Brief summary
The Informal Settlements Development Facility (ISDF) was established in the aftermath of the al-Dūyqah Rock collapse [in 2008 which killed more than 100 people]. The ISDF is a subsidiary of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. It aims to identify, enhance, and promote the development of informal settlements, in addition to devising plans for their urban development, and supplying them with basic services, including water, sanitation and electricity. The ISDF exercises its functions in coordination with the concerned ministries, authorities and local administration units, which are obliged to provide the ISDF with the necessary information, expertise, and assistance. The ISDF was established in accordance to Presidential Decree No. 305 of 2008.
The Informal Settlements Development Facility’s Mandate and Functions[1]
- Identifying informal settlements throughout the Arab Republic of Egypt
- Classifying informal settlements through specialized technical committees
- Develop public policies for the development of unsafe areas
- Supervising the development of urban plans for unsafe areas
- Develop a plan for the development of informal settlements according to urban plans, with the priority of removing unsafe areas
- Follow up the implementation of urban development plans for informal settlements in cooperation with the all governorates
- Encourage civil society and business to contribute to the development of informal settlements
- Identifying constructions and residential units constructed in unsafe areas
- Develop plans to remove constructions and residential units constructed in unsafe areas
- Supervise the provision of accommodation for those who are to be evacuated
- Prepare periodic reports on the results of the work of the competent technical committees entrusted in taking the necessary measures for the development and enhancement of unsafe areas
Categories and areas targeted by the ISDF[2]
The ISDF classifies residential areas into three categories; planned areas, unplanned areas, and unsafe areas. It identifies a particular strategy for each category to determine methods of intervention and to solve problem.
Planned Areas are areas developed with
- Detailed urban plans
- Land division plans
- Planning and construction specifications
Unplanned Areas are unsafe areas which were not built in accordance with urban planning tools.
Unsafe areas overlap with the category of unplanned areas. According to the ISDF criteria, unsafe areas are classified in terms of the priority of intervention, into:
First Priority: areas prone to life-threatening conditions, including landslides, floods or rail accidents.
Second Priority: Areas consisting of dwellings with structural elements of walls, floors or roofs built using building material waste or on land with unsuitable soil for construction or with dilapidated or damaged structures
Third Priority: Areas that threaten public health from the lack of clean water or improved sanitation, industrial pollution or high voltage power lines.
Fourth Priority: Areas that threaten stability, where residents lack stable tenure, and owners are unable to dispose of their properties.
It should be noted that the ISDF did not mention people who take residence in cemeteries and how to deal with this problem, neither did it mention the unsafe areas in the countryside.
The ISDF’s Affiliation, and the Mechanisms for Selecting and Appointing its Board of Directors
The ISDF is a subsidiary of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. It is managed by a Board of Directors, headed by the Minister of State for Local Development, with six members representing the Ministries of Finance; Electricity and Energy; International Cooperation; Economic Development; Social Solidarity; and Housing, Utilities and Urban Development (ex officio); in addition to three experts and three representatives for civil society organizations chosen by the Prime Minister.
The ISDF’s Executive Director is responsible for managing the affairs of the ISDF and supervising its technical, administrative and financial activities. The Executive Director is appointed by the Prime Minister and he/she represents the ISDF before the judiciary and in its relations with third parties.
The Administrative Structure
The ISDF consists of several units, including:
- Technical Affairs Unit: responsible for the technical studies of identifying, classification and prioritization of the development of informal settlements; preparation of operational plans for the development of unsafe areas; coordination of urban planning; provision of basic facilities and housing construction with the concerned parties; training and development; and follow-up of development work.
- Implementation Affairs Unit: responsible for housing and basic infrastructure of paving, roads, water, sanitation and electricity.
- Information Systems Unit: responsible for planning the information systems of the ISDF and achieving the most effective and efficient operation of these systems.
- Financial and Administrative Affairs Unit: responsible for supervising the accounts of the ISDF.
- Legal Affairs Unit: under the direct supervision of the Executive Director.
- Media Unit: under the direct supervision of the Executive Director.
