Challenges for Cycling and Walking in New Cities in Egypt, Experience of Elsheikh Zayed City

Home , 6th of October (city), New Cairo, Sheikh Zayed City

JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE, VOL. 66, NO. 6, DEC. 2019, PP. 703-725 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, CAIRO UNIVERSITY

CHALLENGES FOR CYCLING AND WALKING IN NEW CITIES IN EGYPT, EXPERIENCE OF ELSHEIKH ZAYED CITY

T. ELSERAFI1

ABSTRACT

Although cycling and walking are considered as green modes of mobility, the urban planning of the new cities in Egypt is encouraging the vehicular use dependency more than cycling and walking. The urban planning model in these cities; such as the 6th of October or Elsheikh Zayed city, is depending on low density residential areas with many urban open areas. Such model increases the distances of the inhabitants’ journeys from their houses to services and other activities. In addition to the long distances, the streets and sidewalks are not designed properly for the cycling and pedestrian movement. Therefore, people living at these cities are mainly using private cars or public transportation for their daily movement, depending on their social level. Recent actions have been taken and implemented to enhance the cycling and pedestrian movement environment, but the car use dependency is still very high. This paper illustrates the situation of the cycling and pedestrian movement at Elsheikh Zayed City and the influence of the urban planning on the people behavior in mobility choice. Moreover, this paper focuses on the recent actions implemented in this concern and how much effective they are.

KEYWORDS: Mobility Green Modes, Cycling, Pedestrian, and Elsheikh Zayed City.

1. INTRODUCTION

The urban planning of the new cities in Egypt is western oriented towards car dominant model. From another point of view, a sustainable mobility in cities should consider other choices including pedestrian, cycling and public transportation. This paper investigates the urban planning of new cities in Egypt, focuses on the shift towards a sustainable mobility approaches, and defines the parameters of bike and pedestrian friendly cities. In addition, this paper demonstrates the existing condition of cycling and walking in Elsheikh Zayed City, as a model for one of the new cities in Egypt. A survey has been conducted to address the key challenges for promoting cycling and walking in new cities, moreover it includes recommendations for enhancing the city as a bike and pedestrian friendly city.

1 Assistant Professor at the Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University. [email protected] T. ELSERAFI

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Since the middle of 1970s, the Egyptian government started to follow a western urban planning model in developing new urban settlements all over Egypt, regardless the local parameters which is different from the parameters at USA or Europe. This urban planning model is oriented towards car dominant approach. It created a lot of challenges for cycling and walking in these cities. On the other hand, there are many movements towards sustainable mobility; including Transit-Oriented-Development, New Urbanism and Smart Growth. Many researches followed these movements to identify the parameters and guidelines for making bike and pedestrian friendly cities.

2.1. The Start of the New Cities in Egypt

During the 20th century, until 1973 new urban settlements in Egypt were established. But only after the end of the October-1973-war, the construction of new cities in Egypt has become a national strategic goal. After the war, the Egyptian government started a national plan for socio-economic and urban development. The plan had the goals of: decentralization of the congested urban development along the Nile valley and Delta, building self-contained growth poles in the desert [1], stopping the sprawl on rural areas, and developing enough housing for the rapid growing population [2]. In 1979, Law No. 59 was announced to organize and control the creation of new urban settlements. There were three generations of these new urban settlements. The Egyptian Government invited western experiences on planning and developing the first generation of the new cities. This made the new urban planning of these cities follows the western urban planning principles not the local urban planning principles [3]. The average density of the new pattern is very low (100p/ha) comparing to the high-density pattern of the old districts in Egypt. This happened as a result of the low percentage of built up areas (20-40%) [4]. First generation of these new urban settlement started in the middle 1970s and lasted till early 1980s. Two different types of towns were built: 1. Self-contained cities; independent from existing cities and includes its own economic base. 2. Dependent cities; they are located adjacent to existing cities to take advantage of employment

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opportunities and services in the existing cities, in order to provide cheaper prices for land plots and housing [5]. Second generation of the new urban settlements started in the beginning of the 1980s and lasted till the middle of the 1980s. This generation, also, included: self-contained cities and dependent cities. The only difference was that dependent cities were Twin Cities; for example; New Bani Sweif twin with existing Bani Sweif city in Upper Egypt [5]. Third generation started in the middle of the 1980s and lasted until the late of the 1980s; most of these cities were built in Upper Egypt as twin cities with existing cities. This period included the start of the establishment of ten urban settlements around the Greater Cairo with the ring road connecting them. Until this moment the Egyptian government continues its plans for building new cities [2]. Recently, the Egyptian Government took the decision to start the New Administrative Capital project in the east of New Cairo city. The new city is planned to cover an area of 168 feddan. The urban planning model of the new city follows the western urban planning principles with low densities urban fabrics [6].

