The Ministry of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities’s plan for urban development is one of the most important steps to support the economy, with evidence of pumping nearly EGP 4trn in infrastructure, according to the Egyptian Junior Business Association (EJB).
EJB’s Chairperson Sherif El Gabaly pointed out that there are many challenges facing the government. Hence, the ministry has adopted an urban development plan for the current period and the future.
For his part, Deputy Minister of Housing for National Projects Khaled Abbas said that the Ministry targeted a large number of issues in its plan for future urban development of Egypt, namely, population increase which is important due to the annual 3 million citizen increase in the population.
During the conference, Integrated Urban Development, the Vision of the Government and the Private Sector to Create Investment Opportunities, held by EJB on Sunday, Abbas added that the projected population size by 2052 is estimated to reach 150 to 180 million, which requires meeting many basic requirements, perhaps the most prominent of which is housing.
Abbas stressed that the ministry has completed 650,000 housing units so far which have been handed over to citizens, in addition to serving 120,000 citizens annually in cooperation with the Central Bank of Egypt.
Abbas noted that the duration of the four-year sanitation services in villages have been doubled, reaching 40% in the coming period, in addition to full coverage of the cities. Moreover, the ministry targeted developing informal areas and work to end the re-emergence of slums.
The most dangerous areas, which are close to mountains and railways, have already been developed, with 200,000 units provided and 150,000 units completed. In addition, the whole plan for developing informal areas will be completed by the end of January. Besides, Maspero, Tal Al-Akareb, Magra El-Oyoun and Ain Sira areas have been developed.
