Urban transformation of informal settlements in Turkey and Egypt

Abstract

Developing sustainable cities is an essential issue in order to solve problems caused by rapid growth of urban populations. The main research problem is that sustainable urbanism is not considered in strategies of developing informal settlements in Egypt. The state does not have integrated strategy to solve the problem of informal settlements expansion. The paper aims to highlight guidelines for development processes and urban transformation of informal settlements. Characteristics of eco-cities are presented. Urban transformation project of old informal settlement in Turkey, Zeytinburnu, is discussed showing how some sustainable principles were considered. Efforts exerted in Egypt to mitigate harmful effects of informal settlements are not effective. The majority of public housing projects in new cities are abandoned and informal settlements are still expanding. The case of Imbaba Airport district is presented as a large ongoing development project. Comparative analysis between Zeytinburnu transformation project and Imbaba Airport project is presented. Despite the drawbacks of informal areas, they have certain features that encourage further expansions. Highlighting those features would help in identifying requirements that should be fulfilled during development processes. Main guidelines for urban transformation projects in informal settlements are presented taking into consideration sustainability while planning to transform them into eco-cities.