2.2. Urban Planning Model of New Cities versus Pedestrian and Cycling Movement

The urban planning of the new developments of these new urban settlements, which was established more than forty years ago, ignores the principles of the conventional urban planning for the desert environment [7, 8]. The compact-city pattern was the typical Egyptian urban form. Such compact pattern was high dense, and the activities were very diverse. The dense accessible network was the common form [9]. The conventional urban form has disappeared and a scattered pattern, or so called western or modern styles, has been introduced in the new cities with many concerns regarding its sustainability [8]. On the other hand, these cities do not have enough and suitable economic base for all its inhabitants, so many inhabitants still have to daily commute to the nearby existing cities, or its twin city. This generated a lot of traffic on the connecting roads between the new settlements and the city core. In addition, the private car ownership has been increased due to the deficiencies in the public transportation system. The car ownership in Greater Cairo has increased from 46 cars/1000 inhabitants in 1996 to 76 cars/1000 inhabitants in 2006 and is still increasing [10].

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2.2.1. Public transportation in new cities

Some studies show that 6th of October City as a sample for these new urban settlements suffers from lack of public transportation and poor accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists. For many years, poor public transportation has been identified as one of the main obstacles to the development of 6th of October City. The public transportation is not only needed within the city, but also, a rapid and affordable public transportation is needed for the city to become fully linked to the metropolitan area of Greater Cairo. Although the 26th of July Axis extension was established in 1999 specifically to improve the 6th of October’s road links to Cairo, and even though private minibuses now serve the city on a regular basis, inter-city public transit remains a problem. Still the connection between the public transportation system and pedestrians and cyclists is not considered in the planning of the system. Interviews to different stakeholders has been conducted through these studies and ended up with the need for attention to public transportation and subsidies in general. Considerable attention to public transportation solutions for the city, considering that an integrated transportation system (combining intercity mass transit with a local bus network in a hub) is an essential element. Such transportation system should be more reliable, convenient, frequent, affordable, and safe [11]. On the other hand, the new cities are not connected yet with the underground metro network and relies only on buses and microbuses to get linked to the metropolitan cities. In Greater Cairo, there are plans for 2050 to get the new urban settlements around Cairo connected through the underground metro [10].

2.2.2. Car dominant model versus pedestrian and cycling movement

Residential neighbourhood in the new cities are characterized by wide, straight streets and small amounts of nodes. These cities are mainly oriented for car use and is inconvenient for pedestrian and cyclists, however the target of these cities is mainly middle and low-income classes [4]. The insufficient public transportation system led inhabitants to rely on private cars. Therefore, the percentage of users of public transportation decreased from 31% in 1996 to 21% in 2001 and still decreasing [10].

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Following this car-dominant-model of urban planning, the field of transportation development tended to worsen the pedestrian environment. The degradation of the walking and cycling in new cities was strongly related to the loss of intimate scales in streets, as it became a separator between the people and the cars. The designers are fully vehicular-oriented in codes and standards. These include discontinuous loops as opposed to interconnected paths, large block sizes and widely spaced land uses, and lastly over-scaled streets that are not equipped with basic pedestrian facilities and amenities such as sidewalks. [12] Number of urbanization concepts that promote human powered transportation emerged as a reaction to the aggressive motorization of cities. These include neo- traditional planning, Transit Oriented Development (TOD), New Urbanism and Smart Growth. They share the same objective of creating a community that depends mainly on walking “Walkable Communities” [13]. Although, the TOD intention to make the city walkable, it is not guaranteed that the desired effects will be achieved. This is because design elements if applied improperly may actually have a counter effect on congestion and car use. The success of TOD in part depends on the capacity of transit users to access key activities once they reach their destination. Therefore, walkability is strongly linked with TODs through pedestrian accessibility at transit stations [14]. Therefore, new cities in Egypt are faced by many urban mobility problems; such as long commuting, shortage of public transportation, social fragmentation, limited access to amenities, unpleasant routes, lack of pedestrian thermal comfort, the need for an efficient roads network connecting new cities with each other, insufficient infrastructure, disconnected pedestrian and cycling networks, and the services required for the daily life are not enough in comparison with the current and targeted population [2].

