Mohsen Aboulnaga

Unplanned urban areas are considered one of the major challenges amid the fact that 70% of world’s population will be living in cities by 2050. This chapter presents a study conducted on one of the unplanned urban areas (informal areas) in Cairo, Egypt, in an attempt to provide guidelines for upgrading informal areas in developing countries based on sustainability indicators deduced from a comparative analysis of global case studies and a local case in Cairo, Egypt. The objective of this work focuses on informal areas (slums) from the economic, social, and environmental viewpoint to develop a surrounding community and increase the inward investment in the urban area. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used in this study. The study presents an assessment of different informal areas around the world concerning sustainability and strategic environmental assessment (SEA). Two models developed by GIZ and Norman Foster were presented and compared according to a well-planned sustainable development goals checklist. In addition, a detailed assessment was also conducted to assess the local case study based on economic statistics and other sustainable development (SD) dimensions—livability, viability, and equitability. The SEA analysis includes three categories: urban, socioeconomic, and environmental. Results show that the potential of this assessment in upgrading informal areas concerning developing countries is promising. The SEA results also indicate that upgrading informal areas is a successful process when cooperation between authorities and residents exists to cover all SD pillars and the existence of ecosystems to ensure the resilience of urban areas in cities and attain sustainable development goals mainly SDG 11, SDG 12, and SDG 13.