Economics Criteria for Urban Development in Egypt: Economic-Based Urban Development Proposals for Stimulating Migration from the Narrow Nile Valley (Published)
The Egyptian State has formulated fourteen national mega development projects that focus on three principle themes: First: Projects that aim to realize economic effectiveness and efficiency to stimulate and enhance the national economy, such as the Suez Canal Area Development Project and the Qattara Depression Development Project. Second: Projects that aim to realize social justice, such as the Golden Triangle. Mining Development Project and the Eastern Desert Development Project, which concentrates on developing the Upper Egypt / Red Sea region to create employment opportunities for Upper Egypt’s surplus labor force, alleviate rural and urban poverty and ameliorate the low rate of development in Upper Egypt governorates. Third: Projects that aim to safeguard national security, such as the Sinai Development Project. This paper examines and Egypt, Source: General Authority for Urban Planning, 2014 analyzes mega development projects in Egypt and attempts to define the objectives of each project and the economics criteria upon which it is based with a view to assessing the suitability of national development projects to the current situation in Egypt and in light of the future trend towards integrated sustainable development in Egypt. The research reveals that these projects are based on a variety of economics criteria. Since industry plays an effective and enduring in economic development (as opposed to tourism-based economics criteria that are constantly affected by international political developments and security issues), the majority of development projects are industry-based, followed by agriculture, tourism and service-based projects.