Community participation as a gate to new Egyptian society

The Neighbourhoods problem in Egypt is affected by socioeconomic and physical factors that are integrated in different degrees and levels. These socioeconomic factors reflect the role of community participation in the problem. The role of the community has been restricted by a number of rules and regulations which limited its participation in solving part of the problem, especially for the low income groups. Consequently, to overcome their problems and satisfy their needs, these groups started building informal housing neglecting all rules and regulations without any professional assistance from architects, or urban designers. Lately, due to the various struggles that resulted from these new settlements, a shift took place to integrate these local communities as active partners into urban upgrading and development process. This paper sheds light to the importance of including the community participation process in urban development within the Egyptian communities. It concentrates on the ways and means recommended to increase the role of community participation in solving the problem of low income housing. To achieve this aim, the study will discuss different approaches of community participation. Then, the experience of community participation involvement in redevelopment projects that has already been involved in the (AlAtharlina) case study will be explored and tested. Interviews will then be used with planers, designers and participators in order to explore the effect of this project on the community and test its success. After identifying the procedures used in solving the different interrelated problems of these projects, the study will identify the main benefits and difficulties that faced these projects