Sources of funding[3]
The ISDF’s strategy to finance the development of informal settlements depends on local resources:
- Funding from the state budget in the framework of cost recovery; which entails supporting the provinces until local resources become available [from the proceeds of the executed projects].
- Funding through the support provided for the construction of housing units within the housing program for the most deserving groups [from the proceeds of the executed projects].
- Funding from value-added tax from development projects, either as a result of the value of the land, or additional area of land resulting from increased housing density [which generates proceeds].
- Grants from international development agencies or donations from national companies and institutions in the framework of corporate social responsibility.
The most important projects and programs[4]
Program to develop areas with life-threatening hazards
Areas with life-threatening hazards are areas at risk of geological hazards, floodwaters or within restricted railway sites. The only remedy for these areas is to transfer the population immediately to housing units in safe areas available to the State, whether belonging to the Ministry of Housing or the provinces, as a radical solution to protect the lives of citizens. Solutions include providing financial compensation or the use of existing or temporary housing units, as well as the provision of land for the construction of new housing units, or the payment of the value of housing rent for a specified period until the construction of appropriate units is finished.
Most important projects of this program
- The removal of Asṭable ‘antar area – Miṣr al-Qadīma District – Cairo governorate
- The removal of al-ḥirafiyyn area
- The removal of `Izbit Khyrallah al-ṭaryq al-dā,iry area – Miṣr al-Qadīma District – Cairo governorate
- The removal of al-Dūyqah area – Munsha’at Nāṣir District – Cairo governorate
- The removal of `Izbit Khyrallah Mugamma` al-Madāris area – Miṣr al-Qadīma District – Cairo governorate
- The removal of Baṭn al-Baqarah Mugamma` al- Madāris area – Miṣr al-Qadīma District – Cairo governorate
- The removal of `Izbit Khyrallah `yn al-Khayālah area – Miṣr al-Qadīma District – Cairo governorate
- The removal of Markiz al-Shabāb area – Munsha’at Nāṣir District – Cairo governorate
- The removal of Baṭn al-Baqarah area – Miṣr al-Qadīma District – Cairo governorate
- The removal of several areas – Munsha’at Nāṣir District – Cairo governorate
- The removal of Gabal al-Muqaṭṭam area – Munsha’at Nāṣir District – Cairo governorate
- The removal of Aarḍ al-Samād area – Munsha’at Nāṣir District – Cairo governorate
- The removal of al-Narsh area – Munsha’at Nāṣir District – Cairo governorate
- The removal of ūādiy Far`ūn area – Munsha’at Nāṣir District – Cairo governorate
Program for the development of inappropriate housing areas on state land
These include construction with building material waste, or on lands dedicated for solid waste landfills, or areas of dilapidated or rundown housing. Inappropriate housing areas are dealt with urgently, and development alternatives are offered to the population to choose from. These alternatives include the gradual resettlement of the population in the same area after rehabilitating it and increasing its building density; the transfer of the population to neighboring or nearby land owned by the State if the area is not appropriate for construction; the provision of financial compensation; or the rehabilitation of existing housing units or disbursement of loans to owners to do the rehabilitation themselves.
Most important projects of this program
- Al-Muhāgryn area in Dyrūṭ city – Asyūṭ governorate
- Al-`arshah area in al-Marg neighborhood – Cairo governorate
- Al-ṣaḥāby area in Aswān city – Aswān governorate
- `ishash in al-Sūdān street in al-Duqqī neighborhood – al-Gīza governorate
- `ishash al-Bakry in Shubrā al-Khaymah – al-Qalyūbiyya governorate
- Ramlat Būlāq – Nile Towers in Būlāq neighborhood – Cairo governorate
- Al-tir`ah al-ḍamrānyyah in Nag` ḥammādy – Qinā governorate
Program for the development of inappropriate housing areas under the jurisdiction of the central authorities
The central authorities include the following: the Ministry of State for Antiquities, the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, the Ministry of Awqaf, the Egyptian National Railways. Inappropriate housing areas are dealt with through providing alternatives to the population to choose from. These alternatives include the gradual resettlement of the population in the same area after rehabilitating it and increasing its building density; the transfer of the population to neighboring or nearby land owned by these central authorities, if the area is not appropriate for construction; or the provision of financial compensation.
