The global increase in urbanization rates and the consequent increase in demand for housing and basic urban services, and despite the development of urban policies in many countries, including Egypt, has widened the gap between social groups in urban communities and elevated the vulnerability and deprivation of the poor.

The Sustainable Development Goal 11, which is concerned with making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, seeks to provide all segments of society with safe and affordable basic housing and services. It also seeks to upgrade slums by 2030, and emphasize the role of the housing sector in keeping pace with rapid urbanization as well as empower social justice. In 2016, with the launch of the New Urban Agenda in Quito, the Agenda began its vision by stressing the importance of achieving the full right to adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living without discrimination, and its effective role in bringing about sustainable urban development.

To advance towards this goal, the Agenda committed to encouraging national and local housing policies to provide the right to adequate housing for all. Subsequently, Egypt was one of the pioneering countries in the endeavor to integrate global visions into development and national frameworks, and to put global development goals in mind when formulating national goals “with Egypt’s Vision for Sustainable Development 2030”.