State versus civil society: An approach to affordable housing in Egypt: Policy and practice

Abstract

Housing is one of the major sectors of national development. It plays a vital role in such a developing country like Egypt. Housing finance mechanisms have witnessed major shifts since 1952. This paper is concerned with the transformation of the state role in providing shelters for urban poor to the nowadays civil society acts in the creation of affordable housing. The reformulation of actors' role was the result of national and international key changes on both economic and political levels. Movements and Trends like westernization, globalization, and changes of lifestyles, modes of consumption and production and capitalism have great impacts upon housing finance mechanisms and government policies. The scope of this paper is not looking for redefining affordable housing, but towards better understanding of the mechanism of achieving such housing rather than theoretical definition. An affordable house is not a spatial organization but rather a reflection of social and economic lifestyle. Affordability was a major issue for governmental policies under the umbrella of social welfare and was considered as a monster that threatens any development actions. This concept has been diluted by the influences of cultural shifts. This study includes three main parts: the first, historical background for housing finance in Egypt. Secondly, the paper investigates the role of donors and civil society in providing affordable adequate housing for the urban poor. The last part of the study monitors some case studies and similar experiences in aim to conclude with the lessons to be learned from these experiences.