Al-Ahram Weekly 2 - 8 March 2000 Issue No. 471
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

Bright lights, and a sea of darkness Deluxe villas with private swimming pools and picturesque landscaping are just a few of the privileges available in Egypt's new desert developments. Gihan Shahine enters the oasis (photos: Khaled El-Fiqi)

Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Interview Features Focus Heritage Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters

What do you expect to find in a desert? Probably not mansions with lawns the size of football fields. Only a few years ago, this would have been a fantasy. Today, however, the dream has come true for a privileged few. Driving along the Cairo-Alexandria and Suez roads, or in the Qattamiya area, one sees seemingly endless battalions of new developments with names that would seem more appropriate to Los Angeles than to Greater Cairo.

"Resort" is the official term used to describe many of these deluxe neighbourhoods, but this is something of a misnomer. The sea is nowhere in sight here. Perhaps these are meant to be winter resorts? But then resorts are rarely equipped with schools and hospitals. Maybe they should be considered luxurious satellite cities, built with the aim of relieving Cairo's chronic overpopulation and traffic problems. But if so, are they affordable to young people, and is it practical to live so far from the offices and ministries still located firmly in the city centre? Could they be a tourist attraction? And why have so many of them sprouted so suddenly?

Once out of the capital's congested streets, heading toward one of the largest developments on the Cairo-Alexandria road, one instinctively takes a deep breath. The air is pure and dry. Although it takes only 25 minutes to reach the new compounds from Mohandessin, taking the 26 July road, Cairo's polluted air seems light years away.

The desert is hardly deserted. It is the weekend, and many picnickers have decided to spend the day at one of the fun fairs built to accompany the desert developments. Many more are curious to explore these developments in search of the "dream houses" promised in TV commercials and newspaper ads.

Naglaa and her family find the idea of a big family house in a calm area "extremely appealing". They have decided to sacrifice all their savings to realise this dream. "This is the only way we can enjoy privacy and fresh air," Naglaa says excitedly. "Isn't it great to live in a house where you can open the window and see a huge garden, to walk around without being chased by cars and suffocated by pollution? This is every Cairene's dream." Naglaa doesn't mind living so far from work, for then she will "have a good reason to wake up at dawn and go to work".

A waste of money, or a good investment? Far from the madding crowds, those who can afford it are leaving Cairo for the lush life on the city's outskirts. But with urban expansion proceeding apace, the luxurious new settlements may soon be smack dab in the middle of down town

Naglaa's dream may not come true, however, at least in the near future, for even the family's savings are insufficient. "We realised that it is expensive just to live in a beautiful area and breathe pure air," Naglaa says disappointedly.

The large resort on the Cairo-Alexandria road is a different world, where artificial lakes, lush vegetation, vast golf courses, swimming pools and elegant restaurants all make up a panoramic view for their future inhabitants to relish from the privacy of their own abodes. There are several types of villas with private swimming pools, manicured gardens and beautiful architecture. Surfaces range from 120 to 800 square metres but almost all the villas share the same privileges: privacy, a view and serenity.

"It is a dream house, no doubt," maintains Essam Hawwas, a lawyer and retired diplomat. Hawwas bought a 120 square-metre one-storey cottage with a private garden and a swimming pool in one of the resorts on the outskirts of 6 October City. He gazes happily at the ducks paddling in the artificial lake. Hawwas and his family are enjoying a meal at a Lebanese restaurant in the resort. His grandchildren, too impatient to sit at the table and eat, play merrily on a small green hill overlooking the lake, sliding down the slopes and shrieking excitedly. Although the resort has not been completed yet, restaurants are already opening and customers have been encouraged to sample some of the pleasures they will enjoy to the full once their villas are ready.

Hawwas will not be able to move in to his cottage for another two years. Then, he will use it as an alternative to his North Coast villa, but "definitely not as a permanent residence", since it is far from where he works. "It's more practical than a summer house in Marina, you know," he explains. "It takes only 25 minutes to get here from Mohandessin, where I live, which means I can spend all my weekends there. Resorts like this one are essential for people to refresh themselves before starting another working week, and for children to play and spend some time away from the pollution. Whenever I see my grandchildren red-cheeked and excited, I feel I'm really getting value for my money."

Only a few can afford a "second house" in such luxurious areas, however. Most of the houses here are villas priced at LE1 million to LE3 million, depending on the area, location and facilities. Some resorts also offer flats, at LE1,500 per square metre -- almost as expensive as real estate in many of central Cairo's most coveted residential areas.

