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Municipal Profile
Alexandria has a population of 4 million, anda total area of nearly 2,300 square kilometres.The population density is 1,739 per squarekilometre, and the Gross National Income percapita is approx. US$1,570 (2005).
a key factor in prioritising the environmentwithin a development strategy. In Alexandria,the sustainable development of the community isseen as an opportunity for economic growth andsocial inclusion.
Urban Context
Alexandria is one of the major cities on theMediterranean Sea, and plays an essential rolein Egyptian economy and cultural life as thecountry’s oldest and largest port. Most ofEgypt’s foreign trade passes through the port,which has 75 percent of the total capacity ofEgypt’s Mediterranean ports. The city has acoastline of 70 kilometres and lies between theMediterranean and Lake Marriout.
Alexandria is a powerful industrial base,home to over 4,500 industrial firms with anestimated workforce of 201,000. This represents17.3 percent of the total labour force of the city.Industrial output in Alexandria’s production
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ALEXANDRIA GOVERNORATEE G Y P T
Key economicareas
Urban manage-ment approach
Environment entrypoint
Port, textile, chemical,fuel, primary metal, food,and tobacco industries
City Development Strategy
Integrated in CDS
Why this Case Study Is Important
The Alexandria case study shows how a CDS canbe used to integrate environmental issues in cityplanning processes. It also shows how the leader-ship of an elected local government official can be
Aerial view of Alexandria, Egypt.
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represents 40 percent of Egypt’s total. Its mostimportant industries are iron and steel, petro-leum, cement, chemicals, petrochemicals, spinningand weaving.
Urban Management Approach
Alexandria is focusing on integrated strategies forcertain sectors and environmental issues usingCDS approach promoted by the Cities Alliance.
Case Study
Under the leadership of its Governor, Alexandriaembarked on a City Development Strategy in2004. During the 2004–2006 phase, the Gov-ernorate prepared a Comprehensive StrategicDevelopment Plan for the city within theframework of the Alexandria CDS, developedusing methodology tested by the World Bank,based on best practices developed by CitiesAlliance, Cities of Chance and other donors. Thefirst step of the CDS process, ‘organising theeffort’, aimed to ensure the most appropriate insti-tutional set up for a participatory process whichwould allow partners from the public, businessand non-governmental sectors to work together.This ‘Partnership Forum’ identified economic andphysical priorities for the city’s development.
The economic priority was to develop amedium to long-term economic developmentstrategy, which would investigate and build onthe city’s competitiveness. The aim was to diver-sify and augment the economic base of the city,enhance productivity and establish an enablingbusiness environment. Specific strategies andinitiatives were to be designed to create eco-nomic development opportunities, especially inlow-income areas and squatter settlements.
The physical priority was to develop a par-ticipatory urban upgrading strategy for thesquatter areas and a land use plan for the LakeMarriout area, within a sustainable urban devel-opment framework. The strategy was to includedefinable measures to improve the living condi-tions of residents and prevent further environ-mental deterioration of the Lake area. It was alsoto help to establish a sound regulatory frameworkfor the Governorate to manage the Lake and pur-sue participatory approaches to urban upgradingand security of tenure.
The Partnership Forum established three CDSPillars:
� Formulate a local economy developmentstrategy;
� Devise a comprehensive strategic developmentplan for Lake Marriout and the surroundingarea;
� Develop a comprehensive urban upgradingstrategy for squatter settlements.
Local and international consultants prepared five reports8, which were used, together with
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Alexandria CDS Vision, 2005–2017
Alexandria will take advantage of its competi-tive endowments, better manage local assets,remove constraints to private sector-led growth,and ensure the socioeconomic integration ofthe poor in the development processes.
8“Alexandria Local Economy and Competitiveness Assessment”,“A Comprehensive Strategic Development Plan for Lake Mar-riout Zone”, “A Strategic Development Plan for Land Sur-rounding Lake and Wadi Marriout”, “A Squatter Settlementsand Urban Upgrading Strategy”, “Alexandria Tourism Devel-opment Strategy”.
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stakeholder consultations, to develop a sharedlong-term vision and key local economic devel-opment programmes for the city.
One of the major results of the CDS work
was the development of the Alexandria Gov-
ernorate Pole Project, which focused on sustain-
able economic growth and equity. Considerable
attention was given to the environment in
two areas: a) sustainable use of natural re-
sources, and, b) environmental improvement
and protection.
Three project development objectives were
identified:
� Supporting Alexandria’s economic development
and utilisation of local assets through invest-
ments in environmental regeneration and land
use development;
� Supporting private sector development
through removing infrastructural and admin-
istrative constraints; and,
� Improving access of residents in squatter set-
tlements to infrastructure, basic services and
income-generating opportunities.
Several component areas were identified to achieve
these objectives:
� Priority infrastructure to support local eco-
nomic development—financing work and
related services aimed at enhancing the waste-
water treatment system surrounding Lake
Marriout’s main basin;
� Upgrading of squatter settlements to improve
living conditions of residents in six settlements
by providing basic infrastructure, community
facilities and services, and increasing access to
micro-credit and business support.
