CAIRO: A recent Egyptian official government report revealed that the country is one of the top 20 countries in the world in terms of efforts to improve slum conditions. The report said it was ranked fifth in the index of lower proportion of urban dwellers living in slums, after Indonesia, Morocco, Argentina and Colombia. The report titled, “The Egyptian city – the features and characteristics,” released on Tuesday by the Center for Information and Decision Support of the Cabinet, said that Cairo is ranked 17th in the list of mega-cities worldwide for 2009 and is expected to remain in that position until 2025, according to estimates from the United Nations. The report also pointed out that Cairo came in second with a rise in the cost of living among countries of North Africa in 2009 after the Algerian capital Algiers, according to a survey on the cost of living for 2009, according to the Mercer Foundation study on 143 cities across the world. Singapore came in as the best cities in terms of the establishment of infrastructure, “the availability of electricity, water, telecommunications, public transport,” followed by Munich, Germany, in second place, then Copenhagen, Denmark, in third place, according to the survey on the quality of living in 2009 and done by Mercer. Cairo was ranked 93 by the study. According to the government report, the number of cities in Egypt reached 246, with a population of about 31.4 million people, representing 43 percent of the total population of the country, in accordance with the results of the census in 2006, noting that the city of Cairo is the largest city in Egypt in terms of population, “with a population of more than a fifth of Egyptian cities.” The report also said that 4 cities, Cairo, Alexandria, Giza and Shubra al-Khaima have a population of one million or more, representing nearly half the urban population (47%). The Cabinet study pointed out that 18 general hospitals serve three cities, Cairo, Alexandria and Giza, “which represents a population of about 44 percent of the total urban population and there are 17 public and central hospitals serving 16 cities in the Beheira governorate, which represents residents of cities of around 3 percent of the urban population.” At the global level, the report pointed out that half the world's population in 2009, are living in urban areas, compared to 30 percent in 1950 and is expected to increase in 2050 to about 70 percent. BM
