the state of arab cities 2012

7/27/2019 The State of Arab Cities 2012

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The State ofArab Cities2012

Challenges ofUrban Transition


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United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) 2012All rights reservedP.O. Box 30030 Nairobi 00100, KenyaTel: +254 20 7623 120Fax: +254 20 7623 904Email: [email protected]

Second Edition - December 2012HS Number: HS/021/12EISBN Number (Series): 978-92-1-133397-8

ISBN Number (Volume): 978-92-1-132436-5

Design and Layout by Michael Jones Sotware, Nairobi, Kenya.

Front cover photo: Kuwait City, Kuwait. Nasser Buhamad/ShutterstockBack cover photos (let to right): 1. Cairo, Egypt. Joel Carillet/iStockphoto

2. Temple o Hercules, Amman, Jordan. Ahmad A Atwah/Shutterstock3. Tripoli, Libya. Patrick Poendl/Shutterstock4. Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Ahmad Faizal Yahya/iStockphoto5. Juba, South Sudan. Frontpage/Shutterstock

DISCLAIMERThe designations employed and the presentation o the materials in this publication do not imply the expression o any opinion whatsoever

on the part o the Secretariat o the United Nations concerning the legal status o any country, territory, city or area or o its authorities, orconcerning the delimitation o its rontiers or boundaries. Reerences to names o rms and commercial products and processes do not implyany endorsement by the United Nations. Excerpt o this publication, excluding photographs, may be reproduced without authorization, oncondition that the source is indicated.


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The State oArab Cities 2012

Challenges o Urban Transition

Second Edition - December 2012


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ii Message rom the Secretary-General

I

n recent months, Arab cities have been the central meetingground or courageous calls or better governance, moreeffective economic management, greater transparency

and more reedom. Tose legitimate aspirations or humanrights and dignity have echoed around the world.

Trough the centuries, Arab cities have generated manyo humankinds most enduring achievements and legacies.oday, we must ensure that these cities are sustainable andinclusive able to maintain their cultural and spiritualheritage while advancing well-being or generations to come.

Te State of Arab Cities 2012offers a timely account o theprogress and the problems in these rapidly urbanizing centreso human civilization. It tells us, or example, that urbanslums are decreasing in large parts o the region, and thaturban innovations are being introduced with dazzling speed.

But it also shows how many Arab societies continue to sufferunder conict, extreme poverty and under-development.Far too oten, highly centralized governance structures

undermine local authorities efficiency, perpetuate corruption,obstruct political participation and erode the relationshipsbetween the citizenry and the level o government closest tothem. Te Arab Awakening has delivered welcome change,but there is still much work ahead even in those places wheredemocratic transitions are taking root.

Tis report also highlights the importance o young people.In most Arab countries, youth make up the majority o thepopulation, and youth unemployment is very high. Tese

trends oten converge in the regions cities, where a lack oopportunities and dim prospects or personal and proessionaladvancement can have destabilizing impacts.

Arab nations and cities are at a pivotal moment. As welook to the challenges o the uture, Te State of Arab Cities2012offers insight and analysis to inorm and enlighten. Icommend it to a wide global audience.

Ban Ki-moonSecretary-GeneralUnited Nations


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It gives me great pleasure to introduce this rst TeStateof the Arab Citiesreport, the latest addition to a rapidlyexpanding series o regional publications on the state o

cities which already include the Arican, the Asia-Pacic, theEast European and the Latin America-Caribbean regions.

Te Arab States constitute perhaps the most diverse regionso ar covered by the state o the cities report series. Nationalpopulations or 2010 varied rom as little as 691,000 in theComoros to well over 84 million in Egypt. IMF data or thesame year showed that GDP per capita ranged rom USD862 in the Comoros to USD 74,901 in Qatar. Te regionshighest literacy rate o 94.5 per cent is ound in Kuwait,while Mauritania scores only 55.8 per cent. Likewise, thenational urbanization rate in Kuwait is 98.4 per cent versus31.8 in Yemen.

Clearly, the region also has a signicant number o shared

characteristics beyond being Arab States. Te overridingcommon eature is the shared Islamic religion and culture, butthere are other common traits, including large demographicyouth bulges, signicant youth under- and unemploymentrates. Tere are also highly centralized governance systemsthat are being questioned by the populations at large, acutestresses on resh water supplies, and increasingly elt impactso climate change, to mention a ew.

Te year 2011 has been a historic one or the Arab Statesregion. I am reerring to what became known as the ArabSpring. As early as 2008, the rst State o the Arican Citiesreport - which covered the Arab States on the Arica continent- issued succinct but accurate advice to the governments o

northern Arica that only major political, social and economicreorm could avert signicant urban unrest.

Te report warned that the combination o large numbers ounemployed urban youth, a lack o affordable housing, and theresultant stress on the ability o societies to cater or urban newhousehold ormation rates constituted an explosive mixture.Te events o 2011 showed the validity o this orecast.

Te Arab States region is currently at a historic cross roadin its political, social and economic evolution. And so Iwould like to repeat here the message carried in our 2008Arica report, because o its signicance or the Arab Statesregion as a whole:

Te challenge is to reshape social and urban policies towardssustainable economic growth and adequate living conditionsfor rapidly expanding numbers of young and poor urbanites.But the confrontation with urbanity and modernity canonly be resolved by the region itself, while the outcomes ofpolicies to better integrate [the Arab States] in the globaleconomy and among themselves will determine itsfuture.

UN-Habitat is promoting the economic role o cities both

in the Arab world and beyond. We also want to ensure thaturban planning is well equipped to deal with current urbanchallenges.

Finally, I would like to commend the excellent inter-agencycooperation in the true spirit o One-UN in the preparationo this publication. I thank all partners or their vision,contributions and cooperation.

Foreword by UN-Habitat

Dr. Joan ClosUnder-Secretary General of the United NationsExecutive Director UN-Habitat


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iv

I

n an effort to review in detail the conditions and trends across the Arab States region, this report has drawn on an initialbackground report on Arab cities prepared by the Kuwait office o UN-Habitat and the knowledge o a wide range o

specialists. Tis included a rst expert group meeting hosted by the Arab Fund For Social and Economic Development inKuwait City, Kuwait, on 28 and 29 April 2010. A second expert group meeting, hosted by the League o Arab States was heldon 1-3 November 2010 in Cairo, Egypt. A peer review o the consolidated drat was reviewed by an Editorial Board meetingo experts, held on 20 and 21 November 2011 in Amman, Jordan.

Tis report could not have been realized without the generous nancial support by the Government o Kuwait and thecooperation o Arab owns Organization. UN-Habitat is urther grateul to the Government o Norway or its nancialcontribution to the editorial board meeting and the graphic design.

Te report was coordinated by arek El-Sheikh and Dalal Al-Rashed o UN-Habitats Kuwait Office. Jos Maseland and LusunguKayani o UN-Habitats Regional Office or Arica and the Arab States conceptualized the report and designed the dratingprocess. An initial background report was prepared by arek El-Sheikh and Victoria Wisnewski-Otero o UN-Habitat Kuwait.Daniel Biau, ormerly Director o UN-Habitats Regional and echnical Cooperation Division, and Alioune Badiane, Director

o UN-Habitats Project Office, provided overall guidance.

Mona Serageldin, the lead author o the report, was supported by a team o experts composed o Kendra Leith, Maria LuisaFernandez Manseld, Linda Shi and Franois Vigier.

