Land Pooling

 

The brilliant design for ancient water viaduct in Cairo by Mu'ez Abu Zaid

Land Pooling is an urban planning tool to collect, re-design and re-distribute plots and commercial benefits among owner of unplanned parcels; which are usually old districts, slums and outskirts of the city.

We face such situation in attempts to upgrade urban settlements and provide modern urban infrastructure and utilities. it was much practiced in Europe and Asia. Lately started to rule in Africa. Many Arab cities had the limited experience, due to tribal and customarily issues.

Latest Cairo project to revive the 700 years historical 5km Al-O'yoon aqueduct and surrounding (90 acres and US$ 400 mln) is an example. No clear figures on affected inhabitants, compensations, investment plans or urban impact are available.

Land Pooling should be associated with transparent and audited plans and data on purpose, legal rights, urban solutions, investment and implications on existing inhabitants (landlords) and business. Apparently, the authoritarian tools are usually used to enforce the urban development; which are questioned despite the practical justifications..

To meet the urbanization demand and pressures, Egyptian Authorities had similar development which is famously known as Maspero. Downtown at the very heart of the metropolitan; an old district with little architectural value, yet a valuable location. It took few years to settle the legal matters and transfer the inhabitants to another newly built township. The authorities had learned the lesson, and Al-Oyoon inhabitants were powerless to resist the undisclosed scheme.

Both developments had been the subject for urban and architectural competitions; whereas extensive efforts were made to produce a modern face-lift for an old and ill-performing metropolitan (17 mln inhabitants). However, the legal part of the pooling process is always unclear and subject to various views, noise and muscles..!