Informant38

urban expansion at the expense of human rights and the environment
Between 15 and 50 per cent of city residents in North Africa are urban poor living in squatter settlements, illegal subdivisions, sub-standard inner-city housing, custom-built slums, and boarding houses. It has also been indicated that cultural heritage sites are especially at risk from uncontrolled development and environmental degradation in urban areas. While there have been national and international efforts to conserve this heritage, greater efforts are required to ensure its protection.
Cairo, a monstrous city, suffers many of the problems mentioned above. This year, Mohamed Ibrahim Soliman, minister of housing and population declared that 88 per cent of housing in Egypt is in violation of the building code. And, while parliament released figures indicating that 20 per cent of the Egyptian population live in shanty housing, specialists put the figure at closer to 60 per cent.
�Fatemah Farag/Al-Ahram 10.02-08.03