The document discusses land issues and urban planning in Egypt. It notes that Egypt has struggled to effectively plan urban development since the 1950s. Between 1982-2004, 1.2 million acres of agricultural land was lost to informal urban growth, and 4 years after the 2011 revolution another 120,000-150,000 acres were lost. If this trend continues, Egypt risks losing all 3 million acres of agricultural land in the Delta region within 200 years. The document also examines land issues and planning processes in the city of Banha as a case study.

1. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
Breaking with the past to unleash
urban informality potential:
Illegal/legal approach for land
readjustment in Egypt

2. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
1- Egyptian Planning Thoughts:
With the 1952 revolution
• The stirring theme of conquering the desert, of breaking the age-old grip
of the Nile Valley, has become a central theme in Egypt's design for the
future. But this dream gone with wind in the vast western desert
After the triumph of the 1973 war
• The Egyptian government initiated a planning programme to rebuild a
series of new towns on the desert hinterland, as an attempt to redistribute
the population out side the Nile crowded Valley. These schemes followed
the blue print plan that being implemented in the late 1950's
With the begins of 1980’s is
• In the beginning of 1980's, the Egyptian government tried to regulate the
urban sprawl which was occurred in the periphery of the urban centres,
later on, in the mid 2000's, the Egyptian government lunched GSUP’s to control
the arbitrary urban expansions
After the two Egyptian revolts
• Till now, there is no clear cut planning thoughts for future urban development.
This project was financed by, and technically cooperated with, UN-HABITAT , Cairo office, and the necessary fund was provided by the Ford Foundation, in Cairo,
to attend the 2015 World Bank conference in Washington DC, USA.

3. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
 Between 1982 and 2004, an estimated 1.2 million feddan (one feddan is
equal 0.4 hectare) of agricultural land has been destroyed through
urban informality, with an average of 6.22 faddan per an hour.
 With the implementation of the General Strategic Urban Plans (GSUP)
for 226 cities, 4632 villages and 27000 hamlets, Egypt will lose formally
around 0.33 million feddan of agricultural areas to the year 2027.
 As of 2007, there were an estimated 8.5 million informal housing units
with at least 21.2 million Egyptians live in urban areas.
 Four years after the January & June Revolts, Egypt has lost between
120000-150000 feddan of agricultural land to housing informality..
 If this trend continues, Egypt will lose all its agricultural land, around
three million feddan in Delta, within nearly 200 years' time.
 92% of Egyptians hold their property without registered titles.
 In 2013, the total population of Egypt approaches the figure of 91
million, and it is expected to reach 151 million by 2050, where 62.4
percent will be urbanized.
 In the year 2050, Egypt will need two thirds of its current built-up areas
to accommodate the rapid population growth.
Important Facts ‫مهمة‬ ‫حقائق‬

4. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
What if ‫؟‬ ‫لو‬ ‫ماذا‬
The current circumstances continue?
Sprawling of informality ?
Rapid population growth ?
Eaten the agricultural land ?
The spreading of informal housing
construction
?
Insecurity of land tenure ?
The complexity of linkages between the
“informal” economy and informal land
market
?
A growing divergence in cities ?
Deterioration of rural areas ?
Immigration from rural to urban areas ?
Inappropriate of urban services

5. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
2- Key Concepts
The main objectives of the research are:
 To what extent do the Detailed Plan for New Urban
Expansions (DPNUE) within the scope of GSUP,
legally or illegally, facilitate the implementation
process on the ground for preparing concrete Action
Plans (i.e. land readjustment, land subdivision).
 To what extent do landlords and other actors are
working as social networks to participate, through
collective process , on the DPNUE in order to improve
land delivery system
The research assumes that:
• DPNUE can be formulated through formal/informal
process at the local level with ‘technical enablement’
that facilitates land readjustment if the main obstacles
could be solved.
In the mid 2000’s the GOPP introduced a project for setting up
the General Strategic Urban Plans (GSUP) for 226 Egyptian
Cities, based on participatory approach, to meet the future
requirements of its citizens till the year 2027 Detailed Plan for
New Urban Expansions (DPNUE) is the main outcome of the
GSUP

6. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
3- General Strategic Urban Plan (GSUP): Does
it prevent or accelerate informality?
Allocated
period
Revision Phases Stages
P
h
a
s
e
s
o
f
t
h
e
G
S
U
P
4 months Review of
Data
Collectio
n and
Analysis
Start-up
Phase
Milestone
one
Data
Collection
Phase
Data analysis
Phase
3 months Review of
Strategic
Urban
Plan for
the city
City
Consultation
Milestone
Two
Strategy
Formulation
2 months Review
GSUP for
city and
GSUP
approval
Approval and
final
submittal of
the GSUP
Milestone
Three
 The GSUP was divided into three phases; a Milestone one,
Milestone two; and milestone three covers.
 The GSUP adopted an integrated approach to address
four main substantive areas, i.e. shelter, social services
(SS), basic urban services (BUS) and local economic
development (LED).
The GSUP did not succeed in its objectives nor did preserve the agricultural areas. It could be said that two
types of urban informality have flourished, one inside, and the other outside, the official approved Hayez, by
which more agricultural lands were converted into urban informality (Soliman, 2014).
The main impediments were:
 Dense evaluation processes must be fulfilled in all
stages of the GSUP which resulted in long
complicated procedures,
 The Operations Department in the Ministry of
Defense (ODMD) has to approve the GSUP.
 Restrictions that imposed on the land subdivision
project
 The approval of the GSUP might take between 2-4
years
The failure was due to mismatch between what
to be done on the ground, and what can be
theoretically gained out of the PBL119 of 2008,

7. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
4- Planning process
 The city of Banha is located north of Egypt’s
capital, Cairo, approximately 45 kilometers away.
The current built up of the city is around 621.4
hectares with a total population of 158,389 (2006).
 In the year 2007 the GSUP for Banha was
introduced and approved in 2011 with a total area
of 944 hectares , total population of 211,200 and a
projected gross density of 224 person/ hectare
 El Rezqa area was chosen as a pilot project to
prepare and implement the DPNUE on the
ground. The site is rectangular in shape, located in
the northeastern part of the city with an area of
4.5 hectares.
 It is surrounded by four main streets ranging
between 10- 28 meters. A gas company, with an
area of 0.42 hectares subdivides the site into two
parts; the southern part with an area of 2.8
hectares, and the northern part with an area of
1.28 hectares.
4-1 RESEARCH SETTINGS

8. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
0 10 20 30 405
Meters
Landlords' Initiative Plan
Official Land Subdivision area
Landlords' Proposed Road Network
Huts
Residential Buildings
Total study Area
Non Residential Buildings
Gas Station
Surroundings Areas
Vacant Land
´
Hoaad El Shaael No 5
RiverNile
Dam
iettaBranch
Hoaad El Rezqa No 8
Hoaad El Ramel No 9
Villa Subdivision
Hoaad El Roada No 6Ring Road Cairo- Alexandria
KafrSaad
Road
Road No 8
ElFatah
Road
Official Land
Subdivision
area
Gas Station
`
To Cairo
`
To Alexandria
`
To
Citycenter
Public Buildings
The study Area
325300.000000
325300.000000
325400.000000
325400.000000
325500.000000
325500.000000
325600.000000
325600.000000
325700.000000
325700.000000
3373300.000000
3373300.000000
3373400.000000
3373400.000000
3373500.000000
3373500.000000
3373600.000000
3373600.000000
0 10 20 30 405
Meters
Landlords' Initiative Plan
Official Land Subdivision area
Landlords' Proposed Road Network
Huts
Residential Buildings
Total study Area
Non Residential Buildings
Gas Station
Surroundings Areas
Vacant Land
´
4-2 THE FIELD SURVEY
The team work had three tools presenting
different information:
• Land parcel mapping out of physical land
survey effort
• Land parcel histories as per information
at the Real Estate Publicity Authority
(REPA).
• Informal land parcel map from the Land
Survey Authority (LSA).
• All data transferred into GIS format.

9. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
4-3 PLANNING PRINCIPLES
A set of basic principles has prioritized the following five
values; transparency; equity; trust; credibility; and efficiency
 It was through these values that the team was able to establish a sort of social
network, and building bridge of trust between landlords that would enhance
participation to reach a sort of compromise among them.
Accordingly, a communal principles among all landlords was emerged as follows:
• All landlords would give up the same percentage of their land for roads and
services according to the BPL 119.
• In reassigning a plot of land to a landlord, the team would do its best to make
sure it would be at the closest physical proximity as that of the landlord’s original
site.
• The team would also respect any specific advantages that a parcel had and
make sure the “new parcel” provided for those advantages.
• The minimum street's width will be 10 meter.
• The minimum land parcel's size will be 120 square meter.
• In the case that land parcel's size is less than 120 square meter, the landlord will
reimburse his exact land size in another land plot to be shared with other.

10. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
4-4 THE ROLE OF STAKEHOLDERS
 First, social network was formulated on the ground
through positive participation and negotiations among
the landlords themselves as well as, with the technical
team
 Second, the stakeholders were convinced to identify a
range of options that would give landlords the flexibility
to choose their setting or the size of the land plots,
 Third, stakeholders introduced arrangements among
themselves that accelerated illegal/semi legal land
subdivision.
 Fourth, the stakeholders’ participation present an
important entry point to the political decision-making
needed for exploring differing viewpoints.
 Fifth, the stakeholders have relied on a great autonomy
in their environment through positive participation in
understanding the land readjustment process
 Sixth, the stakeholders have relied on their culture and
their talent and symbolic aspects of their lifestyle by
which land readjustment , and settlement form was
formulated within the site.

11. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
5- COLLECTIVE PLANNING PROCESS
The project set out to develop the following five
scenarios;
• Government sponsored detailed
plan;
• Landlords initiated land subdivision;
• Comprehensive land to land
readjustment;
• Integrated land to value exchanges;
and
• Privately initiated land subdivision
to capital exchange
5-1 PLANNING SCENARIOS
One of the key objectives for the project is to
understand the process of land tenure to reach a
proper land readjustment as a possible approach for
creating DPUEA
Registered
ownershipp
1500.000000
1500.000000
2300.000000
2300.000000
3100.000000
3100.000000
200.000000
200.000000
1000.000000
1000.000000
1800.000000
1800.000000
p
Registered
ownership
without tenure
1500.000000
1500.000000
2300.000000
2300.000000
3100.000000
3100.000000
200.000000
200.000000
1000.000000
1000.000000
1800.000000
1800.000000
Wad El Yad
(Squatting)
1500.000000
1500.000000
2300.000000
2300.000000
3100.000000
3100.000000
200.000000
200.000000
1000.000000
1000.000000
1800.000000
1800.000000
p
De Jure
tenure
recognition
1500.000000
1500.000000
2300.000000
2300.000000
3100.000000
3100.000000
200.000000
200.000000
1000.000000
1000.000000
1800.000000
1800.000000
p
De facto tenure
recognition
1500.000000
1500.000000
2300.000000
2300.000000
3100.000000
3100.000000
200.000000
200.000000
1000.000000
1000.000000
1800.000000
1800.000000
‫الامان‬ ‫عالية‬
High security
‫الامان‬ ‫امتوسطة‬
Medium security
‫الامان‬ ‫امنخفض‬
Low security
‫التعاقد‬ ‫حقوق‬
Rights of Holding
‫املكية‬
‫امسجلة‬
Registere
d
ownershi
p
‫امسجلة‬ ‫املكية‬
‫حيازة‬ ‫بدون‬
Registere
d
Ownershi
p without
tenure
‫العتراف‬
‫القانونى‬
‫للحيازة‬
De Jure
tenure
recognitio
n
‫حيازة‬
‫الامر‬
‫الواقع‬
De
facto
tenure
recogni
tion
‫يد‬ ‫وضع‬
Waad
Yaad
(Squatti
ng)
‫الملكية‬ ‫كاامل‬
Full Ownership ● ●
‫الملكية‬ ‫حقوق‬

12. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
• Government sponsored detailed plan scenario;
• Landlords initiated land subdivision scenario;
 A sample of government sponsored detailed plan
shows that a consultant divided the urban expansion
into “superblocks”, without taking into consideration
the exact boundaries of existing landownership.
 The main issue here is that these superblocks do not
lead to buildable lots, nor conserve the landownership,
thus leaving landowners with few options other than
building illegally
 Landlords' plan did not include the whole site between the
public premises till the gas station,
 The street that served as an entry way for the entire site and
specifically for this group on landlords’ plot was owned by a
one figure who’s solution was to offer his piece of land for
sale. Yet, the landlords could not afford the asking price.
 The proposed three streets were with dead ends and that
would not allow for vehicle movements.
 The proposed entrance area is less than 10 meter, and this is
not applicable with the BPL119.
 The plan does not meet the requirement of the BPL119, as the
road network is less than 33% as well as, there are some land
parcels less than 120 square meters.

13. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
• Comprehensive land to land readjustment scenario;
 The street that served as an entry way
for the entire site and specifically for
this group on landlords’ plot was
owned by a one figure who’s solution
was to offer his land to serviced swap
land. Yet, the landlords could not
asking for extra money to be paid.
 The plan did include the whole site
between the public premises till the gas
station,
 The proposed road network depended
on loop pattern that could allow for
vehicle movements.
 The proposed entrance area is 10
meter, and this is matching with the
BPL119.
 The plan does meet the requirements of
the BPL119, as the road network and
social amenities is within a range of
33%,.
 The minimum land size, 120 square
meters, is within the specification of the
BPL119
0 10 20 30 405
Meters
Landlords' Initiative Plan
Official Land Subdivision area
Landlords' Proposed Road Network
Huts
Residential Buildings
Total study Area
Non Residential Buildings
Gas Station
Surroundings Areas
Vacant Land
´
Landlords' Area
Hoaad El Shaael No 5
RiverNile
Domm
yatBranch
Hoaad El Rezqa No 8
Hoaad El Ramel No 9
Villa Subdivision
Hoaad El Roada
No 6
Ring Road Cairo- Alexandria
KafrSaad
Road
Road No 8
ElFatah
Road
Official Land
Subdivision
area
Gas Station
325400.000000
325400.000000
325500.000000
325500.000000
325600.000000
325600.000000
325700.000000
325700.000000
3373200.000000
3373200.000000
3373300.000000
3373300.000000
3373400.000000
3373400.000000
3373500.000000
3373500.000000
3373600.000000
3373600.000000
0 10 20 30 405
Meters
Landlords' Initiative Plan
Official Land Subdivision area
Landlords' Proposed Road Network
Huts
Residential Buildings
Total study Area
Non Residential Buildings
Gas Station
Surroundings Areas
Vacant Land
´
Landlords' Area
0 10 20 30 405
Meters
Landlords' Initiative Plan
Official Land Subdivision area
Landlords' Proposed Road Network
Huts
Residential Buildings
Total study Area
Non Residential Buildings
Gas Station
Surroundings Areas
Vacant Land
´
Landlords' Area
Hoaad El Shaael No 5
RiverNile
Domm
yatBranch
Hoaad El Rezqa No 8
Hoaad El Ramel No 9
Villa Subdivision
Hoaad El Roada
No 6
Ring Road Cairo- Alexandria
KafrSaad
Road
Road No 8
ElFatah
Road
Offic
ial Land
Subdivision
area
Gas Station
325400.000000
325400.000000
325500.000000
325500.000000
325600.000000
325600.000000
325700.000000
325700.000000
3373200.000000
3373300.000000
3373400.000000
3373500.000000
3373600.000000
0 10 20 30 405
Meters
Landlords' Initiative Plan
Official Land Subdivision area
Landlords' Proposed Road Network
Huts
Residential Buildings
Total study Area
Non Residential Buildings
Gas Station
Surroundings Areas
Vacant Land
´
Landlords' Area
0 10 20 30 405
Meters
Landlords' Initiative Plan
Official Land Subdivision area
Landlords' Proposed Road Network
Huts
Residential Buildings
Total study Area
Non Residential Buildings
Gas Station
Surroundings Areas
Vacant Land
´
Landlords' Area
Hoaad El Shaael No 5
RiverNile
Domm
yatBranch
Hoaad El Rezqa No 8
Hoaad El Ramel No 9
Villa Subdivision
Hoaad El Roada
No 6
Ring Road Cairo- Alexandria
KafrSaad
Road
Road No 8
ElFatah
Road
Official Land
Subdivision
area
Gas Station
325400.000000
325400.000000
325500.000000
325500.000000
325600.000000
325600.000000
325700.000000
325700.000000
3373200.000000
3373200.000000
3373300.000000
3373300.000000
3373400.000000
3373400.000000
3373500.000000
3373500.000000
3373600.000000
3373600.000000
0 10 20 30 405
Meters
Landlords' Initiative Plan
Official Land Subdivision area
Landlords' Proposed Road Network
Huts
Residential Buildings
Total study Area
Non Residential Buildings
Gas Station
Surroundings Areas
Vacant Land
´
Landlords' Area
Within those main guidelines; and intensive negotiations
with landlords, various proposals were reached to fulfill
the requirements of all landlords and to match the BPL
119

14. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
5-2 PROCESS OF DECISION, PARTICIPATION AND ANALYSIS
 The consultant had to set up several
meetings with the stakeholders to reach a
common vision that would satisfy the
wishes of all stakeholders involved in the
DPUEA according to the GSUP and its
regulations,
 Analyzed the situation of the DPUEA, and
consulted the stakeholders through
workshops and meetings to obtain a clear
view of the potentialities and constraints
of the DPUEA.
 Data analysis was conceptually divided
into two categories; traditional, and
object oriented. A wide range of
applications were based on each category.
 The DPUEA was analyzed from the
following perspectives, the number of land
plots, types of land tenure, land
ownership, land parcels size, land
allocation, streets width and road
network.
Privately initiated
land subdivision
Land to land
readjustment
Total area devoted to residential buildings
(sq.m.)
14742 21367
Total area devoted to road network 4858 6462
Percentage of total land area devoted to
road network (in total sq.m.)
32.9 % 30.24%
Number of residential housing units
created (floor area in sq. m.)
14742/130*7
floors= 794 units
21367/130*5
floors= 822 units
Percentage of total land area devoted to
green areas and open space (in total
sq.m.)
zero zero
Percentage of public facilities devoted to
total land area (in total sq.m.)
zero 372.5/21367*100
= 1.74%
Total percentage of land devoted to roads,
green spaces, public facilities
32.9% 31.98%
The preparation of the DPUEA took around one year, and it has approved by the governor of the
Qaloubia governorate in 15/10/2014 (see the front slide). The technical work was finished within a
period of six months, while the evaluation, negotiation, and reviewing processes took around another

15. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
6- CONCLUSION
 The collective process should be encouraged, and the role of the government should be changed
from that of provider or facilitator or enabler into that of an agent for compatibility and
sustainability in order to magnify political goal of saving and rescuing agricultural land and to
encourage the sustainability of urban development in Egypt
 Social networks have created collective process, between individuals or between a group of a
community, by which exploring the complex relations between stakeholders, planning
interventions, land and property development processes in which distributive outcomes are
robustly grounded;
 During the process of the project; land readjustment process was flourished and resulted in:
• Scaling up the development process on affordable basis at a faster rate than the government can
achieved.;
• Land transaction was operating outside the official building and planning regulation, by which
had offered freedom to the landlords to act in, and formulate land readjustment processes
according to their needs and requirements.
 The technical team has learned a number of lessons;
• Firstly, the involvement of governorate institutions in land readjustment can not successfully
built without pressure from organized groups at the grassroots, as well as, technical support
from knowledgeable staff.
• Secondly, the governorate can response positively if project findings are supported by large
scale on site work, positive community involvement, and meeting the privileging laws.
• Thirdly, there is an urgent need to reform legislative process in order to match with current
situation that most of peri-urban areas have not official documentation for land tenure.

16. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2015: Linking Land
Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity, Washington, DC, 23-27 March 2015Ahmed M. SOLIMAN
Thank you for your attention
Development is not a sprint. It is a marathon. We are all aware of
this. Egypt needs an environment in which the private sector can
thrive to create the jobs Egyptians need to build better lives for
themselves. The country cannot afford to slow the reform progress.
So patience and perseverance are important.
“World Bank Managing Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Sharm El Shekh, Egypt,13/3/2015”