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An Alexandria squatter settlement.
Several new projects have emerged as a result ofthe implementation of CDS:
� Integrated coastal zone management—thepolicy aims to ensure that the protection of thecoastal zone resources remains an integral partof the development priorities. It also aims atthe coordination of the sometimes conflictinginterests and uses of the coastal zone;
� Environmental Pollution Abatement Proj-ect (EPAP) Phase II—the second phase of EPAP aims to demonstrate that market-based financial/technical approaches are effective inreducing industrial pollution in selected hotspots areas in and around the Alexandria andGreater Cairo areas;
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� Upgrading of three slum areas—the objectiveis to improve the standard of living for theinhabitants of El-Amrawy, El-Hadra and NagaEl-Arab. The following operations began inApril 2006, and some have already beenaccomplished.
A number of unexpected opportunities arosefrom the CDS process.
� A large number of enthusiastic stakeholderswanted to take part in the strategic planningprocess;
� A democratic and cooperative atmosphere
dominated the workshop dialogues and dis-
cussions;
� There were beneficial outputs from the
exchange of ideas and knowledge between
local and international consultants;
� Interest from other donors in contributing to
the strategic development plan increased;
� The central government was supportive.
Environment Entry Point
The CDS process proved to be an effective vehi-
cle for integrating environmental considerations
into Alexandria’s development plan. Early on in
the process, the CDS team benefitted from the
Governor’s strong support to improving local
environmental quality. In addition, the multi-
stakeholder approach to the Alexandria CDS
meant that citizens became aware of the impor-
tance of sustainable development and the need to
manage natural resources wisely.Cost-benefit analysis relating to the environ-
ment for any development project was used dur-ing the CDS process. Environmental protection
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Naga El Arab
Health Centre
Police Station
Primary school
Youth & sports activities
Fund for roads and publiclighting (made available)
Wall off railway line (done)
Tree planting (done)
Community centre
El Amrawy
Tree planting
Health centre (done)
Youth centre
Sanitary drainage
Paving roads
Pedestrian bridge
Covering canals
Market & workshops
Bus stops
Hadra El Gedida
Land for health centre (made available)
Land for youth & sports (made available)
Land for two schools (made available)
Sanitary drainage (done)
Water network
Road paving
Street lighting
Street widening and resettlement
Highlights of Upgrading in Three Slum Areas in Alexandria, Egypt
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became a top priority for both citizens and thelocal government, and programmes for pollutionabatement became mainstream. Environmentalconcerns were a common feature in the stake-holder workshops, and preventing the furtherdegradation of Lake Marriout was highlightedas a priority.
The Alexandria Governorate Pole Projectfocused on sustainable economic growth andequity. Within this, considerable attention wasgiven to the environment, focusing on the sus-tainable use of natural resources, and on envi-ronmental improvement and protection.
Results
Although it was not the primary driver for theComprehensive Strategic Development Plan, theplan succeeded in incorporating the environ-mental dimension in all components, pro-grammes, projects and activities. Social andeconomic achievements are clearly visible in theupgrading of slum areas. Stakeholder councilshave been formed for each slum community, andthey take part in managing the upgradingprocess. It is clear that when residents fully par-ticipate in the process which touches upon theirlivelihoods, sustainability is possible.
Lessons Learned
Support and leadership from the Governorate wereessential elements. The cooperation of both theGovernor and Secretary-General has been a keyfactor in achieving a highly significant improve-ment in the quality of life for Alexandrians.
The solid, multi-stakeholder CDS team playedan important role. The team, which included
senior government officials, the Alexandria Busi-nessmen’s Association, the University of Alexan-dria, and major civil society organisations of theGovernorate, is still intact and overseeing theimplementation of the plan.
Through the CDS process, the municipalityof Alexandria recognised the importance of coor-dination, stakeholder participation, and of hav-ing a realistic approach towards implementationas part of the planning process.
Replicability
The Alexandria experience shows that City Devel-opment Strategy offers an excellent opportunityfor citizens and urban managers to integrateenvironmental issues into an overall city devel-opment framework. However, each city has itsown unique needs, and it is necessary to under-stand the local community culture in order to tai-lor the CDS process successfully. The Alexandriacase highlights the importance of having a localchampion for the process who is interested inenvironmental issues. It is also important to have
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Families of Lake Marriout fishermen.
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a CDS team with developed communicationskills to ensure that stakeholders, regardless oftheir background or affiliations, participate ac-tively in the process. Environmental issues areclearly important to urban stakeholders, who arelikely to support the integration of environmen-tal issues within the CDS process in other cities.
Key ContactsAhmed EiweidaSr. Urban Management Specialist The World BankRoom H9-133, Mailstop: H9-900Tel.: (1-202) 458 9046Fax: (1-202) 522 2151Email: [email protected]
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