Spatial Justice in the Greater Cairo Region

Spatial Justicein the Greater Cairo Region

Planning [in] Justicewww.tadamun.info

What is poverty, equalityand justice?

What is Poverty and Urban Poverty?

Poverty arises when incomes are below a certain level which experts deem the minimum amount necessary to ful�ll the basic needs of daily life. This level is known as the “poverty line.” Urban Poverty arises among people below the poverty line within urban areas.

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What is the di�erence between Equality and Justice?

“Equality” suggests that each person receives the same resources as others, while “Justice” suggests each person receives the share of resources that corresponds to his/her needs. For example, in an “equal” tax system everyone pays the same percentage regardless of his/her income. In a “just” tax system people pay di�erent percentages depending on their income, so the rich would pay a larger share than the poor.


Spatial justice refers to the distribution of public resources among di�erent geographic areas – such as governorates, cities, districts, neighborhoods, and villages – according to the varying needs of each area. For example, in a spatially just city, a higher share of subsidized public services would be invested in poorer districts rather than richer ones.

What is Spatial Justice?


In Egypt, most studies focus on the national level and compare resource distribution and poverty levels between urban and rural areas. Research shows that urban areas receive a larger share of resources, while rural areas are typically poorer than urban areas. However,inequality within urban areas is higher than in rural areas. This necessitates examining inequality and injustice at the lowest spatial levels.

What is the status of spatial injustice in Egypt?


What are the causes andimpacts of spatial injustice?

Centralization

In a centralized state, the national government is responsible for distributing public resources with no real participation from the local level. This, in many cases, leads to a misallocation of resources, and/or a distribution of resources in a way that does not respond to local needs, leading to spatial injustice.


Treating land as a commodity

Despite the abundance of land as a national resource in Egypt, state trends over the past few decades have regarded land as a commodity rather than a public resource that should be used in the public interest. The rising price of land in Egypt has made housing una�ord-able to most people, which has caused much of the spatial injustice we witness today.


Una�ordable housing

When the state does not ensure that adequate housing is available to those with limited incomes, or when all subsidized housing is located in remote areas far from job opportuni-ties and services, this results in the spread of informal areas. Informal areas are then labeled by the state as “haphazard” or “unplanned” areas, but in reality, this phenomenon re�ects the process of people �lling a gap that the state failed to address.


Misallocation of public resources

To ensure that development takes place in a just manner across di�erent areas, public resources should be distributed according to each area’s needs and degree of deprivation. Without the proper tools to target deprived areas, spatial injustice is often exacerbated. Unfortunately, resources are often distributed based on political negotiations among government o�cials. Hence, deprived areas remain deprived, creating a vicious circle where spatial injustice leads to more injustice.


Absence of local elected entities

Elected local o�cials can be an e�ective channel for public participation and accountabili-ty in governance. Through elections, residents can voice their needs, hold local o�cials accountable, and motivate o�cials to pay attention to solving local problems. Without such channels, where the poor are voiceless and only privileged people can have their voices heard; richer parts of the city continue to obtain more resources.


Lack of transparency and access to public information

Important information about national and local statistics, public budgets, and govern-ment projects are inaccessible to most people. This makes it impossible for citizens to monitor development initiatives in their areas. Without transparency and access to public information, citizens cannot properly hold o�cials accountable for the misallocation or misuse of resources.


Lack of reliable indicators

Due to the lack of proper indicators that re�ect spatial injustice, especially at the lowest spatial levels, many pockets of deprivation remain invisible to those in charge of public resource distribution. This makes it extremely di�cult for o�cials to target such forms of deprivation, which results in a misallocation of resources, leading to continued, deeper deprivation and spatial injustice.



Administrative boundaries do not re�ect development needs

Administrative subdivisions do not take into consideration the existing urban characteris-tics, socioeconomic networks, and development gaps. Some communities with homoge-nous developmental needs are scattered among di�erent districts or governorates that have varying priorities and resources. Thus, the needs of such communities are addressed inconsistently or entirely fall between the cracks.

The creation of “Poverty Pockets”

When certain neighborhoods are deprived of public resources and services, life in these areas becomes less costly than in the rest of the city. These areas become attractive to people of limited means, creating a so-called “poverty-pocket.” Such areas continue to attract more poor people, creating a spatial concentration of the poor and a vicious circle where spatial injustice generates more injustice.



Redundancy of aid and development e�orts in certain areas

The lack of e�ective tools to identify spatial injustice and levels of deprivation leads to the oversaturation of development e�orts in some areas, leaving few resources for other areas with great needs.

The project aims to collect and analyze data and increase public awareness regarding the absence of spatial justice in the distribution of public resources between di�erent urban areas. This is in addition to examining the institutional causes that enable this situation in Egypt, with a special focus on the Greater Cairo Region (GCR).

In pursuing this aim, the project works on developing tools to identify, measure and address these inequalities and making these tools available to other active groups in Egypt. Planning [in] Justice is a project of TADAMUN: The Cairo Urban Solidarity Initiative.

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Planning [in] Justice

Planning [in] Justicewww.tadamun.info

Spatial Justice in the Greater Cairo Region

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