2.3. Towards a Sustainable Mobility in New Cities

There are many approaches around the world to revitalize the new cities and shift them to a sustainable mobility paradigm. These approaches are concerned with TOD, and pedestrian and cycling environment.

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The utilization of high density and diversity in land-use is an effective strategy that decreases the commuted trips by vehicles and contributes to more sustainable modes of mobility, as a short proximity between amenities encourages active, human powered mobility. New Urbanism is an urban design movement that encourages walkability through density [15]. But, Smart Growth advocates for compact, transit-oriented developments [16]. Both New Urbanism and Smart Growth share the goal of having more walkable/bikeable and healthier communities. Although they both depend on increasing densities, it would not be sufficient to depend on that only; it is essential to create walkable destinations and walking-friendly-environment to ensure significant reductions in car use. A comprehensive study concerned with density and climate change concluded that increasing residential density alone does not significantly affect reductions in commuted vehicular trips. Doubling current density levels would account for 5% reductions in vehicular traffic. If this was combined with land-use diversity, aspects of neighbourhood design and access to transit, the commuted vehicular trips could be reduced to about 25-30% [17]. Many aspects influence people's mobility choices, and one of which is weather and microclimate, and their effect on outdoor thermal comfort in built environments. This motivates outdoor activities and human powered mobility [18]. A pedestrian and bike friendly city has to provide a safe and comfortable mobility network that incorporates many qualities. Secured paths especially with physical separation from the motorized movement, efficient facilities and graded topography are the main qualities of such a cycling and pedestrian network [19]. Other geo-environmental characteristics such as temperature, precipitation and wind are of significance. Warmer and drier climates are more suitable for cycling [20]. The application of transportation policies and strategies that prioritize non-motorized mobility also characterizes the pedestrian and bikes friendly cities. Such policies focused on restricting motorized transportation, promoting efficient cycling and walking culture, developing traffic-calmed neighbourhoods and considering people’s perceptions and psychologies [21]. This means that the creation of many walkable destinations within a neighbourhood internalizes trips within the neighbourhood, and thus reduces reliance on driving and reduces related carbon emissions and pollution. In addition, enhancing the

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environment especially in hot climates is very essential to ensure a pleasant experience for pedestrian and cyclists, thus, to attract more people away from using their private cars. As a result, urban planners and designers of new cities have to integrate transport and land- use planning, shift to public transportation, enhance the urban environment, create pleasant experience for pedestrian and cyclists, and consider local climate and weather. Many researches have been done to identify the parameters and guidelines for bike-friendly-cities and pedestrian-friendly-cities [22-25]. These parameters are almost common between all researches; however, the application and relative weight of each parameter varies according to the local environment. The following part shows the most common parameters for making bike or pedestrian friendly cities:

2.3.1. Bike-friendly cities (BFC)

According to some researches, there is a group of variables, which are related to BFCs and are indicators for the readiness of the cities for cycling [22-24]. These variables are: 1. City Population; The number of people who are living in the city according to the national census. The population is an indicator for the daily traffic volume in the city. 2. Road Network Length; It is the total length of the main roads network in the city. It is an indicator for the potential infrastructure that may accommodate future cycling transport. The shorter network is better for cyclists to reach their destinations with less effort. 3. City Form; This variable indicates the compactness of a city's urban form. Compact urban form results in relatively shorter trip lengths. The design of neighborhood and cluster can prevent cross circulation and make longer trips. 4. City Area; The gross area of the city. Area is an indicator for an average trip length. The smaller the city area, the shorter the length of trips. 5. Motorized Transport Modal Split; This is a ratio between the public and private modes of mobility in the city. It is an indicator for the urban mobility culture of a city's residents. 6. City Sectors; This variable indicates the existence of natural barriers of the urban form such as rivers. These natural elements divide the city’s urban fabric into smaller regions. As a result, accessibility and trip length within the city is affected.

