ABSTRACT
During the inter-census period from 1986 to 1996, the average annual growth rate of urban housing construction in Egypt far surpassed urban population growth rate. While urban housing production is controlled by the state, market and the community-based systems, housing development in Egypt occurs within both formal and informal systems. The construction of formal housing is subject to approval from several national to local governmental agencies, including the Ministry of Housing, while the construction of organized low-income housing projects needs official approval from responsible institutions. The evolution of the self-help approach and its impact on housing policies in Egypt can be explored in five phases. From 1974 to 1981, authorities implemented several housing policies using self-help techniques within the reconstructions of Suez Canal cities of Suez, Ismailia and Port Said. The failure of self-help techniques in new towns as well as the inappropriate housing policy for the urban poor led people, particularly those looking for cheap shelter, to seek out alternative solutions.
