and legal street
infrastructure provision and making up for years networks: Design a street network setup along
of neglect and poor services provision; and (4) neat grids and with attractive noticeable fron-
A preventive approach that encompassed an incre- tages to encourage people to become more
mental provision of primary infrastructure com- interactive.
bined with recognition and incorporation of these (4) Accessible public transportation: Good public
settlements into formal systems, accepting a gradual transportation provides the opportunity to give
compliance with norms and laws and the progres- up cars, encouraged by the difficulties of finding
sive formalization of properties and urban restruc- parking spots and the rising cost of driving a car.
turing (Banerjee 2003). According to the report, (5) Compact neighborhoods to ensure the viability
from the social point of view, successful slum of destinations.
upgrading reveals three that simultaneous processes (6) Creating a community heart: Having healthy
happen over time: (1) The slum dweller becomes neighborhoods increases the interactions
a citizen (2) The shack becomes a house (3) The between people because they are meeting
slum settlement becomes a neighborhood (Banerjee every day at parks and open spaces, giving the
2006). Furthermore, the existing informal layout place the necessary interactions.
and street addresses should be registered in
a state/public registry (UN-Habitat 2012). Without Crucially, these above statements fully correspond
formal land titles, slum dwellers lack the incentives with Goal 11 ‘Make cities and human settlements
to improve the quality of their homes and neigh- inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’ of the 2030
bourhoods (Marx et al. 2013). Agenda for Sustainable Development (2015b), thus
It is clear that new policies and socio-economic they also ensure the sustainable development of
activities do not necessarily lead to the isolation of slums and, thereby, aim to reduce poverty.
slums (UN-Habitat 2012). A Street-led approach by Abdel Aziz and Shawket (2011) suggested achieving
UN-Habitat (2012) strongly suggests integrating slum sustainable housing development by upgrading slum
upgrading into city planning and management while areas in developing countries using vernacular solu-
strengthening existing inner economic activities. tions. The strategy of upgrading slums is constituted
Likewise, the urban economy will start to grow if by three phases: (1) Planning adjustment (changing of
governments facilitate mixed-use to enable shops, layout and building lines, space networks, town cram-
commerce, and home-based income-generation activ- ming and density, street width, form of urban tissue,
ities. The integration of training for the workers of and road hierarchy), (2) Facade adjustment (changing
these shops and small enterprises will lead to the of openings, materials and colors, elevation width,
growth of trust among workers from slums. Hence, block size, and texture), and (3) Urban image adjust-
slum upgrading must be institutionalized at the local ment (changing of landmark/key buildings, edges, and
government level. using roofs). These three phases address non-radical
changes that respect the inner structure of the slums as
Enquiry (II) – change of the physical characteristics a living organism inside the urban structure. This
of slums adaptation aims to beautify the visual status rather
Despite of the fact that socio-economic activities and than reorganize an existing structure of the slums.
policies are crucial to slum upgrading (UN-Habitat Likewise, activities should be soft but goal-oriented
2016), the physical improvement of slums is also an (reduce poverty). One of the important soft changes
essential component of upgrading that is directly con- is a connection of slums with the existing formal urban
nected with the pillars of upgrading: renovation of tissue through urban mobility networks (UN-Habitat
facilities, housing improvement, tenure regularization, 2012).
8 J. GOUSSOUS AND L. TAYOUN

The involvement of residents in setting priorities, on land non-assigned for construction (trespass on the
design, implementation, operation and maintenance property of the state or encroachment on agricultural
of infrastructure is a matter of great importance (UN- land), which does not allow the owner to register the
Habitat 2012). Thus, all the changes concerning the land and (2) Be built in contravention of the laws and
physical characteristics of slums must be community- requirements of building, which does not allow the
oriented. owner to obtain a license to build (Hassan 2012).
Over 70% of Cairo’s population lives in informal
Enquiry (II) – modeling of the artificial processes for housing, and they are commonly viewed by the other
locating urban activities inhabitants as a problem. From their point of view, these
The Citywide Street-led Slum Upgrading Programme informal settlements create social problems, such as dis-
Cycle (Acioly 2010) reported that socio-economic ease and violence (Soliman 2012), and they feel that this
activities and policies (Enquiry I) also listed actions is a global image that people will hold against Cairo.
at the slum level that aim at the modeling of urban The emergence of the slums (ashwa’iyyat) presented
activities. The enquiry starts with participatory map- the government with the opportunity to make and man-
ping and enumeration and is followed by the creation ufacture an ‘internal other’ that could be described as
of a participatory management plan. Based on the a danger to the state. Ashwa’iyyat were known as havens
model of the participatory management plan and for terrorists and were considered threats to Egypt’s
approved by the involved stakeholders, activities can physical, moral, and political health. The government
start on the implementation of streets and services as introduced slums as the ‘centers of evil’, an introduction
well as street address tenure regularization. that was then reintroduced in informal social discourse.
