Informal urban growth highlights deficiencies in national governance, writes Ali Dessouki* In its history, Cairo has been known by different names and was the playground for a variety of dynasties. Its design and layout has undergone centuries of interventions. Cairo's growth and urban development has been, most assuredly, reason for countless studies and research papers. But one issue is pressing and often overlooked: the mounting threat of squatter areas that are growing at an inconceivable speed around the city. Since the 1960s, the Egyptian government has procrastinated on the pressing issue of urbanisation. Thousands of families from rural areas flocked to Cairo and other major cities for better chances of living; namely better jobs. The assumption was reasonable from those people's perspective, notwithstanding the popular belief that "urban poverty is worse than rural poverty". At least in Egypt, that theory is quite untrue. As the government centralised authority more and more, adopted nationalisation policies over industry and agriculture, and neglected provincial economies, the scale of informal or random economic and urban planning grew exponentially, compounded by disturbances in traditionally established values that affected all aspects of Egyptian socio- political life. Though informal areas now surround all national cities, Cairo is a severe case. Cairo has become almost 50 per cent informally inhabited. Some have encroached illegally on desert land owned by the government; others have built property on agricultural land, which is also illegal. The irony is that despite stringent punishments built into law to combat such irregularities, violations have grown bigger and bolder and with great innovation. The simple reason is that demand has been -- and still is -- far greater than the supply of urban planning. The rising number of squatter areas around Cairo since the 1950s up to 2000, are challenging the government's attempt to control urban sprawl. Most interestingly, the period of highest rates of encroachment was during martial law that threatened imprisonment for 5 years without trial! Today, Egypt is known to have 1,221 informal areas -- triple the number of 1993. By the late 1990s, some militant Islamic groups caused unrest in Imbaba, Giza. That sparked an array of postulations about informal settlements being hubs for radical organisations. A number of development agencies were solicited to look into the matter and propose with workable solutions, one of these was the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), which was most active through its "Participatory Development in Poor Urban Areas" programme. The preliminary findings of the GTZ were that squatter areas are not a danger from the point of view of religious militancy, but are a time bomb from a humanitarian viewpoint. During this decade a series of workshops, conferences and discussion groups proliferated on the issue of informal areas, embracing also the phenomenon of the informal economy. The attention-grabbing part was the identification of stakeholders. Who is responsible for squatter areas? Coming to an answer was difficult, because several players were identified. Indeed, of the many players no one carries overall responsibility alone, which makes the issue rather elusive. By investigating deeper it has been revealed that many policies are in dire need of reform. In 2005, the National Democratic Party produced an aggressive paper on reform towards the issue of informal areas. It realised pragmatically that there was little room to look back on the present situation, but rather to look forward and save whatever is left of state and agricultural land by planning for the future, bearing in mind the increasing demands made on the capital and other major cities. The Ministry of Planning, together with the United Nations Development Programme, produced in 2005 a "Poverty Reduction Action Plan" that addressed informal settlements as well. Every year, the Egypt Human Development Report addresses the pressing need to alleviate poverty, especially on those in poor squatter areas. In 2005 the Integrated Care Society, under the auspices of First Lady Suzanne Mubarak, undertook a leading role in upgrading informal settlements in Helwan. Many more efforts aimed to address informal areas, viewed as the "shame of Cairo", only to realise that the issue of urbanisation touches on the delicate sphere of governance itself. Undeniably, concerted efforts are making a difference, but these remain small differences limited to pilot areas. All have now come to realise that a strategic plan needs to be put forward for all players to abide by and respect. Unfortunately, while the orchestra is in place, we are still missing a conductor. Egypt has remarkable capacities, expertise and competencies but no maestro. Hence, we are left with laudable projects here and there; success stories that are presented in international arenas; great minds and big names celebrated around the world for their contribution to humanity, but sadly without Egypt attached to it. Finally, the essence of any successful measure lies in the credibility of its structure. The structure concerned with urbanisation in Egypt is woefully fragmented. On another front, enabling people to participate in decision-making on city planning issues must be a cornerstone of any urban programme. That, however, entails a democratic environment that at present is rather underdeveloped. Furthermore, if there are platforms for participatory measures where people do take part determining relevant projects, the vast majority is preoccupied making an extra pound to support his or her family. We have still around 50 years to go to feel the impact of the government's serious attempts to regulate urbanisation, bearing in mind staggering rates of population growth and dwindling natural resources. Once more, the issue is not an independent crisis that requires an innovative solution; it is a profound structural, socio- economic problem that lies at the heart of the bigger and wider sphere of "good governance". * The writer is Deputy Country Director of the German Technical Cooperation.