The sudden emergence of these developments has sparked public concern about existing housing problems. Many of the arguments raised here are those heard recently with respect to the North Coast. Many housing experts and urban planners believe that giving the North Coast over to individuals who occupy their summer houses for three months of the year, at most, is an extravagant waste of money. They have criticised the channeling of huge funds into the new resorts on the same grounds, especially when many young couples are still unable to afford an apartment, and informal areas are mushrooming.

Experts argue that these resorts are "useless", since so few people can afford a house there, and only a minority of those who can will be willing to commute to work every day. The villas are likely to be used for only a few weekends a year, relieving none of Cairo's problems. The developers, on the other hand, argue that glossy neighbourhoods are a profitable investment.

Many people regard these resorts as eloquent symbols of social inequality, tangible manifestations of the rise of the nouveaux riches. Egyptians, they say, have been bitten by the "ideal home bug", and now dream of the lavish life-style promised by TV and newspaper ads.

"The extravagant winter resorts are a social offence, to put it mildly," protests urban planner Abu Zeid Rageh. Rageh, and many of his colleagues, complain that the government has sold or leased vast areas of desert, supplied with infrastructure, to private investors at very low prices to be used for luxury housing. The investors, they claim, received large loans from national banks to implement the projects, pouring people's savings into glossy dwellings that will serve only a fraction of society. Many investors, they add, were lured by the low price of land and the profit they envisioned would accrue from resort projects. A number of industrialists have thus shifted gears to real estate investment, according to Rageh.

"The country's land and public funds have been wasted on extravagance, while industry is at a relative disadvantage," Rageh laments. "Why did the government offer land at such low prices for luxury housing? This land should have been sold at double or triple the price, and the profit could have subsidised limited-income and youth housing projects. Why should the government provide such projects with infrastructure when many impoverished areas are still deprived of these basic needs?"

Many urban planners also argue that the plots on which these resorts are built were originally intended for the establishment of new satellite cities and communities like 6 October and 10 Ramadan, intended to attract Cairenes out of the congested capital. Highly paid jobs would have offered a further incentive. "But instead of serving the whole community, these projects serve only a fraction, which does not even need the service," Rageh exclaims in frustration.

Veteran urban planner Milad Hanna concurs. He explains that the expansion of affluent social strata caused the change in plans, since the new rich "need a suitable abode where they can make deals". Recent water and air pollution scares in Cairo have further encouraged the departure of those who can afford it, he adds. "Many businessmen have decided to cater to the needs of this new class, but are oblivious to the fact that no matter how big the market is, demand is never infinite," Hanna maintains. Many experts agree that the supply of luxury housing has outstripped demand and there are anxious rumours of an impending recession.

"I estimate that a maximum of 10,000 to 20,000 people in Egypt can afford a second home costing LE1 to LE3 million in the new neighbourhoods," he notes. Perhaps the same number of Gulf nationals would be interested in such housing, while Hanna does not believe Europeans or Americans would be potential customers.

"We're sailing into the wild blue yonder," Hanna says. "Banks have made huge loans to these investors. If these projects are successful, the economy will boom. Otherwise, we could witness a catastrophe similar to that of southeast Asia."

Many housing experts also lament the fact that real estate prices have increased as a result of the new projects, further aggravating the housing crisis. Sociologists warn that focusing on high-class desires while ignoring the needs of the poor is likely to create tension. Recent estimates indicate that nearly 50 per cent of the population is under the poverty line; five million people live in tombs and informal settlements, while around two million apartments are uninhabited and closed in Cairo.

"The idea of holiday homes is still alien to Egypt and the very seclusion of those neighbourhoods is likely to create a schism in Egyptian society," warns researcher Ali Fahmi, of the National Centre for Social and Criminological Studies. "The tight security combined with the glossy images of ideal homes advertised in newspapers and on TV may breed a sense of animosity among the poorer strata of society."

Mahmoud El-Sarnagawi, head of the Authority of New Urban Communities (ANUC), a body affiliated to the Ministry of Housing, insists that the ministry only extended infrastructure to the outskirts of the new developments. The investors, he maintains, were responsible for installing amenities inside the communities.

