Egypt community action

Initiatives by topic

Sustainable transport activism

Egypt Carpoolers

Urban sustainability

Cooperative housing in Egypt

Egypt is a highly urbanized country, whose population is growing by 1.3 million people per year. Rapid urbanization has brought with it a lot of informal housing, squatting and slums.

Cooperative housing, which first emerged in Egypt in the 1930s, provides an affordable housing option for a large number of citizens. It was originally the domain of private developers until the 1950s, when the government became much more strongly involved in cooperative housing provision. Then, in the 1970s, private developers once again played a key role, with the state supporting cooperative housing development through loans to cooperative associations.

The status of housing co-ops in Egypt is such that there are provisions in the nation's constitution requiring the state to take care of cooperative associations. They are exempt from a range of taxes and fees under the country's legislation, which also requires the state to facilitate loans and offer discounts on land. Housing cooperatives receive a guaranteed discount of 25 percent on land owned by the government, which ministerial approval can bring up to as much as 50 percent.

About one-third of the 80 million strong Egyptian population are members of housing cooperatives. In the last 60 years, more than 2,300 housing co-op societies, comprising half a million dwellings, have been established. ^[1]

Other links

Cairo from Below, information and debate on the urban future of Cairo

News and comment

2017

Singing for Peace – Dahab, Egypt, Nov 11 ^[2]

The three-degree world: cities that will be drowned by global warming, Nov 3 ^[3]

Egypt wheels out country's first bike-share program, Aug 1 ^[4]

2016

Egypt’s first solar-powered village rises from the desert in Bahariya Oasis, Oct 11 ^[5]

2009

Mostafa Ahmed and more than 4,500 enthusiasts kicked off Egypt's first Cleanliness Day on April 10. ^[6] April 14. On April 10, the campaign was put to action in El Sharkia, El Mansoura, Agouza & Dokki , Al Arish, Heliopolis & Nasr City, Suez, Al-Haram (Pyramids Area), 6th of October, Al Zawya Al Hamra, Ain Shams University, Maadi, Helwan, New Cairo, Matareya, Shobra El Kheima, Meet Ghamr, Mohandeseen, and many more areas. The campaign was endorsed by the media and the Ministry of Environmental Affairs.

Interwiki links

Wikipedia: Egypt

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