Egypt's Housing Crisis

“Very provocative”—Karim Malak, Borderlines

"Shawkat’s book does not only offer a detailed and thoroughly referenced history of housing policies in Egypt since their introduction in the 1940s, but it also gives a thorough mapping of many elements of the housing problem, especially those related to affordability and finance."—Al-Ahram Weekly

"An erudite, comprehensive, and impressively presented study of meticulous scholarship....very highly recommended."—Midwest Book Review

"Combining an unprecedented breadth of concern, depth of documentary research and methodological rigor, the work is a welcome addition to a body of urban-studies literature"—WJ Dorman, Borderlines

"For scholars of Egypt and the Middle East, this is an invaluable resource. "—Aya Nassar, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research

“Convincing, well articulated . . Egypt’s Housing Crises offers a comprehensive analysis and a series of vigorous discussions, characterized by an impartial candidness, on the evolutionary nature of crises and the contemporary condition of housing in Egypt . . . Commendably accessible . . . a must-read by policy- and decision-makers.” —Middle East Journal

“Without doubt my Middle East Urban Studies highlight of 2020. No one knows more about the ins and outs of Egypt’s built environment than Shawkat and the depth and breadth of his knowledge is on full display in this volume. Shawkat produces a sweeping historical survey, from the early 1900s to the present day, of Egypt’s never ending housing crisis. The archival research that Shawkat has undertaken for this book is awe inspiring. Housing has always been at the center of Egyptian social life and now it finally has a book that meets its match.”—Deen Sharp, Arab Urbanism

“Shawkat's volume goes against the tide of leftist critiques of free markets and their calls for greater government intervention and subsidies for ‘affordable housing.’ Indeed, the story he tells is of the damage done by governments and the ingenuity of Egyptians working around regulations. He charitably, and possibly accurately, attributes the government's actions not primarily to corruption but to its preoccupation ‘with modernist, “scientific,” and dirigiste principles’ and with ‘an obsession with top-down, engineered urban development,’ to quote David Sims' superb foreword. . . an interesting and intriguing read.” —Middle East Quarterly

“A great deal has been said and written about Egypt’s perpetual housing ‘crisis’ over the past three decades. This book offers the first comprehensive examination of the housing question from the historical, political, economic, and spatial outlooks. Written by one of the most erudite observers in the field, it addresses a critical question that lies at the heart of the social-policy crisis and popular contention.”—Asef Bayat, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

"Egypt’s Housing Crisis provides novel insights into the historical evolution of the varied causes and consequences of Egypt’s housing problems, focusing primarily on the vicissitudes of successive postcolonial regimes’ ideologies, discourses, and policies in contexts of unprecedented urbanization and heightened demand for housing. Shawkat combines superb archival research with critical analyses to lift the veil on a multi-layered and apparently opaque housing system, characterized by capricious assertions of power at all levels of society. Ordinary Egyptians’ experiences of informality and insecurity, particularly in times of neoliberalism, are constantly foregrounded to give a human face to an apparently intractable housing crisis.”—Noor Nieftagodien, University of the Witwatersrand

“Finally, a tour de force that explains, historicizes, and critiques Egypt’s poorly targeted, ineffective, and unfair housing policies which have excluded those in need from decent housing while producing millions of vacant apartments in rural and urban areas. Shawkat’s seminal contribution convincingly unpacks the complex but traceable legislative, financial, social, economic, and political roots of this untenable housing environment over eight decades.”—Diane Singerman, American University