Engineer Sherif El-Sherbiny, Egypt’s Minister of Housing, Utilities, and New Urban Communities, highlighted Egypt’s national strategy to revitalize urban spaces, including a comprehensive $5 billion investment in eradicating unsafe areas over the past decade. Speaking at a special session during the World Urban Forum, El-Sherbiny announced that all life-threatening informal settlements have been fully redeveloped, officially declaring Egypt free of dangerous areas.
Addressing the challenges of housing shortages and the gap between supply and demand, El-Sherbiny noted that Egypt has been implementing a large-scale social housing initiative. To date, over 900,000 housing units have been completed, with an additional 300,000 units set for construction in the coming years.
To accommodate Egypt’s growing population, the government has launched 24 new cities, including the New Administrative Capital, New Alamein, and New Mansoura, with plans underway for 14 more cities. These Fourth-Generation Cities are designed as sustainable, smart cities equipped with modern infrastructure to support Egypt’s goal of exporting real estate globally.
The urbanized land area in Egypt has expanded to 14% and is targeted to reach 17% by 2030. El-Sherbiny emphasized that this growth reflects the government’s success in nearly doubling the country’s urban footprint in just a decade, making Egyptian real estate more competitive on the international stage.
El-Sherbiny also mentioned new policies encouraging foreign investment in real estate, including the option for foreign nationals to obtain Egyptian citizenship or residency through property purchases. These incentives have significantly boosted Egypt’s real estate exports and attracted substantial foreign investment.
Additionally, the “Beit Al Watan” (Homeland) project, designed to serve Egyptians living abroad, offers premium residential land and housing units in prime locations across Egypt. The Housing Ministry is also establishing investment funds to support the real estate sector and meet the rising demand for land from both local and international investors.