Most important projects of this program
- Al-Ashrāf area in Malūy city – al-Minyā governorate
- `ishash al-Sikkah al-ḥadyd area in al_badrashyn city – al-Gīza governorate
- `ishash al-Sikkah al-ḥadyd 2 area in al-Duqqī neighborhood – al-Gīza governorate
- Al-Darysah Baḥry area and `ishash al-Sikkah al-ḥadyd area in Farshūṭ city – Qinā governorate
- Al-Sammākyn area in al-Munsha’ah city – Sūhāg governorate
- Al-Darysah area in Sūhāg city and al-Sikkah al-ḥadyd area in ṭamā city – Sūhāg governorate
Program for the development of inappropriate housing areas on private lands
The ISDF dealt with these areas in September 2011 through addressing all governorates and requesting them to issue permits for the demolition and removal and reconstruction. It set a deadline for completion of these works by 30 June 2013. The aim of this procedure is to give the private sector an opportunity to develop those areas autonomously. It also requested the governorates to continue issuing maintenance licenses and licenses to increase the height of other buildings in those areas in accordance with the Consolidated Building Law No. 119 of 2008. The aim is to determine whether or not the population is able to develop the areas themselves, and to reduce the number of areas that will require government intervention later.
Most important projects of this program
- Al-ḥammām, al-ḥggāg, and Abū Murād areas in Luxor city, Luxor governorate
- Al-Nyl al-Sa`yd area in al-`yyāṭ city – al-Gīza governorate
Program for the development of areas containing threats to public health
This program cover areas that lack clean drinking water or improved sanitation or are under high-voltage power lines or with heavy industrial pollution. These areas are dealt with through the national programs of the relevant ministries: the Ministry of the Environment, on environmental pollution; the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, on high-voltage power lines; the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, on water and sanitation. Mechanisms to deal with these areas include rectifying the situation of polluting industries, providing access to water and sanitation services, or converting air power lines to ground networks.
Most important projects of this program
- `Izbit Ma’mūn, and `Iūāyt ṣāūy areas in al-Fayyūm city; Muḥammad Mishrif are in Sanūris city – al-Fayyūm governorate
- Al-Fauākhyr are in Asyūṭ city – Asyūṭ governorate
Program to develop areas where residents lack stable tenure
Areas that have been built on land that belongs to the state, sovereign authorities, or the Ministry of Awqaf. These areas are dealt with by negotiating with residents to legalize there situation, or providing funding for the construction of housing units with stable tenure and recovering the cost of the price of land. There are no current projects under this program.
The ISDF’s technical support mechanisms
1- Institutional development
The ISDF supports the governorates technically within the framework of the institutional development of local administrations to develop and activate their role in the development of informal settlements. In order to implement the development plans in the governorates, the ISDF proposed the establishment of units to implement the development of informal settlements in all governorates. It also proposed the formation of a high-level committee to oversee and implement the development of unsafe areas in each governorate.
2- Capacity building and development
The capacity development program includes the training of technical and operational cadres on the basic skills required in the planning, management and follow-up of informal settlements development projects. Since the establishment of the ISDF, a series of workshops and training courses have been carried out for all stakeholders related to the development of unsafe areas.
3- Technical studies
The ISDF implemented several technical studies related to the development of unsafe areas. These include studies about geological hazards, the avoidance of high voltage electric wires, in addition to socio-economic studies concerned with the population of the insecure areas.
[2] Informal Settlement Development Facility, June 2010, Egyptian Approach to Informal Settlements Development.
[3] National Plan for the Development of Unsafe Areas, the Informal Settlements Development Facility, April 2010.
[4] http://www.isdf.gov.eg/4Coulmns/01Def/Pro_Def.htm
This translation published August 8, 2019
Originally published May 4, 2014