• The slums in Egypt are known as Ashwa’iyyat.

• Egypt to upgrade Cairo’s slum areas.

• The completion of the project is in 2030.

In Egypt, the slum is known as Ashwa’iyyat, which literally means disordered or haphazard. It refers to informal areas suffering from problems of accessibility, narrow streets, the absence of vacant land and open spaces, very high residential densities, and insufficient infrastructure and services. It also refers to decaying inner-city tenements, squatter settlements, informal settlements, and shantytowns. According to a paper by habitat international, defining what constitutes a slum is a controversial issue. The term does not only suggest indecent and miserable living conditions but also implies other important aspects such as informality; informality can mean substandard, illegal, or disrespecting building laws and planning regulations.

In 2010, Egypt appeared to have 39.9% of its urban population, with a total number of 11.8 million inhabitants living in the slums. Cairo itself has 4 out of the 30 biggest mega-slums in the world. Most of these areas are developed in contradiction to building laws and planning regulations. The residents build houses on state-owned lands or on privately-owned agricultural lands without getting permission to build or fit in with the land use plan if these exist for the area.

However, Egypt has the vision to spend $25 billion on upgrading slums and turning them into well-planned civilized neighborhoods and liveable places. This action shows how well the government cares about the general well-being of the citizens, and their standard of living and they care to give them a sustainable life while also looking out for the environment. They are demolishing these slums and turning them into civilized neighborhoods. This project was started in 2015 and it is expected complete by 2030.