A number o regional experts have contributed by providing specic countries background reports. Te UN-Habitat eamcontributed to the drating o Chapter One. Dr. Abdul Aziz Adidi contributed to Chapter wo (the Maghreb). Dr. NassrYassin and Dania Riai prepared the Lebanon report. Dr. Rami Nasrallah and Filiep Decorte prepared Occupied Palestinianerritories background documents. Fiona McCluney prepared a note on Baghdad or Chapter Tree (the Mashreq). Dr. Ali A.Alraou prepared the Qatar and Bahrain national reports. Dr. Saied Maksoud provided the Saudi Arabia report. Dr. RadhiyaAlHashimi contributed the United Arab Emirates and Oman reports, while arek El-Sheikh and Sara Al Duwaisan providedbackground inormation on Kuwait. Eng. Eid Al-Khaldi contributed valuable statistics and regional data or Chapter Four (theGul Cooperation Council). Dr. Salah Osman prepared the Sudan country report, while Eng. Yasmin Al-Awadi prepared the

Yemen background report or Chapter Five (the Southern ier). Chris Horwood prepared reerence documents on all countriescovered by this report. Lusungu Kayani compiled the Statistical Annex, based on data rom Te State of African Cities 2010 andthe World Urbanization Prospects: Te 2009 Revision,UNDESA.

Te expert group meetings in Kuwait City and Cairo beneted rom expert guidance provided by:

Abdelaziz Adidi, Adam Abdelmoula, Basiouni Abdelrahman, Ahmed Aladsani, Dhari Al Ajmi, Abdulrahman Alduaij, SohaibAllabdi, Ali A. Alraou, Sateh Arnaout, Yasmine Al Awadhint Dina Al Beheri, Daniel Biau, Rounwah Adly Bseiso, HussainDashti, Sara Al Duwaisan, Assem El Gazzar, Tabit Al Haroun, Radhiya Al Hashimi, Chris Horwood, Lusungu Kayani,Mohamed Khadim, Eid Al Khaldi, Jos Maseland, Fiona McCluney, Eduardo Moreno, Rami Nasrallah, revor Pearson, GerryPost, Dania Riai, Sandra Al Saleh, Ghassan Samman, Mowaffaq Al Saqqar, Mona Serageldin, Ehab Shalaan, Sahar Shawa,arek El-Sheikh, Monica El Shorbagi, David Simms, Ali Shabou, Doaa El Sheri, Ahmed aha, Maha Yahya and Nasser Yassin.

UN-Habitat appreciates the guidance provided by the ollowing Editorial Board members:Abdelaziz Adidi, Ali Abdel Raou, Ali Shabou, Alioune Badiane, H.E. Ammar Gharaibeh, Chairman o Greater AmmanMunicipality Committee, Dalal Al-Rashed, Dania Riai, Daniel Biau, Eduardo Moreno, Ghassan Samman, Hatem aha, JanMeeuwissen, Jos Maseland, Lusungu Kayani, Maha Yahya Mohamed Khadim, Mona Serageldin, Paulius Kulikauskas, Riadabbarah, Riadh appuni, arek El-Sheikh, Sateh Aranout, Waleed Al Arabi and H.E. Yehia Al Kasby.

Te ollowing contributed text boxes to the report:

Nadia Alaily-Mattar, Yasmine Al Awadhi, Dorothee von Brentano, Radhiya Al Hashimi, Jos Maseland, Fiona McCluney, RamiNasrallah, Salah Osman, Ali A. Raou, Mowaaq Al Saqqar, Ali Shabou, arek El Sheikh, David Simms and Maha Yahya.

Acknowledgements


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Message from the Secretary-General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iiForeword by UN-Habitat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iiiAcknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Te Arab States Region: Key Findings and Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viiExecutive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

1. Te State of Arab Cities 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii1.1 Summaries o Sub-Regional Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Mashreq Regional Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Maghreb Regional Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 GCC Regional Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Southern ier Regional Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71.2 Historical Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91.3 Largest Arab Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141.4 ransnational Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161.5 Reugees and IDPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171.6 Regional Urban Energy, Food and Water Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181.7 Regional Corridors and Cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211.8 Emerging Governance Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Statistical Annex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2. Te State of Mashreq Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322.1 Population and Urbanization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332.2 Te Growing Economic Role o Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382.3 Urban Development and Housing Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482.4 Urban Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592.5 Urban Environmental Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612.6 Urban Governance Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682.7 Migration and Remittances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722.8 Regional Corridors and Cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Mashreq Statistical Annex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

3. Te State of Maghreb Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883.1 Population and Urbanization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 893.2 Te Growing Economic Role o Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

3.3 Urban Development and Housing Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973.4 Urban Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1053.5 Urban Environmental Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1083.6 Urban Governance Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1133.7 Migration and Remittances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1163.8 Regional Corridors and Cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Maghreb Statistical Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

4. Te State of GCC Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1284.1 Population and Urbanization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1294.2 Te Growing Economic Role o Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1334.3 Urban Development and Housing Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1444.4 Urban Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1514.5 Urban Environmental Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1544.6 Urban Governance Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1604.7 Migration and Remittances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1654.8 Regional Corridors and Cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 GCC Statistical Annex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

5. Te State of Southern ier Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1845.1 Population and Urbanization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1855.2 Te Growing Economic Role o Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1895.3 Urban Development and Housing Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1935.4 Urban Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1975.5 Urban Environmental Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1995.6 Urban Governance System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2055.7 Migration and Remittances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2105.8 Regional Corridors and Cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Southern ier Statistical Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Contents


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able of Boxes

Box 1 Te Soul and Identity o the Arab City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Box 2 Preserving the Arab Urban Heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Box 3 Occupied Palestinian erritories: Te Impacts o Occupation on the Urban Economy, Urban Form and Urban Mobility . . . . . 40

Box 4 Occupied Palestinian erritories: Displacing the Displaced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Box 5 Iraqi Reugees in Syria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Box 6 Urban Baghdad: Impact o Conict on Daily Lie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Box 7 Gated Communities in Lebanon: Evolution and Development rends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Box 8 Islamic Housing Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Box 9 Egypts Inormal Settlement Development Facility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Box 10 Jordan: Addressing Urban Water Shortages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Box 11 Syrias Municipal Administration Modernisat ion (MAM) Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Box 12 unisia and Morocco: Slum Upgrading and Housing Development Experiences ARRU and Al Omran (Models) . . . . . . . . . . . 98Box 13 Returning to the Compact City? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Box 14 Mauritanias wiz Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Box 15 Islamic Principles and Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Box 16 Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain: Te Post-oil Knowledge Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Box 17 Impacts o the Global Financial Crisis on Real Estate Development in the United Arab Emirates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Box 18 Youth, Wealth and Health in the GCC: A light Review o a Heavy Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Box 19 Kuwait Expatriate Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Box 20 Dubais Strategic ransportation Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Box 21 Responses to Water Shortages in the United Arab Emirates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Box 22 Management o the Holy Cities Mecca and Medina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Box 23 Arab Gul States Cooperation and Regional Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Box 24 Te Qatar-Bahrain Causeway: An Emerging Urban Corridor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Box 25 Sudan-Migration to Khartoum and the Dar AlSalam Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Box 26 Yemen-Urban Water Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Box 27 Somalia-Cadastral Development, Property axation and Financing Urban Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208


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again over the next 40 years.

to be reinorced to prepare them or this growth.

conict with the importance o these causes varying by sub-region.

(economic) migrants.

regional urbanization patterns tend to bring complex issues o region-wide urban governance, authority conicts and governancevoids. Addressing these governance matters should receive priority attention.

political participation and erode the relationships between the citizenry and the level o government closest to them.

participation o the private sector in urban development.

the countries o the GCC and those o the Southern ier (Comoros, Djibouti, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen). Tisshould be addressed as a matter o inter-Arab solidarity.

lessons learned offer important models or other Arab countries.

expensive property registration and limited access to housing nance.

have the capability o generating signicant urban social unrest.

countries is under-utilized while regional physical and policy inrastructures remain uncoordinated.

The Arab States Region: Key Findings and Messages


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viii

Why a State of the Arab Cities Report

he State of Arab Cities Report 2012 is the rst report inthe UN-Habitat series on the state o cities to ocus onthe Arab world. It presents a collective picture o urban

conditions and trends in each o our Arab regions (Maghreb,Mashreq, Gul Cooperative Council (GCC) and Southernier), and provides a discussion o the similarities, differencesand linkages between these countries in the context o a largerArab region.

Tis report complements the State of the World Cities2010/11 report, as well as the chapter on North Arica in theState of African Cities 2008and2010reports. It is particularlyrelevant and timely to review urbanization issues in the Arab

region given the events o 2011.Home to the oldest urban civilizations in the world, the

Arab region is also one o the most urbanized. As o 2010, theArab countries are home to 357 million residents, 56 per cento whom live in cities; by 2050, these countries will be hometo 646 million people, 68 per cent o whom will live in cities.

Te urban population in Arab countries grew by more thanour times rom 1970 to 2010 and will more than doubleagain rom 2010 to 2050. Most o the growth to date hastaken place on the peripheries o each countrys primary citiesalthough, today, secondary cities are experiencing the astestrate o growth.

Across the region, around 18 per cent o residents live undereach countrys national poverty line2, with signicant variationbetween the Gul countries, which have an average per capitaincome o USD 29,000, and the Southern ier countries (notincluding Somalia), which have an average per capita income oUSD 1,300.3In the Gul, oil revenues typically represent 40 to

50 per cent o government budgets and as much as 90 per centin Sudan. Most oil-rich countries have invested signicantly ininrastructure, housing improvements and subsidies or ood,water and energy. In the oil-poor countries, governments havebeen constrained in their ability to dampen the shocks orising ood and energy prices while simultaneously supportingthe production o affordable housing.

Te Arab states have made signicant strides towardsreaching the MDGs, particularly in health and education,in spite o limited economic growth in the 1990s and 2000s,the recent global economic crisis, and continuing sporadicconicts in the region. As an aggregate, the region is on track

to halve the proportion o people living below USD 1.25 aday and has achieved remarkable gains in universal primaryeducation, the reduction o child and inant mortality and othe gender gaps in school enrolment.

However, signicant disparities continue to exist betweenrural and urban areas as well as between the high-incomecountries o the Gul Cooperation Council, which areexpected to meet most Millennium Development Goal targets,and the countries o the Southern ier, Mauritania, Iraq andthe Occupied Palestinian erritories, which are expected tomiss most o the Goals targets by 2015. Te Mashreq andMaghreb countries ace particular challenges in reducingyouth unemployment, child mortality and, in a ew countries,

achieving universal primary education.4

Urbanization has been driven by the regions economicdevelopment, migration to the oil rich countries, droughtand conict driven displacement. As o 2010, there were7.4 million registered reugees in Arab countries5, most othem Palestinians and Iraqis living in Jordan and Syria; 9.8million internally displaced peoples (IDPs), mostly in Sudan,Iraq, Somalia, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen6 and 15 millioninternational migrants in the GCC. Most live in cities and,together, represent one-third o the sub-regions population.

All Arab governments recognize the importance o the cityas a laboratory or innovation, a magnet or investment and a

Mashreq MaghrebGul CooperationCouncil

Southern TierCountries

Egypt Algeria Bahrain The Comoros

Iraq Libya Kuwait Djibouti

Jordan Morocco Oman Somalia

Lebanon Tunisia Qatar Sudan1

Palestine Mauritania Saudi Arabia Yemen

Syrian ArabRepublic

United ArabEmirates

FIGURE I: ARAB SUB-REGIONS AND COUNTRY CLASSIFICATIONS

Executive Summary

N

Mashreq

Maghreb

Gulf Cooperation Council

Southern Tier Countries


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source o job creation as cities have become the main engineso economic development. Given the relatively low incomedisparities in the region, cities are also the key to reducing theproportion o people living in poverty.

Te industrial and service sectors, which are largelyconcentrated in cities, contribute over 92 per cent o theGDP in Arab countries. Agriculture, which employs 25 percent o the workorce, has been declining as a share o GDP

and was 8 per cent in 2008.

7

Many countries, especially thosethat rely heavily on oil revenues, have been diversiying theireconomic bases in the manuacturing, service, tourism andknowledge industries with a particular aim o employingwell-educated youth.

In general, access to services, inrastructure, health,education attainment is better in cities than in rural areas,although unemployment and continuing poverty is a growingurban phenomenon. While a ew primary cities have becomethe centres o extended metropolitan regions or mega-urbanregions, governments throughout the Arab world havedeveloped policies to channel investments into secondarycities in an effort to improve rural-urban economic linkages

and oster more equitable development across each countryssub-regions.

Te high demand or housing, inrastructure and urbanmanagement systems in key cities has stressed the ability ogovernments to provide serviced land. In spite o signicantprogress in regularising the inormal settlements that had pro-lierated in the closing decades o the 20 thcentury, there is stilla signicant shortage o affordable housing in most countries.

While the private sector has taken an increasingly activerole in providing housing or households in the upper-incometiers, there is still a shortage o affordable units or lower-income households due to the high rate o amily ormation.

A lack o housing nance mechanisms, except at the highestincome levels, has hindered the production o ormal housingor lower- and middle-income households. However, theglobal economic crisis o 2008 and the ensuing collapse o theluxury housing market is leading housing developers in theMashreq and Maghreb to re-examine opportunities or themiddle-income housing market.

Te proportion o sub-standard housing varies rom

country to country, with slum dwellings orming isolated,marginalized pockets in some countries, while in Mauritaniaand Southern ier countries, especially Somalia and Sudan,67 to 94 per cent o urban residents live in slums with oneor more housing deprivations. In the Maghreb and Mashreq,middle-to-low-income groups tend to live in inormalsettlements that are o decent quality and inrastructure butlack land title.

Most countries in the Maghreb and the Mashreq have madesignicant progress in developing initiatives to increase thesupply o affordable housing through targeted programmeswhile the Gul Cooperation Council countries and SaudiArabia have policies to provide their citizens with adequate

housing. In the Gul countries, the housing conditions olow-income expatriate workers present a challenge.

Morocco, unisia and Egypt have made the most notablenational commitments to slum upgrading and the productiono affordable housing. Although using different models, allthree have developed dedicated national housing agenciesthat conduct planning, und projects with private sectorparticipation and coordinate implementation on behal olocal municipalities.

unisia was the rst Arab country to eliminate slums, restorehistoric areas, regularize land tenure and ensure basic servicesto the urban poor. Morocco, which has the most developed

Sanaa, Yemen, is one o the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Oleg Znamenskiy/Shutterstock


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x

affordable housing programme among Arab countries,reduced the number o slums by 65 per cent between 1990and 2010. Its national public holding company producessocial housing, resettles slum dwellers and develops newtowns, with market rate units cross-subsidizing the lower-income units. Trough diverse incentives and subsidiesto promote private sector investment, Egypts NationalHousing Project aims to build 500,000 affordable housingunits between 2005 and 2011, mostly in new towns. In2011, Abu Dhabis government mandated that all uture

housing projects dedicate 20 per cent o units to affordablehousing. Tese initiatives and lessons learned rom theirimplementation offer important models or considerationby other Arab countries as they embark on new affordablehousing programmes.

Emerging trends

Te major challenges acing the region are the need to providegainul employment to its young people and anticipatedclimate change. With 60 per cent o the population below 25years o age, Arab countries ace the challenge o providingemployment opportunities or their young people whose

current unemployment rates range rom 11 per cent in Kuwaitto 35 per cent in Morocco. Disenchantment and povertyinduced by a lack o mobility has been one o the uellingmechanisms or the recent political polarization o the region.

With the exception o Iraq, Arab countries have someo the scarcest water resources per capita in the worldand groundwater reserves are being depleted at alarmingrates. Although 85 per cent o the regions water is usedor agriculture, most countries in the region import morethan 50 per cent o their caloric intake. Climate change-induced temperature increases and precipitation declinesare projected to increase water scarcity and the requency o

severe droughts and also decrease agricultural productivityby 10 to 40 per cent, potentially leading to urther poverty-induced rural to urban migration.

Desertication and the associated threats o uture waterand ood insecurity or its growing urban populations areamong the key dening problems o the region. In addition,most o the regions major cities, economic centres andtransportation hubs activity are in low-lying, coastal areas. Arise in sea level could be disastrous or many o the regionsdensely populated coastal cities.

Faced with these pressures, most o the regions governmentshave embarked on spatial interventions to guide new urbandevelopments. Many cities are drating strategic plans, linkingvarious development projects and renewal programmes underthe umbrella o a broader vision. New cities are being createdas centres o excellence, innovation, technology and research.Cities are also marketing themselves as international tourismdestinations, putting more emphasis on marketing theirhistoric and cultural assets than ever beore. Whetherthrough culture, education and research or nancial niches,cities in the Arab world are putting their mark on the map.

o implement these plans successully and manageincreasingly large and complex urban systems, governments

in Arab countries will need to better coordinate thecomplementary roles o central and local governments andincrease the participation o the private sector in urbandevelopment. Historically, these countries have beenhighly centralized and the devolution o responsibilitiesto local authorities has been uneven, with a tendency orcentral governments to devolve responsibilities without acommensurate redistribution o unding or giving localauthorities the power to raise revenue at the local level. Atthe time o writing, the repercussions o the 2011 protestsremain unclear, although the widespread debates demonstratethe need or a new participatory approach to governance.

FIGURE II: SLUM PREVALENCE IN ARAB COUNTRIES, 2005-2007 DATA

Source: UN-Habitat Global Urban Observatory.

N

No data

0 - 15%

15.1 - 50%

50.1 - 70%

70.1 - 100%

0 2,500km


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Regional Subdivision and Sub-RegionalDifferences

As a result o the ongoing conicts in Palestine and Iraqand past conicts in Lebanon, the Mashreq countries arehome to 50 per cent o the worlds registered reugees. Teir

presence, as well as internal rural-urban migration, has placedimmense pressure on cities. Inormal settlements, whichtend to lack improved sanitation but otherwise offer decenthousing conditions, have prolierated in Mashreq cities, withas many as 62 per cent o households in Greater Cairo livingin such settlements. Except or Iraq, the Mashreq countriesare oil poor and have scal decits that constrain their abilityto subsidize costs to the poor signicantly as ood and energyprices rise.

Te Maghreb countries are typically more than 50 percent urbanized, and have slowed in their urban growth rates.Current urban policy ocuses on diversiying their economies,linking major urban areas and planning to redirect growth to

secondary cities in the interior. Agriculture remains a majoremployment base or Morocco and Algeria.

While young people under 25 years o age comprise 48 percent o the total population, their unemployment rate reaches70 per cent among men with only a primary educations andthis represents the bulk o total unemployment. Te Maghrebcountries have made the most signicant gains in reducing thenumber o urban households living with shelter deprivations;their efforts demonstrate that slum upgrading and serviceprovision or the poor can be achieved with a strong politicalcommitment.

Given that 90 per cent o the Gul Peninsula is desert,

Gulf Cooperation Council countries are among the mosturbanized in the world and several countries unction ascity-states. Tese countries have achieved major milestonesin inrastructure, health and education, and have reachedtheir Millennium Development Goals.8 Faced withdeclining oil reserves and the rising cost o subsidies inenergy, water and housing, the policy ocus now addresseseconomic diversication, the absorption o nationals intothe private sector labour orce, affordable housing andenvironmental sustainability. Highly-ambitious projects inpublic transportation planning and urban environmentalsustainability are underway, although urban planning is stilloten done as a piecemeal effort.

Following prolonged periods o conict, governments in theSouthern ierhave been unable to secure basic services ormost o their citizens. With the exception o Djibouti, thesecountries are still predominantly rural but are now experiencingthe highest urbanization rates in the region. Te ability o theseless-developed Arab countries to cope with rapid urbanizationand move rom rural to urban-based settlement patterns willbe o critical importance in the coming decades.

Looking orward, climate change will worsen droughts inthe Horn o Arica. Te danger o new conicts over waterand oil rights may complicate the orderly split o Sudan intoNorth and South.

With intra-regional exports accounting or only 8.5 percent o total exports in 2007, the Arab region is one othe least integrated with regards to internal trade, due to a

lack o economic complementarity between countries anduncoordinated physical and policy inrastructures.9 Newefforts aiming to establish a network o roads, railways, portsand streamlined customs points throughout the Mashreqand Maghreb will help to incentivize trade and transportthrough the region.

Arab countries have signed a number o bilateral andmultilateral trade agreements with each other, Aricancountries, the European Union and the United States.Tey include the Pan-Arab Free rade Area (PAFA), theemerging EURO-MED ree trade area and the AgadirAgreement or a Free rade Zone between Morocco, unisia,Egypt and Jordan.

o strengthen regional integration, several countriesare undertaking major projects to improve road networks,railways and electrical grids, as well as streamlined tradeand customs procedures. Tese include a north-southcorridor that would link the European Union and the GulCooperation Council (GCC) countries through urkey,Syria and Jordan; two east-west corridors that would linkSyrian ports with Iraq and over USD100 billion in railimprovements in the GCC that connect Jeddah, Riyadh andBahrain, as well as Kuwait, Muscat and the Mashreq andMaghreb. Various planned initiatives to build concentratedsolar and wind power plants throughout the Maghreb, with

a potential to expand into the Mashreq and GCC, could alsotransorm regional economies.Perhaps the single most transormative initiative underway

is the planned network o concentrated solar and wind powerplants throughout the Maghreb, with a potential to expandinto the Mashreq and GCC. With the EU target to produce20 per cent o its energy consumption rom renewablesources by 2020, and visions or a Mediterranean Union,Europe-North Arican energy networks are being developedand expanded. Tis could bring signicant investment andeconomic development opportunities to the region andcreate an economic base to balance the negative impacts oclimate change and urbanization.

While many daunting challenges continue to ace theregion, considerable progress has been made toward theachievement o a more sustainable and inclusive urbanization.Te benets that many Arab countries have received rom oilrevenues in the past 50 years have led to signicant progressin liting living standards in the region and provide the meanswith which to complete the Millennium Development Goals,particularly in the elds o education, health and disposableincome. Trough this discussion o current conditions andtrends, this report aims to promote the good managementand improvements needed to help cities serve as engines ogrowth and innovation.


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For the oreseeable uture, Cairo will remain the sole Arab megacity. Joel Carillet/iStockphoto

CHAPTER ONE

THE STATE OF ARAB CITIES 2012xii


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Overview

he Arab region, home to 357 million people in 2010,is one o the most urbanized in the world, with 56per cent o its residents living in cities. Past and

emerging conicts and worsening droughts are major driverso urbanization. Within the region, the Gul CooperationCouncil is experiencing the astest rate o total populationgrowth, while the Southern ier is experiencing the astestrate o urbanization. Although both rates are slowing, totalpopulation is still projected to double by 2050, by which timethe region will be 68 per cent urbanized. Tis trend will placecontinued pressure on urban inrastructure, housing andsocial services.

With 53 per cent o the population under 25 years o age,the demands o maturing youth or jobs and housing willadd to the pressures on urban systems. Affordable and decenthousing is a major challenge throughout the region, includingin the Gul States. In countries that have experiencedcontinued conict, high rates o poverty and pervasivepolitical instability - such as Sudan, Somalia, Comoros,Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq - these demographic trends havetranslated into pervasive slums, which comprise 50 to 95 percent o total urbanization.

Te prolieration o slums and peri-urban inormalsettlements is the result o a scarcity o serviced land and

affordable housing options. Slums in the region includeolder, deteriorated buildings within the urban abric and,particularly in the Southern ier, newly-constructed housingthat is not durable and lacks most services. In reugee camps,residents oten also ace social trauma.

In contrast, inormal settlements are mostly constructed odurable materials, oten as multi-storey buildings on ormer

FIGURE 1: ARAB REGIONS URBAN POPULATION TREND (1970-2050) FIGURE 2: ARAB REGIONS URBANIZATION TREND (1970-2050)

agricultural land, and their informalityis generally the resulto their unplanned nature and lack o registered titles. Teirresidents typically lack waterborne sewerage but, on thewhole, have access to potable water, electricity and some ormo sanitation. Tese settlements attract middle-class amilies,with wage earners in proessional or managerial occupationsin the public and private sectors.

Unemployment, particularly among the young, isone o the most notable challenges in the region. In theMaghreb and Mashreq, total unemployment ranges rom9 per cent to 26 per cent while rates in the Southern ierrange rom 15 to 60 per cent. While the GCC has low rates

o unemployment, ranging rom 0.5 per cent in Qatar to5.1 per cent in Saudi Arabia, because o a strong systemo employing nationals in the public sector. All the same,young people make up a disproportionate component o theunemployed. Tey account or 37 to 82 per cent o totalunemployment depending on the country. Unemploymentrates o youth with secondary and tertiary degrees isparticularly high in the Maghreb, and contributes to youthdisenchantment and despair in the current political systems.

As a result o the events o 2011, countries are engagedin dialogue to adapt governance systems or in some casesbuild new institutions rom scratch. Tese efforts to make

government more transparent and inclusive are mirroredin economic systems. In order or cities and countriesto reposition themselves as global economies, attractoreign investment and, particularly in the Maghreb,make the transition rom agriculture-based to services andindustry economies, they are gradually reorming land usemanagement, banking and nance systems.

Summaries o Sub-regional Sections1.1

Source: WUP 2009. Source:World Urbanization Prospects:The 2009 Revision, UNDESA, NewYork, 2010.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300350

400

450

Arab CountriesSouthern TierGCC Maghreb Mashreq

20502030201019901970

Population(millions)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

7080

90

100

20502030201019901970

Urbanization%

Arab CountriesSouthern TierGCC Maghreb Mashreq


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2

Mashreq Regional Summary

Population and Urbanization. Te countries in theMashreq region are moderately to highly urbanized withurban populations varying in total percentage terms rom43 (Egypt) to 87 (Lebanon). Urban and total growth rates

have been relatively low (1 to 3 per cent) and will continueto decline.

With limited options or expansion in the larger cities,governments are placing an emphasis on secondary citiesand satellite locations. Lebanons drat National Master Planproposed to shit the emphasis o investments rom Beirutto ripoli, Zahle-Chtaura, Saida, Nabatiyeh and yre. It alsoplans to re-establish the Beirut-ripoli rail service. In Egypt,the government has created new towns to divert growth romCairo to parallel satellite locations in the desert. In Jordan, thegovernment has revitalized the urban cores o Salt, Madaba,Jerash and Karak in an effort to shit growth away romAmman.

Economic Role of Cities. Many o the Mashreq regionseconomic activities and employment opportunities areconcentrated in its primary cities. Across the region, poverty hasdeclined slightly and has been concentrated in particular partso the region, especially in urban areas. Unemployment hasbeen higher in rural areas; in urban areas, it disproportionatelyaffects youth and women.

Educational attainment and literacy rates tend to be higherin urban areas as are health services. For instance, in Jordan,urban residents are much more likely to achieve a higherlevel o education. In Syria, most o the health acilities areconcentrated in Damascus and Aleppo.

Urban Development and Housing. In spite o the Mashreqcountries being on track to achieving the MDGs, housing costsare high relative to urban incomes and the growth o inormalsettlements continues to be a major challenge in the region asthe ormal housing and mortgage markets have ocused on theupper-middle and upper-income classes. Mortgage marketsare underdeveloped and provide nancing mostly to upper-and middle-class residents.

Most residents purchase properties with cash, loans romamily members and riends, remittances and inormal loans.Access to housing nance has been complicated by thecumbersome property registration system, which oten doesnot provide residents with the collateral they need to secure

a mortgage.Te construction o affordable housing is limited by the

lack o affordable serviced land and access to housing nanceor both developers and homebuyers. In Syria, 38 per cento the total population lives in inormal settlements and,in Damascus, inormal settlements are growing at 40 to 50per cent per year. In Jordan, 16 per cent o urban residentslive in inormal settlements. In Egypt, it is estimated that inthe Greater Cairo Region 62 per cent o households live ininormal settlements.

Some countries have constructed aordable housing.Jordan is expected to develop 100,000 aordable housing

units between 2008 and 2013 and has also ocused on theconstruction o inrastructure and the redevelopment oslum areas. As part o its policy to develop new towns inthe desert to preserve agricultural land, Egypt has been

producing 15,000 to 35,000 housing units per year andhas the goal o creating 500,000 aordable units. In 2011,Iraq announced a USD 35 billion investment programmeto address a housing backlog estimated at 1.5 millionunits.

Environment and Transportation. Te Mashreq countrieshave an estimated 80 million cubic metres o renewable watersupply but use 88 million cubic metres annually, graduallydepleting their aquiers. In addition, the systems suffer romsignicant water losses (35-50 per cent in urban areas), urthercontributing to the water scarcity.

Egypt, Jordan and Syria in particular, are using waterat unsustainable levels. Water rationing and tari

structures are needed to reduce water use, but are diicultto implement. In an eort to reduce demand o reshwater, governments are reusing wastewater, particularly inagriculture.

Climate change will affect the Mashreq countries throughhigher temperatures, shorter wet seasons, more erratic rain andrising sea levels. Te combined impact o meeting increaseddemand, protecting and developing new water resources,hydropower loss and ecosystem damage could representa cost between 1 to 7 per cent o GDP depending on thecountry. Adapting to climate change will require better waterconservation, a more optimal allocation o water use rights,

a reduction in ossil uel reliance, investments in renewableenergy and an increase in international cooperation orresource sharing.

Te reliance o the Mashreq region on rain-ed agriculturemakes it vulnerable to the effects o climate change. Althoughgovernments have provided ood subsidies and highergovernment wages, the benets oten do not always reachthose most in need.

Car ownership rates are increasing in most countries inthe region and there has been an underinvestment in publictransportation. Only Cairo maintains an extensive publictransport system, which carries 2 million passengers per day.Damascus plans to create a metro system and Amman is

developing three new light rail lines and a new rapid bustransit system. Although still heavily dependent on ossiluels, some countries are supporting wind and solar energyalternatives. With increased vehicle efficiency and betterpublic transportation options, the airborne particulatematter has decreased in all countries.

Urban Governance Systems. Planning in the Mashreqregion is highly centralized and most local governments donot have the power to set local taxes and ees and depend oncentral government transers to nance their activities andservices that are typically administered through local offices oline ministries.


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In Egypt, 80 to 90 per cent o local budgets originate romthe central government; only two governorates Alexandriaand Qina collect user ees to nance their own developmentpriorities. In Syria, governance is highly centralized butthere has been an effort to decentralize decision making andstrengthen local councils. Only the Occupied Palestinian

erritories have a truly decentralized nancial system whereeach city must raise its own revenues.With local governments providing limited services, civil

society organizations have played an important part insupplying services to the poor and this is mainly related tohealth, education, relie services and cultural elds.

Migration and Remittance. Mashreq countries have beenboth receivers and senders o migrant workers. Generally,well-educated younger proessionals travel abroad in searcho better employment opportunities while reugees and lessskilled workers migrate within the region in search o a saeplace to live and job opportunities.

For instance, highly-skilled Egyptians, Jordanians, Lebanese

and Palestinians plus semi-skilled Egyptian workers are workingin the oil-producing countries, while semi-skilled workers romEgypt, Syria and Asian countries work in the industrial andservice sectors o oil-producing nations. In addition, Jordanand Syria have also received Palestinian, Lebanese and Iraqireugees. Remittances represent a signicant per cent o GDP:16 per cent in Jordan and 22 per cent in Lebanon.

Maghreb Regional Summary

Population Growth and Urbanization. Te Maghrebcountries are highly urbanized with all countries in the region

but or Mauritania more than 50 per cent urbanized by 2010.Recent urban growth rates have been relatively low (1-3 percent) and will continue to decline, although the need toaccommodate urban expansion remains.

Most countries in the region are placing an emphasis onsecondary cities and areas outside o the main agglomerations

to alleviate the pressure on primary coastal locations. InMorocco, the publicly-owned holding company Al Omranehas created our new towns within 5 to 15 km o existingagglomerations to provide affordable, adequate housing toaccommodate the growing population.

Economic Role of Cities. While Libya and Algeria aredependent on oil, unisia and Morocco are more ocusedon industry and services. Many o the countries have beendiversiying their economies with Algeria, or instance,having placed a greater emphasis on shing, tourism andrenewable energy. Te government recently launched a 15-year tourism development plan to attract investments andvisitors in desert and coastal cities as well as cultural sites in

Algiers, Annaba, Constantine and Oran. In Morocco, thegovernment has undertaken a regional tourism developmentplan that includes investments in inrastructure and therehabilitation o the historic medinas and other culturalsites.

In spite o the historical concentration o economic activitiesin coastal cities, there has been a recent trend to developsecondary cities. unisia is attempting to draw activitiesinward by creating competitive technopoles in secondary citiesaway rom the coastal areas and Algerias regional economicdevelopment plans will shit some economic activities romAlgiers to secondary cities.

Amman, Jordan. In Jordan, 16 per cent o urban residents live in inormal settlements. Andy Clarke/Shutterstock


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Unemployment tends to be greater in urban areas, whilepoverty rates tend to be lower than in rural areas. Despiterelatively high rates o educational attainment, unemploymentin the Maghreb region is still high or youth, women andor those with higher degrees, particularly in urban areas.Whereas inequality is relatively low in the region it is oten

higher in urban areas, especially in large cities.Urban Development and Housing. Te supply o

affordable housing has been a serious challenge in the region.Lower-income residents are oten priced out o the market byrapid increases in land prices and limited access to credit. Tesituation is complicated urther by cumbersome and costlyproperty registration processes that hamper acquiring thelegal title necessary to obtain a loan.

As a result, lower-income residents are pushed to inormalsettlements on the urban periphery or in illegal and undesirablelocations. In spite o the act that Maghreb countries havemade great strides to eliminate slums through upgrading andresettlement programs, oten through partnerships between

public agencies and the private sector, there has been a steadygrowth in inormal settlements.

Environment and Transportation.Although most urbanresidents in the Maghreb have access to water and sanitation,especially in urban areas, water security is an important issueas all countries in the region are water stressed and havewithdrawn a signicant portion o their aquier resources. oincrease access to water and reduce pollution, countries haveimplemented such programs as wastewater reuse in Moroccoand unisia and aquier abstraction and desalination inAlgeria.

Te region is a net importer o ood and ood security is

a major challenge as prices have been increasing due to suchimpacts o climate change as greater evaporation and severeooding. With reduced levels o precipitation and highertemperatures, it is estimated that agricultural and pastoralproductivity will decline by as much as 10 per cent in duecourse. In an effort to ensure ood security, Maghreb countriesare trying to increase agricultural productivity with betterirrigation, wastewater reuse and desalination. Tey are alsostockpiling ood, reducing taxes on grains and providing oodsubsidies to ensure affordability.

Energy consumption is relatively low in Morocco andunisia, which are net importers, while Algeria is on par withthe world average and Libya consumes more than twice the

per capita world average. With the increasing demand orenergy and associated higher carbon emissions, countriesare looking or alternative sources such as solar and wind inMorocco and unisia.

Te amount o urban solid waste produced has risen and isoten deposited in open dumps rather than sanitary landlls.Algeria, Morocco and unisia all have national strategies orimproving waste management and these include improvedwaste collection, constructing additional sanitary landlls andrehabilitating open dumps.

Many urban dwellers depend on public transit systemsthat are obsolete and overcrowded. In recent years unisia,

Algeria, Libya and Morocco have been investing in light railand subway systems in urban areas. Even though the rate oprivate car ownership is still relatively low, it is on the rise dueto subsidized low uel costs, especially in Libya and Algeria,and the regions extensive road networks.

Urban Governance Systems. Maghreb countries have a two-

tier local governance structure with provinces or governoratesat the regional level and municipalities and communes at thelocal level. De-concentrated offices o central ministries atthe governorate level provide the important public servicesincluding health, education and housing.10

Governors are appointed and, in some cases, provincesare urther divided into districts where chies are appointed.Local councils are elected and municipal activities ocusmainly on the management o services such as streets, paving,lighting, open space and solid waste collection.11Reorm ointergovernmental scal relations to increase local revenueand enhancement o municipal nancial capacity are vital tomeaningul participation, the improvement o residents living

conditions and effective accountability in local governance.Within the region women received the right to vote in

the 1950s and 1960s, but their participation in politics hasbeen airly limited. In Algeria, Libya and Morocco, womencomprise only 8 to 11 per cent o the lower parliamentaryhouses, as compared to a world average o 15 per cent.Some governments have been increasing opportunities andrequirements or womens participation; in Morocco, orexample, there are established parliamentary and local councilquota systems.

Migration and Remittances.With high unemploymentrates, with the exception o Libya and Mauritania, the

Maghreb countries have been net exporters o workers whosemajor destinations are Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, theNetherlands, Spain and the U.S.A

Te Maghreb has also been a transit area or sub-Saharanmigrants. Recently, Europe has restricted the number omigrant worker quotas and, as a result, migrants rom sub-Saharan countries have settled in Oran, Algiers, ripoli andBenghazi.

Te Maghreb region also receives labourers rom Bangladesh,China, India and Pakistan as well as reugees rom WesternSahara. Remittance inows to Algeria, Morocco and unisiacontribute signicantly to amily incomes. In Morocco, itis estimated that 600,000 households would all below the

poverty line without support rom amily members abroad.

GCC Regional Summary

Population and Urbanization. Te Gul CooperationCouncil (GCC) countries have a population o over 39million, o whom 67 per cent live in Saudi Arabia. With 80per cent o the population living in urban areas, it is one othe most urbanized regions in the world.

Nearly 40 per cent o the regions population is oreignborn, most o whom are migrant labourers rom Asia. otalpopulation growth in the GCC countries has been declining


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and is expected all to an annual growth rate o 1 to 1.5 percent by 2030.

GCC countries have adopted growth management

spatial development strategies. Te plans share a ocuson shiting growth to planned secondary cities locatedalong transportation corridors served by public transit,developing affordable housing, and promoting environmentalsustainability. Certain country strategies emphasize particularaspects, such as land reclamation in Bahrain.

Economic Role of Cities. Te national income o GCCcountries overwhelmingly relies on oil and gas revenues: Qatar(45 per cent), Oman (66 per cent), UAE (74 per cent), Bahrain(76 per cent), Saudi Arabia (82 per cent) and Kuwait (95 percent). As a result o oil revenue, they have some o the highestGDPs per capita in the world. Oil revenues range rom 10 and13 per cent o GDP in the UAE and Bahrain, respectively, to

40 to 50 per cent in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.Projected declines in oil supply will signicantly limit

governments ability to maintain current subsidies in water,energy, ood and housing. All GCC countries are thereoretrying to diversiy their economies and become more integratedinto the world economy through the development oknowledge-based activities and tourism. o attract investment,countries have opened their economies, provided support orpotential investors, increased inrastructure investments andimproved e-government and e-commerce.

Expatriate males comprise a signicant portion o the labourorce employed in the private sector, reaching 94 to 96 per

cent in Qatar and the UAE, while the public sector is the mainemployer o their nationals, including 77 per cent in Kuwait.

Youth unemployment is a major challenge to governments

as they try to address the mismatch between a high demandor low-paid oreign workers and an absence o well-paidjobs that can be lled by their own nationals. Many GCCcountries are making visas more restrictive, setting caps onoreign labour participation, and creating institutions to helpbuild the capacity o citizens. Te distribution o wealth isunequal in all GCC countries, with concentrations o povertyamong both expatriate migrants and urban migrants rominternal desert locations.

Urban Development and Housing. Te discovery o oilin the 1960s transormed the old towns in the Gul intointernational cities with Western-style urban grids, extensivehighway networks and peripheral suburbs with modern

villas. Wealthy nationals and expatriates tend to live in thecosmopolitan city centres and suburban compounds, whilelow-paid expatriate workers, rural migrants and reugees live inthe remains o historic settlements, in temporary housing onconstruction sites and in inormal settlements. As part o itsJeddah without Slums programme, Jeddah plans to redevelopolder areas in the city centre and reduce the total number oresidents living in inormal areas to 300,000.

Te constitutions o GCC countries require governmentsto provide homes, land or zero-interest home constructionloans to their citizens, a benet limited in some countriesto men or citizens earning less than set income levels. Rising

Qatar. Housing nance in Gul countries is dictated by Sharia law. Komar/Shutterstock


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populations, escalating land costs due to speculation and agrowing preerence or villas instead o ats are making itharder or the government to provide loans to meet housingdemand among low- and middle-income households. Forinstance, the wait list or government housing is 15 yearsin Kuwait and the Saudi government has recently rozen

land grants in spite o a large backlog including as many as200,000 applications in Jeddah.

Te sharp market correction o real estate prices in 2008demonstrated the degree to which property development hadbecome speculative, particularly in Bahrain, Dubai and Qatar.

Housing nance in the Gul countries is limited by theShariasprescriptions on interest-charging banking services.Housing nance through Islamic banks remains limited andis accessible mainly by the wealthy. As housing developerstypically raise their own nancing, there is a chronicundersupply o affordable housing. Saudi Arabia, which hasthe least developed housing nance market in the region,enacted its rst mortgage law in 2008. Affordable housing

programmes tend to be poorly capitalized and, given the lacko nes and ees, many borrowers deer or deault on theirpayments.

Environment and Transportation. Revenues rom oilhave allowed GCC governments to subsidize the cost owater, electricity, oil, gas and ood or decades, resultingin some o the highest per capita rates o water and energyconsumption and waste generation in the world. Electricitycosts on average USD 0.12 per kWh to produce in the Gul,but is sold or USD 0.04 per kWh.

With oil production peaking and predicted to becomedepleted in ten to 40 years, depending on the country,

GCC governments are now investing heavily in alternativesolutions, such as renewable and nuclear energy, wastewaterreclamation, and waste recycling. Given the political difficultyo implementing tariff and management policy reorms, theocus has been on technological and efficiency improvements.

With its arid climate and rapidly-growing population, theGul is one o the worlds most water-scarce regions. Despitethe high cost o desalinization, water tariffs in the GCC areamong the lowest in the world, and it was ree or manyyears in Doha. As governments re-evaluate water resourcemanagement, they are ocusing on three main strategies:increasing the capacity o desalination plants; reormingtariffs and educating consumers and reducing domestic

agriculture and promoting wastewater reuse.Te most prevalent method o waste disposal is in sanitary

landlls, which have become overwhelmed by the increasingvolumes o waste. Composting and recycling is limited by thelack o a domestic reuse market. Te UAE is implementingmultiple initiatives to reduce waste generation, including aphasing out o plastic shopping bags by 2012, the launch oa construction and demolition waste recycling plant in AbuDhabi and the development o a waste-to-energy incinerationplant in Dubai.

Te Gul has heavily invested in extensive road networks,with high-capacity highways and arterials encircling

neighbourhoods and cities. Te low cost o uel in the GCChas been an incentive to motorization, which is now on parwith that o high-income countries and has led to severecongestion in city centres. Uniquely among Arab countriesacing similar challenges, the GCC is implementing ambitiousurban transportation master plans to reduce congestion and

improve public transit and pedestrian networks and thegeneral quality o urban lie.

Urban Governance Systems. All aspects o governmentin the GCCs are highly centralized, including planningand urban administration. Ministries develop national,regional and local urban policies, while municipal authoritiesimplement local plans. Despite efforts to delegate morepowers to municipalities, the Saudi Arabian governmentretains signicant control over local governance, includingthe right to dissolve government, remove members o localcouncils and set local tax rates.

Larger cities in the kingdom have greater autonomy;Medinas Urban Observatory has received wide recognition

throughout the Arab world and was awarded the HabitatScroll of Honouraward in 2009. In the smaller emirates, thenational planning agency prepares national, metropolitanand local level plans.

GCC cities rely on central government transers to payor both capital investments and operating costs. Te lack oaccountability or their development decisions oten resultsin wasteul land consumption patterns and an increasingreliance on private cars or transport.

While attitudes towards women are more conservativein the GCC than in the Mashreq and Maghreb, and theirlabour orce participation rates ar behind that o men, the

number o women with a higher education degree workingas civil servants and gaining senior positions in governmentis quickly rising.

Migration and Remittances Te GCC is the majorrecipient o migrants in the region. In 2010, the oreign-born percentage o the population was 87 in Qatar, 70 in theUAE, 69 in Kuwait, 39 in Bahrain and 28 in Oman. Aboutone-quarter o the 15 million migrant workers in the GCCare Arabs, with the balance including a mix o well-paidexpatriates rom developed countries and low-paid sponsoredworkers rom South and Southeast Asia. Te Saudi border isa major transit point or reugees rom the Horn o Arica.

Te Gul has become one o the top remitting regions in the

world, with 2009 remittances equalling 7 per cent o GDP inBahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and 11 per cent in Oman.Most low-paid migrant workers come to the GCC throughthe sponsorship (kafala) system, and immigration andsponsorship laws give sponsoring employers broad powersover workers. Poor living conditions, economic exploitationand the lack o public oversight has drawn internationalcriticism and growing internal opposition within GCCgovernments. A common government response to criticismover worker living conditions has been to rehouse workersin new labour towns that meet and exceed internationalstandards but still segregate them rom the local population.


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Southern ier Regional Summary

Population and Urbanization. Te Southern ier ishome to around 80 million people, 29 million o whom livein cities. Except or Djibouti, which is 76 per cent urbanized,most countries have low to moderate levels o urbanization

(30-40 per cent) but are urbanizing rapidly as a result oconict, environmental degradation, severe droughts andrural poverty.

Te highest urban growth rates at present are 5 per cent inboth Sudan and Yemen; in the past 15 years, major Somalitowns grew by 300 to 500 per cent. Tose under 25 years oage comprise rom 35 to as much as 45 per cent o the totalpopulation.

Urbanization has typically taken the orm o unplannedexpansion on the periphery, making the provision o servicesdifficult. Although most Southern ier countries do not havecomprehensive national or urban spatial strategies, they dohave inrastructure improvement plans or roads, ports, and

highways as well as poverty reduction strategies to promoteeconomic growth and improve governance.

Urban plans are emerging at the local and regional level,particularly or major cities such as Khartoum, Sanaa,

Mogadishu and Hargeisa. Djibouti City has developed anintegrated ve-year urban strategy to improve inrastructureand governance. Yemen has launched a project to extend andimprove inrastructure in three port cities and is developing

a programme to upgrade living conditions in aiz, where theproportion o inormal settlements is particularly high.

Economic Role of Cities. Given continued conicts andnatural disasters, the economies o the Southern iers areunderdeveloped with high unemployment and povertyratios. In the Comoros and Somalia, the economic base isagriculture and sheries; in Djibouti, it is transportation,communications, trade and services. Oil accounts or over 90per cent o government revenue in Sudan and is expected torun out in 20 to 30 years while in Yemen, oil accounts or 70per cent o government revenue and is projected to run outin ve to 14 years. Sudans economy was centred on GreaterKhartoum and the breakup o the country into Sudan, which

has the oil reneries and ports, and South Sudan, which hasoil and water, has the potential to signicantly affect theeconomies and the major cities in both countries.

Unemployment rates are very high throughout the region,reaching 19 per cent in Yemen, 7 to 22 per cent on thedifferent islands o Comoros, 40 to 50 per cent in Djiboutiand 65 per cent in Somalia (80 per cent in some cities).Unemployment disproportionately affects the youth andemale populations. In the Comoros, youth unemploymentrepresents nearly 65 per cent o total unemployment while inDjibouti, 84 per cent o 15 to 19 year olds and 69 per cent o20 to 24 year olds are unemployed.

Poverty rates are very high, although generally urbanresidents are better off economically, have better access tohealth services and higher school enrolment and attendancerates. In Djibouti City, 69 per cent o people are below thenational poverty line; in Sudan, 65 to 75 per cent o thepopulation live on less than a dollar a day in the North and90 per cent below that level in South Sudan.

School enrolment rates range rom 20 per cent in Somaliato 85 per cent in Yemen. o combat poverty, Djibouti hasinstituted the Urban Poverty Reduction programme tosupport improvements to social and economic services inthe poorest neighbourhoods through technical assistance,community projects, inrastructure development, access to

micronance and targeted economic development.Constraints that prevent greater economic development

include cumbersome administrative processes, an unair anduncompetitive business environment, a lack o transparency,corruption, the high cost o credit and the difficulty inacquiring securely titled, serviced land or developmentand investment, as well as degraded inrastructure anduncertain electricity and water supplies. Although manyo the countries are trying to diversiy their economiesand promote the tourism sector, they are constrained byinadequate inrastructure, a lack o hotels and securityconcerns.

Mohamed Amin Jibril/IRIN


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Urban Development and Housing. Many cities thatare the recipients o migratory ows are composed almostentirely o inormal settlements, slums and reugee camps.Te percentage o the migratory population living in slumsis 94 in Sudan, 74 in Somalia, 69 in the Comoros and 67in Yemen and most dwellings have at least one housing

deprivation. Electricity grids are restricted to major cities andthe poor cannot afford power.

Speculation has driven up land prices and risingconstruction costs has made housing more expensive. InKhartoum, the rise o oil wealth has led to speculative luxuryprivate developments that cater to expatriates and are nancedby oreign investment rom the GCC.

Banking in the Southern ier is limited, as demonstratedby the presence o only one bank in Somalia, three banks inComoros and the statistic that only our per cent o Yemenishold bank accounts. Households incrementally invest in theirhomes through savings, loans rom riends and amily andremittances.

Djiboutis estimated housing gap was 140,000 units in2008; Khartoums annual housing construction need is60,000 units and Yemens is 80,000 units. Almost all housingis inormal and built by the private sector. Inadequate landdevelopment legislation and property registration procedurescomplicate governments ability to intervene in the housingmarket.

Environment and Transportation. With the exception oYemen, Southern ier countries ace great challenges romeconomic water scarcity, meaning they lack the inrastructureto supply water, rather than experiencing physical waterscarcity. Somalia, Yemen and Sudan are not expected to reach

the Millennium Development Goals targets or water andsanitation due to ongoing conicts and lack o investment.Yemen is projected to deplete its groundwater reserves by 2030or 2040 and Sanaa and Yemen are consistently projected tobe the rst city and country in the world to run out o water.

In the Comoros, where all petroleum products are imported,energy prices are among the highest in Arica. Wood uelsmeet 90 per cent o energy needs in Sudan, 87 per cent inSomalia and 78 per cent in the Comoros, with signicantenvironmental implications. In the Southern ier countries,only cities in Sudan have sanitary landlls; other cities disposeo solid waste in inormal dumps or along wadis. Yemen hasled the region in reorms in this area and its 2010 National

Strategy or Solid Waste Management created a rameworkor implementation which has affected our million peopleso ar.

Although roads provide access to major cities there is alack o unds to maintain networks. None o the Southernier countries has established national public transportationpolicies or operate public transport services. Private transitservices tend to be ragmented and limited in geographic scopeand operating hours. Starting in 2002, Djibouti implemented

important reorms to proessionalize the inormal sector,establish ees, licenses and inspections.

Urban Governance Systems. Te Southern ier Arabcountries share a recent history o civil unrest, violent conictand political instability. Much o the unrest is associated withthe efforts to impose centralized government systems on

traditionally-dispersed clans and tribes.o resolve these conicts, many o these countries have

tried to implement decentralization reorms. In 2000,Yemen launched one o the most ambitious decentralizationprograms in the Arab world that resulted in the countrys rstmunicipal elections. Te ruling partys continued control othe governorate and national seats o power, however, led tomass protests in 2011 and at the time o writing the countrywas on the brink o civil war.

Elsewhere in the Southern ier, traditional power elitessimilarly continue to control higher levels o governmentwith a lack o adequate unding or local authorities.Tedevelopment o local capacity and improved service delivery

are key areas requiring international and donor support.Constitutional laws in Southern ier countries protect the

rights o women to vote and hold elected offices. In reality,deeply engrained traditions govern property transactions,business dealings and amily relations, particularly in ruralareas. Women routinely have ewer opportunities to gaineducation, employment and political office, particularly inYemen and Somalia. Some countries, mostly notably Djibouti,are slowly trying to change old laws and establish ministrieson womens affairs and quotas or emale representation inelected bodies.

Migration and Remittances. Conict, drought and

poverty have led to a net outmigration rom most Southernier countries, with an average annual outmigration o50,000 people rom Somalia.

Te more stable countries in the region host signicantnumbers o reugees; in 2010, 28 per cent o migrants inSudan and 21 per cent o migrants in Yemen were reugees.Te majority lives in peri-urban areas where they otenregroup by tribe or place o origin. Sudan is a net receivero migrants as it is both a transit and destination country;Khartoum hosts approximately 30,000 registered reugees,mostly rom Ethiopia and Eritrea, and 1.7 million internallydisplaced peoples (IDPs); 1.3 million IDPs live in inormalsquatter camps around the city and the remaining 400,000

reside in official camps.Te importance o remittances in housing construction

varies by country. In the Comoros, recipients o remittancesspend most o the unds on consumption. Somalia receivesan estimated USD 1 billion in remittances each year rommigrs, who represent 8.7 per cent o the population.Tese remittances underpin the countrys nancial structuresand are invested in basic services as well as housing and smallenterprises.


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oday, most large cities o the Middle East are locatedeither on the regions great rivers such as the Euphrates,the igris and the Nile - the birthplaces o once great

civilizations - or on the shores o the Mediterranean, the RedSea or the Arabian Gul. Tese Middle Eastern cities have oneo the worlds longest histories o continuous occupation, due

primarily to the presence o an ample water supply in an aridregion, the ertility o the sites and their location along majortrade routes. Te ability to manage the areas rivers throughcomplex hydraulic works to serve both armland and urbancentres allowed the production o ood surpluses that couldbe traded.

Te Fertile Crescent, a plain dened by the igris andthe Euphrates, made possible the emergence rst o ancientSumerian, Akkadian, Hellenistic, Roman, Parthian, Sassaniancivilizations and then Christian and Arab-Islamic ones. Anextensive net o irrigation canals allowed the developmento agriculture and the emergence o urban centres. Likewise,

Jerash, Jordan. Roman colonnaded streets gave order to city layout. WitR/Shutterstock

Historical Perspectives1.2

the early Nile Valley settlers discovered the benets o theertilizing silt let behind by the oods and gradually learnedhow to control the annual inundations and so reclaimagricultural land.

As agriculture prospered, towns and cities multiplied. In970 AD the Fatimids ounded al-Qahira (Cairo) south o the

ancient city o Heliopolis and north o Memphis near theconvergence point o the two branches o the Nile.

Jerusalem (Yara Shalem)12is situated on a ridge west o theDead Sea and the Jordan River. Te ertility o the soil is due tothe Wadi Farah as well as to the numerous underground springsand wells inside and outside the Old City. Jerusalem has beeninhabited since about 4000 BC (Bronze Age). Archaeologicalevidence has established that the Canaanites, Amoritesand Jebusites successively occupied the site. Subsequently,Jerusalem was ruled by the Egyptians, beore the coming othe Philistines, Israelites, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs,Crusaders, Mamluks and the Ottoman urks.

Continuity of Urban Life: Urban Settlements on River Locations


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Damascus (Dimashqa) lies at the oot o the Anti-LebanonRange where the waters o the Barada (the Abana rivero Antiquity) irrigate a vast oasis o about 30 km2. TeBaradas waters have been used or irrigation or thousandso years and, according to historical tablets rom 2500 BC,Amorites settled in this area at the beginning o the second

millenniu

the state of arab cities 2012

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