{"id":16384,"date":"2026-09-21T10:14:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T08:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=16384"},"modified":"2026-09-22T10:14:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T08:14:54","slug":"egypt-developing-toras-nile-waterfront-or-displacing-its-residents-for-investors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/egypt-developing-toras-nile-waterfront-or-displacing-its-residents-for-investors\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt.. Developing Tora’s Nile Waterfront or Displacing Its Residents for Investors?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On September 9, the Tora Al-Balad area in south Cairo witnessed residents’ protests<\/a> rejecting the evacuation of their homes, as part of an official plan<\/a> to develop the Nile waterfront in south Cairo, covering the stretch from Athar Al-Nabi to Tora Prison, spanning approximately 1,640 feddans with a Nile frontage of approximately 11 kilometers.<\/p>\n

The protests coincided with appeals and hashtags that residents circulated on social media since late August, including: #Tora_Is_Not_For_Sale, #We_Will_Not_Leave_Our_Homes_Tora_Is_Our_Homeland, #We_Are_All_Tora, #We_Will_Not_Leave_Our_Homes_Tora_Al_Balad_Is_Not_For_Sale, and #Tora_Al_Balad_Our_Origin_And_We_Stand_Firm.<\/p>\n

Residents directed appeals<\/a> to the President of the Republic and the Cairo Governor, affirming that genuine development must not come at the expense of citizens’ stability, and that what is happening in Tora exceeds the boundaries of expropriation for public utility into the evacuation of residents for the benefit of investment projects and resale, demanding the application of in-kind compensation mechanisms and the provision of suitable alternative housing.<\/p>\n

The crisis traces back to Cairo Governor Dr. Ibrahim Saber issuing Decision<\/a> No. 1643 of 2026, on August 11, 2026, forming a committee headed by the Tora District chief, to examine and survey the properties and lands located in the specified area according to the map and coordinates attached to the decision, in preparation for taking procedures related to compensation for those entitled.<\/p>\n

According to the decision, which relies on Local Administration System Law<\/a> No. 43 of 1979 and its executive regulations, Real Estate Expropriation for Public Utility Law<\/a> No. 10 of 1990 and its amendments, and Building Law<\/a> No. 119 of 2008 and its executive regulations, the committee undertakes a comprehensive survey of the properties and lands surrounding the specified area within seven days of the decision’s approval date, documenting properties and the names of their owners or occupants and their addresses in an official report, while handling compensation payment procedures for those entitled.<\/p>\n

Tora residents are circulating news of an official plan to develop the Nile area in south Cairo, encompassing homes located on the Nile corniche in Tora Al-Balad “Al-Arsy,” and their lawyer Hassan Mohamed confirms its validity following his contact with the constituency’s Member of Parliament, and a meeting held on September 5, 2026 at the Cairo Governor’s office, attended by the MP and a number of residents and lawyers interested in public affairs in Tora. The meeting revealed that preparatory procedures had been taken to implement the development plan, including the formation of a committee to survey the buildings in the area, document their occupants and ownership or possession documentation, in preparation for taking expropriation procedures.<\/p>\n

The lawyer indicates, in a statement<\/a> by the residents’ defense body that he published on his Facebook page, that those present were not shown any documents or official decisions on the matter during the meeting, nor was it made explicitly clear to them whether the implementation plan would include providing alternative housing for residents in the same area. He notes that development objectives, as presented, consist of improving the architectural coordination of buildings, raising the level of services, organizing the utilization of sites being developed, and applying regulatory lines on the ground.<\/p>\n

He says: “The circulating news about the development and its potential consequences for residents losing their homes or properties has generated anxiety among them, prompting a number of residents to resort to lawyers to examine ways to protect their rights. Against this backdrop, a number of Tora lawyers announced the formation of a residents’ rights defense body, with membership open to other lawyers from the area at no charge.”<\/p>\n

The statement reveals the procedures the body intends to take, foremost among them addressing the responsible bodies, whether through direct meetings or complaints to the Council of Ministers Diwan or the Presidential institution, to demand the involvement of residents in benefiting from the development project planned on the lands they own, and the construction of modern housing for them within the project. It pledged to take legal action against any administrative decision issued or to be issued regarding the project if it does not explicitly include housing Tora residents in the same area, and to raise the question of the decision’s legitimacy before the competent court.<\/p>\n

The defense body’s statement called on Tora Al-Balad residents not to be swept along by any calls for escalation or ill-considered actions, affirming that the demand for rights would be conducted, in their words, through peaceful and legal means, and that they do not seek to enter into confrontation with state agencies, hoping their demands reach the President as the primary authority responsible for protecting citizens’ rights and their constitutional rights relating to the right to adequate housing and protection of private property.<\/p>\n

This comes approximately one year after Cairo Governor Dr. Ibrahim Saber approved the plan<\/a> for the renewal and development of the Nile waterfront of the southern sector of Cairo, stretching from Helwan in the south to Rawdh Al-Faraj in the north, in September 2025, prepared by the General Organization for Physical Planning under the Ministry of Housing, pursuant to Decision<\/a> No. 15699 of 2025, published in Issue 216 of the Egyptian Official Gazette on September 28 of the same year.<\/p>\n

Within this broader plan falls the area concerned with Tora, stretching from Athar Al-Nabi in the north to Tora Prison in the south, covering approximately 1,640 feddans with a Nile frontage extending approximately 11 kilometers, and encompassing parts of the Athar Al-Nabi, Maadi, Dar Al-Salam, and Old Cairo districts, within an area bounded by the Nile corniche and the metro line. The development plan targets the reuse of spaces currently containing prisons, factories, vacant land, warehouses, and incompatible activities, converting them into an integrated urban and investment axis, and establishing a tourist promenade, pedestrian and cycling paths, a bus transit station, and cultural centers including theaters and cinemas.<\/p>\n

The development process targets raising the economic value of Nile-fronting lands and exploiting available land, alongside attracting new investments to vacant plots and sites occupied by industrial activities incompatible with the area’s nature, and using them for tourism, recreational, administrative, commercial, and residential activities, in parallel with developing existing residential areas.<\/p>\n

The plan proposes a number of sites for redevelopment, including Tora Prison land proposed for conversion into a residential project, the Military Equipment Factory land for the establishment of a financial and business center and hotel apartments, and the utilization of vacant spaces in Maadi for medical centers, hospitals, towers, administrative headquarters, banks, and commercial activities, alongside the survey of 22 state-owned land plots along the extent of the wider corniche, in preparation for offering them to investors.<\/p>\n

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546,000 Egyptians Lost Property to Government Projects. Compensation Was Calculated at 2023 Prices<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n