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7. Land Use Geography; the distribution of land uses in the city fabric. It indicates to what extent a mixture of land uses exists within the city. This distance to daily needs is considered as the average suited to cycling in urban areas. 8. Car Ownership Rate; this is the number of cars per 1,000 inhabitants. It indicates the level of the crowdedness of city roads by private motor vehicles. 9. Topography; the average slope of the city terrain. It generally indicates the slope of potential and existing cycle routes in the city. The less slopes are the better for cyclists. 10. Climate parameters; the average, minimum and maximum annual temperature, relative humidity, sun exposure and yearly precipitation a city. This should be considered in the design of the cycling infrastructure to achieve cycling comfort. 11. Comfort of Cycling Environment; Cyclists should have a safe, convenient, and comfortable access to all destinations. Generally, they should be separated from pedestrians and vehicular movement. Proper design for paving, intersection, signs … etc. could help to increase the rates of cycling.

2.3.2. Pedestrian-friendly cities (PFC)

According to some researches, there are a lot of principles to provide pedestrian friendly cities [23-25]. These principles include: 1. Connectivity; a complete system of interconnected streets, pedestrian walkways, and other pedestrian facilities. 2. Shortened Trips and Convenient Access; connections between popular origins and destinations. 3. Linkages Land Uses; pedestrian circulation and access to shopping malls, transit, downtown, schools, parks, offices, mixed-use developments, and other communities within the region. 4. Continuous Separation from Traffic; in pedestrian-oriented areas, minimize or eliminate street and driveway crossings. Provide buffers from motor vehicles. 5. Pedestrian-Supportive Land-Use Patterns; use a grid street layout with short blocks in business districts and downtowns to enhance pedestrian mobility. 6. Designated Space; delineate, sign, and mark pedestrian facilities, as appropriate.

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7. Security and Visibility; design walkways to ensure a secure environment for pedestrians. Lighting, increased visibility, open sight lines, and access to emergency. 8. Neighborhood Traffic Calming; design narrow streets lined with trees to lower vehicular speed and create safer, more pleasant conditions for pedestrians. 9. Accessible and Appropriately Located Transit; situate transit facilities close to daily activities to encourage pedestrian trips. 10. Lively Public Places; provide secure, attractive, and active spaces as focal points for the community, where people can gather and interact. 11. Pedestrian Amenities; provide amenities, such as benches, restrooms, drinking fountains, artwork, architectural fountains to create more attractive environments. 12. Street Trees and Landscaping; provide street trees to bring a human scale to the street environment. Landscape helps to soften hard edges of buildings and parking lots and add life, color, and texture to the pedestrian experience. 13. Proper Maintenance; provide frequent cleanup and repair on a regular basis to ensure continued use of areas by pedestrians.

3. CASE STUDY: ELSHEIKH ZAYED CITY 3.1. Introduction

Elsheikh Zayed City was established by presidential decree (325/1995). It is located near the Pyramids and it is 38 Km far from Cairo downtown. The total area of the city is 10.4 thousand acres, which includes residential areas, services, recreation … etc. The city accommodates about 87k housing units, from which only 35k units have been implemented by the Government and 40k have been implemented by private sector, about 12k to be implemented in the future. Currently, the city hosts about 330 thousand inhabitants and planned to reach 675 thousand inhabitants. The city includes various services for the community including: schools, health centers, post offices, entertaining hubs, hospitals, markets, mosques, churches, clubs …etc. [6]

3.2. Urban Planning of the City

The city, as all Egyptian new urban settlements, is following the western principles in its urban planning. The scattered urban fabric is the urban planning theme for the city

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that contains different residential districts and neighborhoods. Figure 1 shows different satellite images for different areas from Elsheikh Zayed city. However, the satellite images were taken for areas of different income levels; the left image shows a low-income housing, the middle image shows a medium-income housing, and the right image shows a high-income housing. However, the low-income housing is denser than the high-income housing areas, the scattered urban fabric model is still dominant in the city. Each district or neighborhood has its own center of services; separated from the residential clusters, except for very few areas, where the mixed uses appear. Figure 2 shows the distribution of the services centers in the city. The city has a length of 421.3km of finished roads [6].

Fig. 1. Urban planning model of Elsheikh Zayed city. (Google Earth Images, 2018) (Left: low-income housing area, Middle: Middle-income housing area, and Right: High-income housing area).

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Fig. 2. Land use map of Elsheikh Zayed city [6].

3.3. Existing Condition of Pedestrian and Cycling in the City

Walking and cycling in Elsheikh Zayed face many challenges. The main challenges are the unsuitable walking and cycling environment, climate parameters and long commuting distances because of the urban planning model of the city.

3.3.1. Current movements in the city to enhance cycling

The city lacks cycling lanes and parking, however there was recent initiatives by the Government to promote cycling. Recently, the Government introduced 2 cycling lanes at different spots of the city. The lanes were introduced on two main streets on the parameters of the residential districts and not inside it. Figure 3 shows the new cycling lanes in the city. However, these lanes are located on main streets, they were designed differently. The lane on the east of the city was designed in middle of the street with protection from vehicular pathway, but Fig. 4 shows the problematic situation of the intersection of the lanes with the cars U-turns. The other lane in the city center is at the same level of the street without any protection from the vehicular pathway. Figs. 5 and 6

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show the design of the two lanes. Residents of the city may use lighting poles or water pipes to secure the bikes, if they don’t have space inside their houses; Fig. 7.

Fig. 3. Existing cycling lanes in Elsheikh Zayed.

Fig. 4. Cycling lanes intersections with cars Fig. 5. Cycling lane in the city center. U-Turns.

Fig. 6. Cycling lane in the East of the city. Fig. 7. Lack of bike parking.

3.3.2. Existing condition of pedestrian movement in the city

On the other hand, the pedestrian environment in the city faces a lot of problems; such as no traffic lights in the whole city; most of the crossing areas are informal; Fig. 8. However, there are formal-well-designed crossing areas at some points of the city, they are not enough for pedestrians and not distributed efficiently. Some other crossing areas are not designed to be compatible with the speed of the road. Zebra crossing areas without traffic lights could be found at medium speed roads

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in the city; Fig. 9. Others could be found leading to a planted area; Fig. 8. Moreover, the pavement of the sidewalks is quite deteriorated; in terms of different paving materials, different levels, unlighted, lack of maintenance; Fig. 10, existing of obstacles on sidewalks; Fig. 11, lack and deterioration of seats; Fig. 12, informal uses of sidewalks; Fig. 13.

Fig. 8. Informal crossing area cut through Fig. 9. Zebra crossing at medium speed plants. road.

Fig. 10. Lack of sidewalks maintenance Fig. 11. Obstacles on sidewalks.

Fig. 12. Deterioration of seats. Fig. 13. Car parks informally on sidewalks. 3.4. Assessment of Cycling and Walking in the City 3.4.1. Methods of assessment

This paper focused in the assessment of the cycling and walking in Elsheikh Zayed City on the parameters of creating both bike-friendly-city and pedestrian-friendly-city. The methods of assessment used in this research can be summarized, as following: 1. Data from official resources and references; it includes the data for population, city area, urban planning … etc. 2. Community survey conducted by the author; it includes the experience and perception of the local community and users in the city. The field survey included

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164 persons, from which 65.4% are living in the city, 11.5% are working in the city and the rest are coming to the city for leisure activities and services. 3.4.2. General findings

• About 65% of the inhabitants cannot get to the daily services; such as bakery or dairy within a walkable or bikeable distance (250 m). This happens due to two reasons. The first reason is temporary; the incompletion of the services. The second reason is permeant; the services sometimes are not planned to be in a walking distance. • About 52.6% of the residents and visitors are depending on their private cars in moving inside the city. About 21% of them are moving by public transportation. The city showed to be hardly reached from the metropolitan city without private cars. The public transportation is quite limited in terms of frequency and quality. • However, the community have good intentions to bike inside the city (about 30.8% own bikes), only 11.1% of them use the bikes on daily bases, 16.7% on weekly bases and the rest use their bike rarely. • About 34.6% of the inhabitants reach the daily services by walking, while 35.3% of the inhabitants have the daily services within a walking distance. This confirms the community acceptance and intention for walking when it is possible, even if the walking environment is not that friendly or efficient. 3.4.3. Cycling assessment in Elsheikh Zayed city