"The ANUC is based on a certain philosophy, and luxurious or distinctive neighbourhoods are only a means of realising this philosophy," El-Sarnagawi maintains. He further explains that the authority should neither make a profit, since it aims to provide a service to society, nor lose money. To provide housing for poor and limited-income families, the authority must raise funds elsewhere. "The only way we would do that was to encourage businessmen to invest in real estate, and sell them land at high prices," El-Sarnagawi adds. "In this perspective, we are not discriminating against the lower strata. The affluent also have the right as citizens to live in nice places. Ignoring their needs means marginalising them just because they are rich."

But are they going to live there? "Yes," El-Sarnagawi insists. "The new neighbourhoods are not resorts, simply distinctive residential areas for those fed up of living in Cairo. The new 26 July road has made it easier to get to the Cairo-Alexandria developments, for instance. When Heliopolis was built at the turn of the century, many people criticised it on the same grounds: lavishing money on a place in the desert where no one would dare to live. Today, you can't even park there."

El-Sarnagawi says the luxury dwellings constitute at most seven per cent of the total area of the new satellite cities. "There are two million units for middle, lower-middle and limited-income customers, located in 17 new communities nationwide," he says.

El-Sarnagawi does not give figures, but he insists that the land offered to investors was "just desert. It could have been worthless, but thanks to the investors, it has been put into use." A public relations representative of one of the largest developments, near 6 October City, concurs that investors poured money into developing the infrastructure.

Then why hasn't the government encouraged investors to help solve the housing problem? "We cannot tell investors what to do and where to put their money," El-Sarnagawi retorts. "We live in the age of the free market. Investors are entitled to choose whatever makes profit. Still, the market is governed by supply and demand, and I believe many investors are now offering houses on credit. Some have even offered small flats. I expect many investors to start addressing a larger market. But even if they don't, we must solve the housing problems, and to do that, we need to sell that land to investors."

The developers insist that luxurious neighbourhoods are never a waste of public funds. Real estate, they argue, helps many other industries flourish, including cement, tiling and marble. The projects, they add, have also contributed to solving the unemployment problem, since one project may employ 5,000 people -- a number that is expected to double after the projects are opened.

Engineer Mahmoud Eid, for instance, argues that "the new developments have opened up new employment chances for many engineers, who otherwise would have had to travel to one of the oil-producing countries to make ends meet." Engineers, according to him, are paid as much as they would make abroad, if not more, since salaries on the projects range from LE1,500 a month for a recent graduate to LE20,000 for an experienced engineer. "The new developments have created a chance for engineers to work in the field of landscaping, which is relatively new to Egypt, and is a very creative specialisation. For years, we've been designing cement blocks. These projects will breed a sense of beauty."

Amr Assal, the managing director of one of the first developments on the Cairo-Alexandria road, argues: "People should be proud that Egypt has places that can compete successfully with many places in Europe." The new community where Assal works features a language school, a hospital where foreign doctors will be employed, and a mall. Moreover, it includes a golf course with a hotel for visiting players, swimming pools, tennis courts, bowling halls, a fitness centre, an amusement park and an ice-skating rink.

"Our objective is to create an integrated community where people find everything," Assal says. "We are now catering to a wider range of customers. Although most people can't afford a villa, we also offer small flats for LE80,000 to LE180,000 that can be bought in installments."

Assal refutes claims of a recession. The company's sales officer also insists that at least 70 per cent of all units have already been sold. "We don't start building before we know we have a customer, and there are plenty," he says. Egyptian expatriates are among the main groups targeted by these investors. "Many emigrants would come back if they could find a place to live on a par with what they have abroad. Now that we have these communities, we can incite them to return, and offer an alternative to those who tend to buy holiday homes in Europe. Isn't it better to keep these funds in the country instead of losing them to foreign countries?" the sales officer demands.

New roads and increased means of transport should also help by linking these developments to the capital.

"Our project will help serve the country by attracting many tourists who will come to watch golf and tennis matches, or attend conferences in the huge conference hall we plan to build," Assal adds enthusiastically. "Also, the mall, hospital and school have encouraged many people to build nearby, often for more affordable prices."

Urban planner Zaki Hawwas is equally enthusiastic: "Egypt has long needed beautiful places. Any society has different classes, which should all be considered in urban planning. We can provide the affluent with a suitable place to live in rather than letting them seek an alternative outside Egypt."

Hanna, however, insists that high taxes should be imposed on luxury housing, while urban planner Sherif Kamel suggests that banks extend loans only to low-income housing projects. "Otherwise, Cairo will be a dark island, dotted with bright spots of luxury housing, and surrounded by a sea of darkness, informal settlements and poverty," Hanna maintains.

	weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg