Radical Urban Development in the Egyptian Desert: Sustainability Management and Economic Challenges

Abstract

This paper discusses the development of Gardens’ City in the Egyptian western desert with focus on its' central and industrial zones as a solution for development needs and to overcome the coming challenges. Urban development has unfortunately led to environmental degradation in most developing countries. Egypt, which is historically significant as a center of the fertility and biological diversity, provides a useful case study because it displays many of the factors that illustrate the tensions between urban development and environmental policy agendas. Due to rapid industrialization and urban development, Egypt continues to aggressively loss its habitat and biodiversity from1950 to the present which inevitably leads to environmental problems and exhaustion of natural resources. Gardens’ City is a new city in newly discovered area in the Egyptian western desert, which is rich to be developed. It lies in new Farafra Oasis. The site has different potential aspects for sustainable development; it has agricultural and industrial economic bases. The city center's area is designed to be about 5% of the city's area. The area of the industrial zone is about 22% of city area. This paper refers to the development of the city with a focus on the central and the industrial zones. The city center has the major managerial and commercial services. The industrial zone includes both industrial districts and important industrial education, training, and managerial services. Renewable energy will be created in a variety of ways. This city will be the first in a succession of growth opportunities in Egypt.