They have become known as a place for terrorists in
Cairo, according to the values of urban city dwellers.
Case study – slums in Cairo, Egypt
Those in the ashwa’iyyat who are not considered terror-
Cairo is one of the largest cities in both Africa and the ists are perceived to be backward by those living in
Middle East. It has been the capital of Egypt for over attached communities. This prejudice can be seen in
a thousand years and, thus, is a very important cultural news articles and films showing the real conditions the
and political focal point in the region. Cairo is a primate inhabitants are facing each day in such communities.
city and has maintained its urban overriding over the last This separation between the state, or the formal per se,
few eras. The population of Greater Cairo is 20,485,000, and the ashwa’iyyat allows for the construction of the
which represents more than a fifth of Egypt’s total popu- ‘internal other’.
lation of 101 million (PopulationStat n.d.). The state capital, society, and many academics call
Cairo (or Al-Qahira – ‘The Victorious’, as it was Cairo a ‘dual city’ (Abdelmonem 2015) – the first one is
known in AD 969) grew on land near Fustat, another organized and well-regulated by the state, and
Islamic city that was established at the beginning of the second is defined by the slums. Those who live in
Islam in AD 647. These cities were themselves estab- the slums are the ones who claim to be in opposition to
lished by the Roman settlements of Babylon and state society. Evidently, as with any other slum, slums in
Memphis near the same location in a very strategic Cairo were built due to disagreements with the laws of
area located southwest of the Nile Delta. By the 14th planning and construction (Figure 3). The term ash-
century, governed by the Mameluke authorities, Cairo wa’iyyat answers the general description of a slum that
had become a unique city, dominating regional trade had been presented in the theoretical framework of this
and exhibiting a large focus on wealth and architecture. paper. Based on this definition, informal settlements are
However, by the early 17th century, under Ottoman outside all state development programs, where by the
rule, Cairo began a long epoch of decline. Then, in the absence of services (utilities, paved roads, schools,
mid-19th century, under the rule of Mohamed Ali healthcare centers, etc.) is accentuated and the problem
Pasha and his successors, Cairo began to revive itself has gradually been consolidated (Hassan 2012).
both politically and economically through moderniza- Recently, informal areas around Greater Cairo have
tion, depending on Europeans and technology (Sims n. enjoyed a building boom, with new informal low-cost
d.). From 1882 to 1936, Cairo – and Egypt as a whole – buildings rapidly being constructed and more floors
fell under British colonial rule. The rapid urbanization being added to existing weak structures (Figure 4).
of Colonial Egypt over the next four decades led to the Hassan (2012) wrote that should this trend continue
emergence of informal urban development and infor- (and there is no reason to think it will not), the rate of
mal housing supply. Informal settlements, known as absorption of Greater Cairo’s additional population
ashwa’iyyat, are thought to accommodate about into informal areas will be even further increased,
40–50% of Egypt’s urban population and over 20% of probably exceeding 80% of the entire population
the total population of the county (World Bank and increase (Sims et al. 2011).
USAID/TAPRII 2008). According to the legal definition Considering the fact that slums in Cairo continue
by Egyptian law for ashwa’iyyat, they must (1) Be built to grow, even if the government implements policies
 CITIES & HEALTH 9

Figure 3. Informal settlements in Cairo on agricultural and desert land (© GTZ Egypt).

