The third edition of the International Conference for Cooperative Housing (ICCH), taking place from 1 to 4 December in Cairo, witnessed the participation of representatives of 42 countries aiming to highlight the contribution of cooperatives to achieving sustainable development goals. During the conference, Chairperson of the General Authority for Construction and Housing Cooperatives (CHC), Hossam El Din Rizk, thanked President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi for his directives to form a committee from the authority and the Administrative Control Authority to solve the problems of cooperative housing projects. “In cooperation with the New Urban Communities Authority, more than 2,400 feddan has been allocated over the past five years in 22 new cities in Upper Egypt, Delta, and Cairo to establish cooperative housing projects,” said Rizk. He added that solving the problems of social housing is essential for the cooperative system in general. He also asserted that cooperatives have become successful platforms that allow the whole society to participate in the development process. During the conference, the participants will discuss six topics, including Sustainable Cooperatives: Theories, Concepts and Goals; Mending the Gap: Governance & Management of Sustainable Cooperatives; Sustainable Cooperative Communities and Economic Growth; and Sustainable Cooperatives & Community Participation (People Matter Most). The fifth and sixth topics are Responsive Architecture and Sustainable Cooperative Challenges, and Legislations and Regulations to Promote Sustainable Cooperative Practice. The conference also includes field visits to the New Administrative Capital (NAC) and New El Alamein. During the conference, Rizk showcases scale models of the latest three projects implemented by the authority. The Cooperative Housing Complex in the 6th of October city is one of the largest projects the authority established. The project provides approximately 6,000 apartments on 109 feddan. Moreover, Deputy Minister of Housing for National Projects Khaleed Abbas said that the ministry is aiming for more effective participation in the cooperative housing system to help solve the housing problem in Egypt. Speaking on behalf of the Housing Minister, Abbas said Egypt is currently constructing several major national projects in infrastructure, including roads, bridges, tunnels, and power plants, all with the aim to achieve comprehensive development throughout the country. He pointed out that Egypt has established dozens of new cities all over the country to meet the increasing demand for housing, and also started to establish a group of fourth-generation cities, such as the NAC and New El Alamein, which offers an unprecedented qualitative and cultural leap. These cities provide lands to cooperative housing projects, as well as the private sector companies. The efforts of all public, private, and cooperative sectors must be combined, and each should work through the available mechanisms in full harmony, and through an ambitious comprehensive plan to meet the needs of housing, he explained. He also affirmed that the state aims for more active participation in the cooperative housing system in the coming phase, as this trend comes through the desire to maximise community participation in solving the housing problem in Egypt. “The state has started working on several axes, providing all the land necessary for the establishment of cooperative housing projects in new cities and governorates, while also developing current laws,” he stated.
