TRANSFORMATION PATTERNS OF PERIPHERAL VILLAGES UNDER URBANIZATION PRESSURE IN EGYPT

Abstract

In Egypt, peripheral villages encompassed within urbanized areas have recently undergone many transformations, becoming neither urban nor rural, but demonstrating features of both. This paper examines evidence of physical and socio-economic transformations occurring in two different neighborhoods of El-Minya City to find similarities and differences in their transformation typologies, transformation causes, and their negative impacts, to be used as a reference for future control strategies. Our analysis clarified 1) the physical transformations in urban fabric, blocks configuration, and building characteristics; and 2) the socio-economic transformation from a rural to urban style, but not to the degree of other city districts, including the loss of old local administrative units. Field observations with resident questionnaires revealed major negative impacts of transformations in: inadequacy of street networks for vehicle access, incompatibility of plots' decreased sizes with the application of planning laws, lack of maintenance for area physical components, diminishing main economic activities, and growing social conflicts. Our study results suggest the enhancing of such areas using special administrative units, through which partnerships between government and local residents can be used to solve these negative impacts and improve the environments of the respective areas.