Report: “Improving Informal Areas in Greater Cairo” by TU Berlin

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As an outcome of the visit of TU Berlin’s Postgraduate International Course in Urban Management to Cairo and their research assignment on strategies for improving informal areas in Greater Cairo, the final report “Improving Informal Areas in Greater Cairo” has now been released. The study which was supported by the Participatory Development Programme in Urban Areas (PDP) focuses on two informal areas, Ezzbet el-Nasr (Governorate of Cairo) and Dayer el-Nahia (Governorate of Giza). The results of the study have also been presented to the Governors of Cairo and Giza who acknowledged the students’ work and promised to consider their proposals for the development of these areas.

Download: “Improving Informal Areas in Greater Cairo. The Cases of Ezzbet Al Nasr and Dayer El Nahia”

SympathieMagazin “Ägypten verstehen” reports on public participation in informal areas

The Studienkreis für Tourismus und Entwicklung e.V. publishes the SympathieMagazin which is a special type of travel guide containing short articles on complex topics offering the reader new perspectives on different countries, foreign cultures and religions.

The PDP contributed to the SymapthieMagazin on Egypt “Ägypten verstehen” with an article on trust building through participation. The article is available in German only.

Download article in SympathieMagazin: “Vertrauensbildung durch Bürgerbeteiligung”

Article on PDP’s activities in Manshiet Nasser published in the Arab-German Yearbook 2010

The Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry e. V. (Ghorfa) has published an article on PDP’s activities in Manshiet Nasser in the 2010 Arab-German Yearbook. In the article called “Improving the Living Conditions of the Poor in Manshiet Nasser” the three authors Mandana Bahrinipour, Andreas Holtkotte (both KfW Entwicklungsbank) and Bernd Bauerfeld (Dorsch Gruppe) give a precise overview of the most urgent problems of Manshiet Nasser and how the PDP is working to overcome them.

Download: “Improving the Living Conditions of the Poor in Manshiet Nasser”

PDP’s latest publication: “Participatory Upgrading of Informal Areas: A Decision-makers’ Guide for Action”

PDP’s new publication on “Participatory Upgrading of Informal Areas: A Decision-makers’ Guide for Action” presents the model of participatory upgrading and how to apply it. It aims to simplify the complex issue of participatory upgrading drawing on Egypt’s experience.

Please check the category Publications to read more and download the new publication.

Publication: “Participatory Upgrading of Informal Areas: A Decision-makers’ Guide for Action”

Guidelines for dealing with IAs

This book on “Participatory Upgrading of Informal Areas: A Decision-makers’ Guide for Action” presents the model of participatory upgrading and how to apply it. It aims to simplify the complex issue of participatory upgrading drawing on Egypt’s experience.

The guidelines mainly target decisions-makers involved in upgrading informal areas, and more widely in local development. Among the key players are decision-makers on different levels of the government: local, regional and ministerial level. Accordingly, ministers, governors, district chiefs, heads of relevant departments such as urban planning, planning and monitoring, etc. will find these guidelines useful in explaining what the implementation of participatory upgrading mechanisms requires them to do. More importantly, the guidelines show decision-makers how their sphere interrelates and interacts with many others within and outside government administration and the type of cooperation to expect and endorse. Other groups of stakeholders such as civil society and the private sector will also benefit from these guidelines to understand how governmental bodies can implement and manage participatory upgrading on different levels and how they can complement the role of government. The guidelines are also targeting those working in local development, good governance or poverty alleviation.

Download: “Participatory Upgrading of Informal Areas. A Decision-makers’ Guide for Action” (English)

Download: “Participatory Upgrading of Informal Areas. A Decision-makers’ Guide for Action” (Arabic)

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Chances for development through cooperation with TU Berlin

Students design strategies for upgrading of informal areas in Greater Cairo

“What are the needs of the residents of Ezbet el-Nasr? What are the most pressing problems facing the community and how could they be addressed?” These are questions the Governor of Cairo has to ask himself when searching for an adequate intervention strategy for developing Ezbet al-Nasr, one of the numerous informal areas in Greater Cairo.

In only ten working days, the 18 students of TU Berlin and their two tutors had to accomplish exactly this challenging task: get to know the intervention area, analyse it and develop concrete and realistic implementable strategies for dealing with this area.

Together with community members the students are doing participatory mapping of the area’s problems

Together with community members the students are doing participatory mapping of the area’s problems

 

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The Integrated Care Society won the Sharka Award for Volunteer Work

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The NGO Integrated Care Society (ICS) won the Sharka Award for volunteer work for their upgrading projects in two informal areas in the Governorate of Helwan.

The brochure “Participatory Upgrading of Informal Areas in Helwan” presents these upgrading projects that have been realized in the informal areas Ezbet and Arab El-Walda, located in the Governorate of Helwan. The projects have been assisted by GIZ through the Participatory Development Programme in Urban Areas (PDP). Approaches for participatory upgrading promoted by the PDP have been adopted by ICS for the development of these informal areas.

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Movie on PDP shown on the World Urban Forum 5 in Rio

The movie, first published on the website http://www.germany-wuf.de/ which is launched by the German Government in the context of the World Urban Forum 5 , presents in brief the objective, appraoch and impact of the Participatory Development Programme in Urban Areas.

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