toward the reduction of slums, this paper sees a need stock, mainly for lower-income groups (Hassan 2011),
to analyze what has been done in Cairo and compares which has supported the expansion of slums and
this with Enquiries (I), (II) and (III). Current research informal urbanization. This happened due to the ren-
argues that it is important to enrich the Egyptian tal control law, enacted before 1967, which froze hous-
‘how-to-deal’ model with aspects of the ‘how-to-deal’ ing rents to ensure affordability but also caused the
collecting model (explained above) in order to address withdrawal of the private sector from the housing
how to successfully prevent slums in the country. market. Hence, secularization in the real estate market
Following the explanation of what steps of the ‘how- emerged and caused a lack of state access to urban
to-deal’ model have been done in Egypt, this paper areas; as a result, these areas became unregistered real
reports the actions and activities that are missing in estate properties. Moreover, there is a significant lack
Cairo’s approach to slums. The data collection was of financial resources for urban and housing develop-
made based on an analysis of research and published ment. Thus, the activities planned under the develop-
reports about the solutions to slums in Egypt. ment of the ‘how-to-deal’ model for Cairo should also
consider overcoming this reason for the slums’
formation.
Which steps of the ‘how-to-deal’ model have been
In the 1980s, the government of Egypt started
done in Egypt?
developing strategies to halt the slums’ growth
In addition to the causes of the presence and growth of (Abdelhalim 2014), and until 1993, the local govern-
slums worldwide, Cairo’s slums have one more reason ment of Cairo continued to follow two approaches to
for their existence. Cairo has a deficit in its housing slums: demolition and relocation. In 1993, a national

Figure 4. Manshiet Nasser, Cairo (© GTZ Egypt).

10 J. GOUSSOUS AND L. TAYOUN

program was launched to redevelop 20 slum areas slums in Cairo are deemed unsafe (Mourad 2016).
(Maher Habib 2017). Later, the program implemented The latter are divided into four grades on the basis of
a survey to identify those slums which required full the severity and type of danger they pose to residents,
demolition and those requiring only upgrading. including environmental and geological factors (grade
Furthermore, it was found that in many cases, remov- one); unsuitable shelters (grade two); exposure to
ing the inhabitants of slums was a suitable solution. In industrial pollution, high-voltage power cables, or no
such cases, the former slum residents were forced to access to potable water (grade three); and areas that
build new lives in freshly built districts or cities, which include houses developed on state-owned land or
also suffered from a lack of services. Therefore, resi- property belonging to the Ministry of Religious
dents of such areas have always resisted these plans Endowments (grade four) (Leila 2019).
(Madbouly 2009). Based on the above division, many families are
Until 2008, the Egyptian government tried to adopt being moved from the least safe areas to new blocks
two approaches to dealing with informal areas. The first of flats. In 2014, the Government of Egypt laid the
approach was preventative, whereby measures were foundation for the development of 6,300 residential
taken to limit or stop the growth of informal settlements. units for the inhabitants of hazardous areas (Leila
The second approach was interventionist, whereby the 2019). For instance, 82 families moved from
government intervened to improve or remove informal Manshiet Nasser to houses constructed by the Nasser
areas (Sims 2008). The government followed the above Social Bank as part of the relocation plan. Another
two approaches until 2008 when the Informal Settlement part of Manshiet Nasser, which was considered safer,
Development Fund (ISDF) was established. The ISDF is was re-planned by building a sewage system and elec-
a governmental institution that helps identify and tricity and potable water networks. Families have been
develop informal areas by providing basic facilities such granted different re-location and re-development
as potable water, sanitation, and electricity. It also super- agreements. For example, families have an opportu-
vises urbanization plans for slum areas, assesses and, nity to move to Asmarat, which is a new low-housing
where necessary, condemns unsafe buildings, and encou- neighborhood project. Residents of ‘hazardous dis-
rage civil society organizations and the business sector to tricts’ have been offered usufruct contracts for their
help develop informal slums. The institution has spent Asmarat units, for which they also have to pay 300
14 billion Egyptian pounds in the last two years on Egyptian pounds. These contracts expire after the
developing slum areas, and ‘ISDF plans to eradicate death of the head of the household (Mohie 2018).
slums by 2030’ (Leila 2019). The residents of slums that recurrently under
a major redevelopment were offered deeds and resi-
Enquiry (I) – socio-economic activities and policies dential units, also for 300 Egyptian pounds.
in Cairo Importantly, while the government evacuates danger-
Generally speaking, the socio-economic attractiveness ous areas, it is also upgrading other informal settle-
of the ashwa’iyyat increased with the implementation ments, connecting them to basic services, and paving
of physical changes. For example, the changes to the roads (Mourad 2016).
physical characteristics encouraged the contribution In regard to policies, in 2015, the government started
of civil society and NGOs, focusing on the socio- the process of legalizing residential units. For example,
economic needs for development. For three decades, residential buildings located in the least dangerous dis-
the government has worked with international donors tricts of Manshiet Nasser were legalized, which granted
to provide slums with educational, health, and social them an official allowance to improve their facades.
services. Nevertheless, the implemented policies have
not been able to address the problem of the slums’ Enquiry (II) – change of the physical characteristics
presence in full. of the slums in Cairo
Specialized NGOs were created in order to address In the early 1990s, the government made the first
the redevelopment of Manshiet Nasser, an informal efforts to upgrade the slums in Cairo through the
settlement in west Cairo. The NGOs have a strong recognition of informal settlements and residents’
presence and play a key role in improving the slum’s right to have access to basic services and adequate
area (El-Kadi 2014). The efforts seen in the slum facilities as well as through the delivery in many
include the beautification of building facades, paving areas of basic infrastructure, such as water supply
roads, and creating gates for the main roads. These and sewerage networks together with schools and
activities may also belong to Enquiry (II) of slum healthcare centers, which resulted in improved living
prevention activities. However, the disadvantage of conditions. Later on, slums were classified according
the above solutions is that they are temporary: they to their ability to be either upgraded (1201 areas) or
hide the ‘core’ of the problem instead of solving it. evicted (20 areas). It was a starting phase to provide
The ISDF helps to demolish houses in slums that basic infrastructure and municipal services to the
are considered unsafe in west Cairo, whereby 351 slums.
 CITIES & HEALTH 11

Starting in 1992, after some poorer urban areas argues that this happens due to a lack of using verna-
were perceived as breeding grounds for political cular solutions during the project design.
instability, the government finally launched Nowadays, slums in Cairo experience high interest
a program to improve informal or aashwa’iyyat areas from young architects and architecture students. Since
throughout Egypt (UN-Habitat 2003a). On the local the problem of a lack of urban activities in slums has not
level, existing ashwa’iyyat were accepted as govern- been addressed from the scientific point of view (UN-
mental partners, and the intervention in unplanned Habitat 2003a), this question gives full scope to young
areas was aimed at lessening the population density by specialists’ imagination. Likewise, Summer School 2015
enlarging roads and providing public buses. These at Bauhaus University Weimar aimed to create
actions undoubtedly addressed the need to improve a proposal to place urban activities and community
slum dwellers’ living conditions. engagement in the ashwa’iyyat (this refers to the author’s
Architectural solutions were developed for slum experience). Students proposed opening the slums’
areas that needed to be upgraded. For instance, the streets to the public and using vernacular materials and
redevelopment of Ezbet El-Haggana, a slum in north- aspects of urban planning. With the help of GIS software,
east Cairo, required the population to be temporarily they designed a map of over-heated zones in slums and
transferred to camps until the completion of the con- suggested putting green areas there for cooling.
struction works. The upgrading activities were possi- Nevertheless, students also summarized in their work
ble due to the accumulation of public and private that without proper policies and state aid, these activities
investment. Nevertheless, it is important that solely would not address the whole extent of the problem. The
architectural solutions represent temporary solution lack of state aid in streets’ opening would provoke the
when the majority of the problems of slums remain. growth of slums, while the use of vernacular materials
El-Kadi (2014) published a list of the applied architec- would force new informal construction sites. To sum-
tural solutions for Ezbet El-Haggana: marize, this paper suggests that the modelling of artificial
processes for locating urban activities in Cairo should
(1) Adding a main central area for open spaces, allow families to participate in social activities, self-
services, and commercial places. improvement and generating additional income.
(2) Reusing the main axis leading to the circle A successful example of locating urban activities that
when designing a commercial plaza. took place in Cairo in cooperation with aid agencies is
(3) Patterns and grids from the urban surround- the Participatory Development Program (PDP) when
ings are to be selected and redistributed because the Egyptian government sought the help of the
the main parameter to compare solutions is the German government in its endeavor to find
density of the population. a sustainable resolution for the informal areas in Cairo
(Maher Habib 2017). The Egyptian Ministry of
Planning, the German Technical Cooperation (GIZ)
Enquiry (III) – modeling of the artificial processes for
and the German Financial Cooperation (KFW), in
locating urban activities in Cairo
addition to the Egyptian Ministry of Local
As mentioned before, many families who live in slums Development, NGOs, and the governorate of Cairo,
in Cairo were offered the opportunity to move to implemented the project. Nour (2011) reported that
Asmarat. Inhabitants of slums who were used to living interventions were mainly under Enquiry (II).
there and who had their traditionally oriented work- Nevertheless, the population participated actively and
shops there were thus transferred to a neighborhood nominated a representative who was entitled to collect
that had neither shops nor workshops. Approximately money from the inhabitants and buy the necessary
140 shops were built into the various residential blocks materials to paint the facades. Moreover, the inhabi-
as part of the first two phases of Asmarat, but so far, tants were involved in the decision-making about the
none of them have opened for business. Thus, many implemented transformations. In neither summary,
former slum residents do not have workshops in the Nour (2011) stated that ‘Among the difficulties that
new place, and they find themselves without work and faced the implementation of this participatory project
without a space to practice their professions. Asmarat was overestimating the level of support to the concept of
remains far from the other districts of Cairo and is participatory upgrading by the Egyptian government.
disconnected from its residents’ sources of income This was shown in the fact that during the first stages,
(Mohie 2018). To summarize, the process of slum relo- local authorities were hesitant towards accepting or
cation does not address the relocation of urban activities perceiving the project’s activities’.
and vernacular neighborhood functioning. This shows
that Asmarat challenges further informality (Mohie
Missed elements in Cairo’s ‘how-to-deal’ model
2018). Some former slums’ inhabitants say that by mov-
ing to Asmarat, they have lost their sense of freedom The Egyptian government needs to learn from the
and independence (Mohie 2018). This research paper success of international experiences in dealing with
12 J. GOUSSOUS AND L. TAYOUN

slums in other parts of the world. Since other devel- dwellers with the security of tenure. The program of
oping countries have developed globally and have Cairo was criticized for not legalizing of formalizing
acknowledged and successful experiences in dealing land tenure (Hassan 2012).
with slums, the success factors derived from these In regard to Enquiry (II), the adoption of flexible
practices can be useful for Egypt’s ‘how-to-deal’ and adapted planning regulations and building stan-
model (Maher Habib 2017). Hence, if the Egyptian dards is missing in the ‘how-to-deal’ model for Cairo.
government adopts the lost factors of the national This means that official approval of planning, facades
model with the help of the international model, this and urban image adjustments, as suggested by the
can help it to effectively face and address the problem ‘how-to-deal’ collecting model, is not possible in
of slums. Cairo. The Enquiry (II) activities offer only band-aid
One the one hand, the international ‘how-to-deal’ solutions. Slum solutions in Cairo tend to isolate slum
collecting model states that the most important areas of dwellers from the rest of the city, while one of the most
work on slums are socio-economic activities and policies important aspects of creating a healthy residential area
that must consider the regional and local levels as frame- is to open it. Hence, the Egyptian government should
works for the developing of the ‘how-to-deal’ model. One put more effort into the creation of better-quality
the other hand, the Egyptian ‘how-to-deal’ model barely infrastructure since architectural tools cannot address
considers the implementation of social activities and, the problem by themselves (Maher Habib 2017).
generally speaking, entails low interest in locating According to Sims et al. (2011), ashwa’iyyat have
urban activities and promoting the participatory much social potential and contain small but important
approach of Enquiry (III). Indeed, the government of businesses. The combination of slum upgrading with
Cairo started with the changes to the physical character- employment generation and local economic develop-
istics of slums. Sometimes these physical changes to the ment in Cairo had not yet been achieved. Likewise, the
streets and general services were not supported by new incorporation of the informal economy, which leads to
policies or by state insurance. Thus, the challenge of the the formation of slums at the local level, into the
slums has been recognized only partially. formal economy, has also not yet happened.
The process of classification and data collection is Crucially, the introduction of such assets must be
one of the most positive aspects of the Egyptian ‘how- improved in a way that contributes to the whole city
to-deal’ model. Thus, paragraph 11 of the general development (Sims et al. 2011). Hassan (2012) states
‘how-to-deal’ guidelines for the prevention of slums that on the eve of the revolution, Egypt had
has been accomplished in full. one million unemployed people aged 20 to 24
Very little attention was devoted to community (Korotayev and Zinkina 2011), and since ashwa’iyyat
participation through on-governmental organizations encompasses about 40% of Cairo’s population, it is
(NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs), clear that there is a large workforce in need of employ-
and the private sector also plays no role in the process. ment, particularly in development projects that would
As for the government’s role in these areas, state give them hope for the future.
