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An interplay between formal and informal development:A case study of two neighborhoods in the Tenth of Ramadan City

The over-congestion of the Nile valley and Delta region led to the political conclusion that new desert cities were necessary to attract the ever-growing population and reduce the pressure on existing Nile Valley cities. The new desert cities that were meant to house a total population of 12 million...

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Main Author: Mansour, Mennat Allah Mohamed Awad
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2020
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access_status_str Open Access
author Mansour, Mennat Allah Mohamed Awad
author_browse Mansour, Mennat Allah Mohamed Awad
author_facet Mansour, Mennat Allah Mohamed Awad
author_sort Mansour, Mennat Allah Mohamed Awad
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv The American University in Cairo grants authors of theses and dissertations a maximum embargo period of two years from the date of submission, upon request. After the embargo elapses, these documents are made available publicly. If you are the author of this thesis or dissertation, and would like to request an exceptional extension of the embargo period, please write to thesisadmin@aucegypt.edu
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
description The over-congestion of the Nile valley and Delta region led to the political conclusion that new desert cities were necessary to attract the ever-growing population and reduce the pressure on existing Nile Valley cities. The new desert cities that were meant to house a total population of 12 million people, today, four decades after the initiative started, only house a fraction of this target population, failing to attract residents in spite of the countless housing units left vacant. It is important to study the underlying factors that led to this urban problem and population gap to inform the planning process of future cities. In an urban context like Egypt’s with two thirds of its urban population residing in informal settlements, it becomes necessary to acknowledge this reality and to study extensively the phenomenon of informality, especially in planning practices to see how it may inform the rise of more integrative and sustainable built environments. This research aims to shed light on the interplay between the formal and informal development processes and how (if it all) it can create alternative sustainable urban growth models. Through a qualitative phenomenological research approach, two neighborhoods are studied in depth to reach a profound comprehension of their ‘reality’, in the Tenth of Ramadan City, which was the first new city to be established. Megawra 14, which contains the only Core Housing Scheme in the Tenth of Ramadan City and can be considered a case of interplay between formal and informal development, and Megawra 13, which contains governmental public housing apartment buildings and considered a formally planned neighborhood. Followed by a sustainability analysis, which shed light on how sustainable the opposite planning strategies of the two neighborhoods are, under the three dimensions of social, physical and economic sustainability. The three dimensions were further subcategorized into emergent themes, such as, sense of ownership, safety, density, utilization of space and accessibility to services, reflecting on each neighborhood’s degree of sustainability for each theme. The analysis conveys the strengths and weakness of both contrasting neighborhoods in terms of their sustainability. Finally arriving to the conclusion that the many new Egyptian cities in their planning stages can benefit a lot by integrating informal development patterns in their formal planning models to yield sustainable built environments that attract, enable and empower the complex, characterful and vibrant culture of the Egyptian population.
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institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
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license_str Creative Commons
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
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spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-2778 An interplay between formal and informal development:A case study of two neighborhoods in the Tenth of Ramadan City Mansour, Mennat Allah Mohamed Awad The over-congestion of the Nile valley and Delta region led to the political conclusion that new desert cities were necessary to attract the ever-growing population and reduce the pressure on existing Nile Valley cities. The new desert cities that were meant to house a total population of 12 million people, today, four decades after the initiative started, only house a fraction of this target population, failing to attract residents in spite of the countless housing units left vacant. It is important to study the underlying factors that led to this urban problem and population gap to inform the planning process of future cities. In an urban context like Egypt’s with two thirds of its urban population residing in informal settlements, it becomes necessary to acknowledge this reality and to study extensively the phenomenon of informality, especially in planning practices to see how it may inform the rise of more integrative and sustainable built environments. This research aims to shed light on the interplay between the formal and informal development processes and how (if it all) it can create alternative sustainable urban growth models. Through a qualitative phenomenological research approach, two neighborhoods are studied in depth to reach a profound comprehension of their ‘reality’, in the Tenth of Ramadan City, which was the first new city to be established. Megawra 14, which contains the only Core Housing Scheme in the Tenth of Ramadan City and can be considered a case of interplay between formal and informal development, and Megawra 13, which contains governmental public housing apartment buildings and considered a formally planned neighborhood. Followed by a sustainability analysis, which shed light on how sustainable the opposite planning strategies of the two neighborhoods are, under the three dimensions of social, physical and economic sustainability. The three dimensions were further subcategorized into emergent themes, such as, sense of ownership, safety, density, utilization of space and accessibility to services, reflecting on each neighborhood’s degree of sustainability for each theme. The analysis conveys the strengths and weakness of both contrasting neighborhoods in terms of their sustainability. Finally arriving to the conclusion that the many new Egyptian cities in their planning stages can benefit a lot by integrating informal development patterns in their formal planning models to yield sustainable built environments that attract, enable and empower the complex, characterful and vibrant culture of the Egyptian population. 2020-05-20T07:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/1746 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/2778/viewcontent/MANSOUR_menna_thesis_2020.pdf The American University in Cairo grants authors of theses and dissertations a maximum embargo period of two years from the date of submission, upon request. After the embargo elapses, these documents are made available publicly. If you are the author of this thesis or dissertation, and would like to request an exceptional extension of the embargo period, please write to thesisadmin@aucegypt.edu http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain Informal Development Formal Development Urban Neighborhood Planning Sustainability Phenomenology Tenth of Ramadan City Megawra 14 Megawra 13. Development Studies
spellingShingle Informal Development
Formal Development
Urban Neighborhood Planning
Sustainability
Phenomenology
Tenth of Ramadan City
Megawra 14
Megawra 13.
Development Studies
Mansour, Mennat Allah Mohamed Awad
An interplay between formal and informal development:A case study of two neighborhoods in the Tenth of Ramadan City
title An interplay between formal and informal development:A case study of two neighborhoods in the Tenth of Ramadan City
title_full An interplay between formal and informal development:A case study of two neighborhoods in the Tenth of Ramadan City
title_fullStr An interplay between formal and informal development:A case study of two neighborhoods in the Tenth of Ramadan City
title_full_unstemmed An interplay between formal and informal development:A case study of two neighborhoods in the Tenth of Ramadan City
title_short An interplay between formal and informal development:A case study of two neighborhoods in the Tenth of Ramadan City
title_sort interplay between formal and informal development a case study of two neighborhoods in the tenth of ramadan city
topic Informal Development
Formal Development
Urban Neighborhood Planning
Sustainability
Phenomenology
Tenth of Ramadan City
Megawra 14
Megawra 13.
Development Studies
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/1746
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/2778/viewcontent/MANSOUR_menna_thesis_2020.pdf
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