Will Distance to the Capital City Matter When Supplying New Cities in Egypt?

Abstract

Unlike other developing countries, the housing market in Egypt is characterized by densely populated urban areas in old cities and the peripheral urban agglomeration. In contrast, a high rate of vacancy along most of the new cities that have been established since the 1980s is seen. Regardless of such high rate of vacancies, still the variation in occupancy rates among those new cities is notable. Questions arising include: Does proximity to old cities or Greater Cairo affect the size of the population of the new cities? Is the size of the city or the year of establishment plays roles in attracting more inhabitants? The factors of spatial characteristics of new cities in Egypt remain questionable. This research aims to reveal the association between occupancy rate and six factors related to the spatial characteristics of new cities and their geographical locations, such as; current inhabitants, the estimated size of the target group, the size of new cities, total number of housing units, distance to nearby old city, and distance to Greater Cairo.