actions were neither neglectful nor confrontational. The most important weakness of Cairo’s model of
Regulations from the Egyptian government have, for slum prevention is its ignoring of the people-centered
the most part, been absent and were only issued to deal approach. The final aim of every slum upgrading
with cases that needed an immediate solution (Hassan intervention should be transforming the lives of the
2012). Nevertheless, governmental leadership is repre- people living in slums rather than transforming only
sented. Importantly, the government has to work the physical characteristics of slums (UN-Habitat
actively with NGOs, CBOs, poor community dwellers, 2016). Based on the ‘how-to-deal’ collecting model,
and the private sector. At the moment, the participa- this aim may be achieved by establishing an institu-
tory approach and community participation are not tional setup that unifies effort, takes responsibility,
implemented in Cairo. Meanwhile, Enquiry (I) meets develops policies, coordinates stakeholders and com-
the urgent need for the involvement of all stakeholders munity participation, and creates a peer-learning plat-
in the decision-making process of slum upgrading. form. Such a peer-learning platform would
The previous statement is, however, followed by the undoubtedly be popular with students, who are
observation of a lack of coordination and integration already interested in the problem of slums and poverty
of the efforts by the state. Nevertheless, by collecting (this refers to the author’s experience).
the data on the slums, the government took one more Broadly speaking, a review of the literature did not
step towards coordinating better policies and the find any official information about policies in Egypt
‘how-to-deal’ model’s framework. In the future, the focused on decreasing rural-urban migration, which is
state should work on a clear identification of the roles considered the first and global reason for slums’ pre-
for each partner in the upgrading of such areas. sence and growth. It is crucial, if following the holistic
Another aspect of the collecting international approach to slums, to also act at the national level and
model is addressing land issues and providing slum thus prevents the continued migration from the
 CITIES & HEALTH 13

countryside to the cities by supporting rural develop- approach to slum reduction, constituted by socio-
ment, especially economic development. Thus, slums economic activities and policies, the transformation
in Cairo need to be demographically studied to be able of slums’ physical characteristics, and the modeling
to draw a map of possible new places to relocate of artificial urban processes at the national, regional,
people (El-Kadi 2014). and local levels, every country can understand the
In general, in reference to the national, regional, and missed elements in its ‘how-to-deal’ model. Secondly,
local levels, a rights-based, people-centered process the Egyptian scientific community may benefit from
should be developed by the following proposed ideas: the explanation of the ‘how-to-deal’ collected model
by comparing it to the country’s national approach. As
(1) The right to access affordable housing. This explained in this paper, the international model may
right is provided and established by the potentially lie at the root of the missed aspects of
Egyptian constitution and follows the UN- a detailed international decision support system for
Habitat’s policy to provide access to adequate the prevention of slums.
housing as well as the MDG goal concerning
better living and dwelling conditions.
(2) The right to have peaceful and enjoyable prop- Disclosure statement
erty, including basic services.
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
(3) The right to access public and governmental
services.
(4) The right for slum dwellers to not be relocated
Notes on contributors
but rather to be integrated into the city’s society
and economy. Jawdat Goussous, Ph. D. Architecture. An architect inter-
ested in research related to the architectural and
Environmental resources, especially the conservation of
Conclusion the architectural heritage of recent periods. Holding
a PhD. in architecture (1990) from Kiev engineering insti-
The growth of slums appears to be an inevitable urban tute, and diploma of architecture (1987) from Kharkov
phenomenon in developing countries (Bag and Seth engineering institute, USSR. He is Associate Professor of
2018). National policymakers, architects, and urban Architecture at the University of Jordan. He served as the
planners continue to address the problem of slums Head of Architecture Department, University of Jordan for
several years and participated in several specialized commit-
only from the physical point of view. This opinion is tees for Greater Amman Municipality and Ministry of
borne out in the case of the slums in Cairo. The govern- Public Works and Housing among others.
ment of Cairo started to address slum prevention
Lama Tayoun, BA. Architecture. An architect holding
through changes to the physical aspects of slums, a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of
while the Egyptian ‘how-to-deal’ model barely consid- Jordan (2018), currently a Master’s student of architecture at
ers the implementation of social changes in slums, the University of Jordan. She is interested in research on
cultural adaptation or environmental beautification. several topics in architecture including heritage conserva-
Moreover, physical changes to the streets and general tion, urban planning, and interior design.
services were not supported by new policies or state
insurance. This paper concludes that slum prevention
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