According to the 12 parameters of the bike-friendly-city, the existing condition of cycling in Elsheikh Zayed city can be assessed. Table 1 shows the cycling assessment for the city. Table 1. Cycling Assessment in Elsheikh Zayed City. Parameters Existing Condition Findings Current population: 330k The city has almost reached City Current Density: 32.7 Person/Fed. 50% of its target population. Population Target population: 675k The current traffic volumes Target Density: 66.9 Person/Fed. [6] did not reach the original plan. Road Network 421 km length of roads have been constructed Very long distances for Length in the city [6]. cyclists. The urban planning of the city followed the Urban fabric is not compact City Form western principles; the scattered urban fabric. and means relatively longer trips for cyclists.

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Table 1. Cycling Assessment in Elsheikh Zayed City. (Cont.) Parameters Existing Condition Findings The city area is very vast for City Area 10.4 thousand acres [6]. the target population which indicates long trips. 52.6% of users depend on private cars. 21% of The percentage of private cars them use public transport. The city is hardly dependency is very high. The Motorized reached from the metropolitan city without private city has poor public Transport cars. The public transport is not reliable in terms of transportation system, which Modal Split frequency and quality. Moreover, there is low is not linked to the cycling connectivity of existing cycling lanes and existing lanes. public transport stops. City Sectors No natural separators of the urban form. -- The city has several service centers distributed The distribution of the land among the residential areas [6]. 65% of the use in the city does not Land Use inhabitants cannot get to the daily services; such as encourage cycling. Geography bakery or dairy within a walkable or bikeable The cycling lanes, where distance (250m). This happens due to the two existed, are not connected to previously mentioned reasons [26]. the existing services [26]. Level of crowdedness in the Car Ownership The car ownership rate is very high; 52.6% of city roads by private vehicle Rate residents and visitors use private cars [26]. will be high when the city reaches the target population. The city has a unique topography. The difference in level could go up to 20 meters in Slopes are sometimes very Topography the same residential district. Figure 14 shows high for cycling movement. the topography of the city [27]. According to Climate Data, the city is featured by the desert climate, which is very The average temperature is Climate hot and dry in the summer, but very cold in the high for cyclists due to the sun parameters winter. Rains are very rare even in winter exposure. period, as shown in Fig. 15 [28]. The survey investigated the comfort of the cycling environment, it showed [26]: • The rare existence of cycling facilities; such as lanes and bike parking. The cycling network is not • The cycling lanes, where existed, they are properly designed; in term of Comfort of not connected to each other. safety, separation from • There is no shading for the few existing Cycling vehicular movement, paving, cycling lanes. Environment intersections, signs … etc. • Current low traffic flow in the city is This affects the rates of suitable for cycling, but this may change in cycling in the city. the future, when the residents’ occupancy rate increases. • The current cycling lanes are not designed following international standards; in terms of

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Table 1. Cycling Assessment in Elsheikh Zayed City. (Cont.) Parameters Existing Condition Findings safety and paving. The survey showed other parameters to affect the cycling movement in the city, which are Other [26]: The local community Parameters • The gender sensitivity towards females awareness about the cycling is from the cycling. not sufficient. survey • Low rate of community awareness; only 11.1% of them use the bikes on daily bases.

Fig. 14. Topography map of Elsheikh Zayed [27].

Fig. 15. Temperature and rainfall in Elsheikh Zayed [28].

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3.4.4. Walking assessment in Elsheikh Zayed city

