Developing a substantive sustainability framework for urban planning in desert regions in Egypt

Abstract

The Egyptian government is proposing numerous new development projects in the vast underpopulated desert regions as an integral part of its national urban development policy. These projects strive to achieve a stringent commitment towards sustainable development that is ambitious, dynamic and innovative. Thus, a well-defined sustainability framework, that integrates with the planning process of developments in desert regions, which consists of both procedural and substantive dimensions is necessary. However, there is very limited research on the substantive dimensions that are specifically suitable for desert regions. This paper aims to present a novel and tailored framework for identifying these substantive dimensions based on the results of a three-round Delphi survey, which seeks to identify and rate possible sustainability themes, targets, and actions for planning in desert regions. The survey was conducted through a structured Delphi process involving leading international and national experts in the fields of desert planning and sustainable development. The research resulted in thirteen sustainability themes, forty-six targets and one hundred and sixteen actions distributed over five dimensions. These findings identify critical concerns that could support planners, practitioners and policymakers throughout the planning process, although the processes of implementation, evaluation and monitoring are not explicitly covered by this paper.