Realities of the sustainable planning process of Egyptian Industrial Zones: The case of the Industrial Parks.

Shalaby, Mohie 2012. Realities of the sustainable planning process of Egyptian Industrial Zones: The case of the Industrial Parks. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

Preview	PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Download (7MB) | Preview
	PDF - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only Download (922kB)

Abstract

It is widely agreed that the current industrial zones (IZs) in Egypt are not sustainable and face insurmountable environmental problems. This research is guided by an argument considering that the problem is in the founding process of the current IZs and, hence, future industrial development in Egypt is prone to the same destiny, if it is going to follow the current process, that lacks theorisation. This research, therefore, stemmed out of a concern to understand the process which gives shape to these IZs, and the factors which govern this process. This is the first crucial step, this research has contributed to, towards sustainability of the future industrial development. The importance of taking this step increased after the 25th of January Revolution that has put Egypt on the way towards democracy and progress after an authoritarian era of governing under which the country had been deteriorating. Out of this concern, the research theoretically investigated the current position of the Egyptian industry from industrial ecology (IE) and governance for sustainable development (SD) perspective. Further, a pilot study was conducted, making use of a preliminary conceptual framework for sustainable IZs which the research developed from literature on IE and governance for SD. While the investigation fell short of providing a full understanding of the process, it was found that Egypt has recently made some legal and institutional arrangements to incorporate sustainability. However, the debate on the seriousness and effectiveness of these arrangements had been quite contradictory. It was also found that the whole founding process of IZs is complex and controlled by the government, where the planning phase is the best to allow for participation of partners, as highly called for by the international debate on IE. The importance of the role of planning in guiding the implementation of IE in communities is also internationally highlighted. Therefore, the research set out to, through empirical investigation, understand realities of only the current planning process and its governing factors. To help do that, this research constructed an in-depth conceptual framework of the planning process through which IE could be normatively implemented. The framework guided the empirical qualitative study which depended on a multi-stage, multi-method approach with a case study design in its core. Three case studies, representing the Industrial Developer Program, the most recent program expected to influence the future industrial development and the most advanced case to adopt sympathetic approaches to IE and SD concepts, were chosen. Semi-structured interviews with involved key partners and experts, primary and secondary documentary data sources, and observations were utilised. The official and actual planning processes, synthesized in this research, are found to be unsustainable. Despite the partial involvement, doubted in its purposes, of industrial developers in the process, the IZs planning is conducted through a top down process that suffers from centrality and government monopoly of decision-making in most of the steps. This top down process has been strengthened by diminishing the role of regional level, that is supposed to connect the national level to the local one back and forth to empower the participatory planning approach. Regarding the factors influencing the current process, it is found that the authoritarian nature of the previous regime has deeply/negatively influenced the context, shaping the planning process. Authoritarianism has created a set of other factors that has flawed the context making it chaotic and disabling for the implementation of SD/IE. The research concludes by reflecting on the international debate on IE, presenting, thereafter, a new list of barriers to IE implementation.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Geography and Planning (GEOPL)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DT Africa H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	07 Nov 2019 09:05
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/24075

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item