According to the 13 parameters of the pedestrian-friendly-city, the existing condition of walking in Elsheikh Zayed city can be assessed. Table 2 shows the walking assessment for the city. Table 2. Walking Assessment in Elsheikh Zayed City. Parameters Existing Condition Findings Pedestrian network is not well connected to Some parts of the city Connectivity existing services in all parts of the city [26]. discourage pedestrians. Shortened Trips The city urban planning is based on the The city is not mainly and Convenient separation between residences and services. designed to shorten the trips. Access Some services are in a walking distance [26]. Not all inhabitants can reach The urban planning of the city does not allow the services by walking Linkages Land mixed-use development in most of the city, but because either they are Uses 35.3% of the inhabitants have the daily located far away, or not services within a walking distance [26]. constructed yet. Most of streets have sidewalks, but most of the The pedestrian can move Continuous crossing areas are informal. The formal- safely on the sidewalks away Separation from designed crossing areas at some points of the from the vehicles, but the Traffic city are not enough, well distributed crossing is problematic. compatible with the road speed. Pedestrian- Block lengths are long, due to dependency on The land-use pattern Supportive Land- western urban planning principles that are supports long commutes. Use considered as car-dominant [26]. Designated There are few extensions of private properties Few sidewalks are occupied Space on sidewalks [26]. illegally. Security and Most of the pedestrian pathways do not have Sidewalks do not provide a Visibility ramps and are dark at nights [26]. secure environment. The traffic calming at intersections is a bit The design of the pedestrian Neighborhood problematic, especially on main streets; Fig. 16. network did not consider the Traffic Calming This problem could increase, when the needed traffic calming. residents’ occupancy rate increases [26]. Accessible and Pedestrian network is not well connected to The transit system is not Appropriately public transportation, which discourage the use well accessed by the Located Transit of the public transportation [26]. pedestrian. The design of the landscape does not give neither a pleasant walking experience nor The urban spaces and Lively Public enough social urban space. In some parts of pedestrian pathways are not Places the city the female pedestrian suffers from livable. gender sensitivity; harassment [26]. Pedestrian Lack of benches and unshaded pathways are The pedestrian pathways Amenities featuring the city pedestrian network [26]. quality of is poor. Street Trees and The sidewalks and pedestrian pathways have The physical condition of

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Table 2. Walking Assessment in Elsheikh Zayed City. (Cont.) Parameters Existing Condition Findings Landscaping improper pavement and lack of ramps; Fig. 17 the sidewalks discourages [26]. The Topography is not very steep, but the the pedestrian movement urban design of the city handled it with different especially the elderly and the features. Figure 18 shows steps and continuous handicapped. stairs on the sidewalks to handle the levels due to the topography [27]. Proper Lack of maintenance by authorities lets the Maintenance sidewalks and pedestrian pathways get There is a deterioration in deteriorated and misused by public; such as the pedestrian pathways. existence of garbage, dogs and open manholes on sidewalks [26].

Fig. 16. Crossing leading to a planted area Fig. 17. Deteriorated sidewalks paving.

Fig. 18. Difference in levels on streets.

3.4.5. Recommendations A. Recommendations for Enhancement

The field survey has included the community assessment for some actions recommended by the author and the community. The recommendations can be categorized in four levels; the first level is concerned with the development of the urban planning of the whole city; the second level is related to the enhancement of the public transportation system; the third level focuses on the enhancement of the pedestrian and cycling network; and the fourth level is concerned with increasing the community participation and public awareness, as follows:

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1. On the urban planning level: a. Redistribution of services to be in each neighbourhood; maybe a mixed-use model appears where the walking distances are too long to service centres. b. A more compact urban fabric is needed in the development in new cities. c. Local authorities should pay attention for maintenance of the public spaces. 2. On the Public Transportation Level: a. Providing a reliable public transportation system, which is not only connecting the city to the metropolitan city, but also connecting the different parts of the city. b. Connecting the public transportation system to the pedestrian and cycling network and points of interest in the city. c. Providing bike parking at the bus stops. 3. On the Pedestrian and Cycling Network Level: a. Enhancing the cycling and walking environment and making it more pleasant by using better paving materials, proper levels, benches, lighting ... etc. b. Providing shading for sidewalks, pedestrian pathways and cycling lanes. c. Applying cycling lanes and bike parking on all streets and creating a connected network to link the different activities in the city to the residential buildings. d. Redesign of the streets intersections to give priority for pedestrian and cyclists and make it safer for them. e. Providing a reliable rental bike stands or bike sharing systems in the streets. 4. On the Community Participation and Awareness Level: a. Encouraging the community participation and incentives for using cycling and public transportation more than private vehicles. b. Involvement of the local community in the design of the cycling and pedestrian network to meet their needs and desired routes and destinations. c. Creating more attractive liveable urban spaces for social interaction. d. Campaigns to increase the public awareness and help spread the thought of gender equality in practicing cycling and walking. B. Recommendation for Future Studies

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The future studies for cycling and walking in new cities in Egypt could include: introducing new schemes for urban planning of new cities, assessment of mixed-use developments in new cities and its effect on cycling and walking, effects of the public transportation system on enhancing walking and cycling, and elements to be provided to enhance the cycling and walking environment in the new cities in Egypt.

4. CONCLUSION

Since the middle of 1970s, the Egyptian Government has followed the western model in planning the new urban settlement. This model is a scattered urban fabric model that depends on a car dominant movement in the city. However, this model was not suitable for the local environment in Egypt, the government still insists to follow it regardless its sustainability. Public transportation in new cities is very weak and poor; not only inside the cities, but also when connecting them to the metropolitan cities. New approaches; such as TOD, New Urbanism and Urban Growth, are encouraging more walkable and bikeable cities instead of car dominant cities. There are many guidelines to design a bike-friendly-city or pedestrian-friendly- city. The most important guidelines include: increased city population, short road network length, city form, small city area, motorized transport modal split, city sectors, land use geography, low car ownership rate, topography, climate parameters, comfortable Environment, connectivity, shortened trips, convenient access, continuous separation from traffic, pedestrian-supportive land-use patterns, well-functioning facilities, security and visibility, traffic calming, accessible and appropriately located transit, lively public places, and Pedestrian Amenities and Landscaping. Elsheikh Zayed City is one of the new urban settlements that was founded by the Egyptian Government in 1995 following the same approach. A community survey has proved that walking and cycling in the city are facing many challenges in the city, but the most important challenges are: the poor environment for pedestrians and cyclists, the long commuting distances between houses and services, and the poor connectivity of pedestrian and cycling networks. Moreover, there are many other challenges including: limiting climate conditions, rare amenities, lack of maintenance,

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poor quality of urban spaces, and unreliable public transportation system. The community recommended many actions to enhance walking and cycling in the city. They mostly recommended redistribution of services, enhancing the connectivity of pedestrian and cycling networks to each other and to facilities and public transportation, enhancing the environment of cycling and pedestrians, and increasing the community awareness through campaigns and workshops.

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تحديات ح ركة الدراجات والمشاة فى المدن الجديدة فى مصر، تجربة مدينة الشيخ زايد

يتناول البحث الوضع الحاال لحكةاا الاجاا اا والة ااد نةجيناا ال اد، واياج وةارلا تاطيطك الت اد العةكان للةجينا عل اختداا السكان ألحج بجائل التنقال ماع التكةطا ز علا ماجف عاعلداا ال ا الةن ا رد عا هرا ال طن وقج استعكض البحث من خالل الجزء النظكف ن طد وت وا الةجن الججيجد وت د هاا العة اكنا الةعتةج عل قواعج الت د الغكبداا القجمةاا والتا اةازا علا الحكةاا الةةدكناا باجة مان حكةاا الاجاا اا والة اد يم تم التكةطز ع الجزء النظكف عل التحاول للا التنقال الةساتجا نالةاجن الججياجد و هام التو هااا الحجيثااا عاا هاارا ال ااطن وخعويااا الةعااايطك ال ايااا بتعااةم مااجن جيااجد تجااون يااجمقا لحكةااا الااجا اا والة اد ما الجزء العةل عقج اةز عل تحلطل حالا حكةا الجا اا والة اد ع مجينا ال د، وايج بجءا من ن طتها وحت التحسطناا الت طكا علطها مؤخكا متبعا ع ذلا التحلطل الةناهج والةعايطك الة تل اا للتنقال الةستجا وقج انتهت الجاسا لل مجةوعا من التويداا الة تل ا علا اباع مساتو:ااس مساتوف الت اد العة اكنااااا للةجيناااااا ومساااااتوف تعاااااةدم نظاااااا الةواياااااالا العاماااااا والتعاااااةدم العةكانااااا ل ااااابكاا الة ااااااد والجا اا ومستوف اعاع مساتوف الاوع العاا للةجتةاع الةحلا وذلاا بهاجد اعاع معاجةا اةعتةاا علا الجا اا والة والةوايالا العاما ةبجيل كثك استجاما من است جا السداااا ال ايا.

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