Tuesday 30/Sep/2025 – 02:31 PM
Engineer Sherif El -Sherbiny, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, launched the national strategy for smart cities in Egypt (the first stage: the new cities), in the presence of Dr. Amr Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Manal Awad, Minister of Local Development and Acting Minister of Environment, Dr. Ibrahim Saber, Governor of Cairo, Eng. Adel Al -Najjar, Governor of Giza, Andreas Baum – the Ambassador of the Swiss State in Egypt, Stephen Gameber – The regional director of the countries “Egypt – Yemen – Djibouti” at the World Bank Group, and heads and representatives of government agencies and bodies.
National Strategy for Smart Cities
During the event, a documentary film was shown dealing with the features of the national strategy for smart cities and the extent of its expected impact in society, while highlighting its role in improving the quality of life and supporting sustainable development in new cities.
The launch of this strategy is a pivotal step that embodies the commitment of the Egyptian state led by President Abdel Fattah El -Sisi towards achieving Egypt’s 2030 vision, and enhancing Egypt’s position as a leading country in building smart and humanitarian cities, which achieves a balance between economic growth and social justice, and between protecting natural resources and meeting the needs of the citizen.
Eng. Sherif El -Sherbiny, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, expressed in the beginning of his speech his great happiness by participating in this important national event, stressing that the meeting is not just a transient forum, but rather a meeting that brings Egyptians to one dream and a common vision, through which we seek to build a brighter future for our country, and achieve a decent and sustainable life for every citizen.
He explained that the launch of the national strategy for smart cities is the beginning of giving our cities a new spirit, and drawing the smart digital features of Egypt, which is able to embrace its children in a sustainable urban environment, and provide them with a generous present and promising future, and the minister extended his sincere thanks and appreciation to all government agencies and national and international experts who contributed to their efforts and their thought in formulating this national strategy.
The minister emphasized that when Egypt set up the Vision 2030, it did not set a mere plan for development, but rather set a road map for new future features based on justice, innovation and well -being, and gives every citizen the right to a decent life, and from this standpoint the national strategy for smart cities came to be an essential tool for achieving development aspirations, and to represent an integrated national vision aimed at transforming new cities into more human and sustainable cities, and more able to accommodate Egyptians’ ambitions.
He explained that the urban expansion and increased population growth imposed challenges that we must face, and it was necessary to search for solutions that exceed the traditional models and open the doors of the future, so smart cities came as a strategic option to convert these challenges into opportunities, and to build an urban environment that achieves a balance between economic growth and social justice, and between protecting natural resources and meeting the needs of citizens.
The Minister pointed out that the strategy was designed to focus on seven main interconnected sectors working in an integrated system, where the citizen remains in the center of the urban services, housing and society by providing modern housing units and more efficient and flexible urban services, ensuring a safe and comfortable environment and supports building integrated societies in which the citizen feels belonging, but in the urban facilities sector, the strategy aims to implement smart systems To manage vital resources such as water, electricity and sanitation, in a manner that ensures good use of these resources and achieving their sustainability, and in the smart transport sector, the strategy encourages environmentally friendly transportation patterns, developing smart traffic systems that reduce congestion, and expand the scope of clean mass transport in a way that contributes to making mobility easily and safely and in improving air quality and citizen health.
Al -Sherbiny also explained that the strategy focuses on the smart economy by creating an environment that stimulates innovation and entrepreneurship, and to localize the activities of cognitive industry in a way that enhances the state’s competitiveness globally and supports sustainable economic growth. In the environment sector, smart cities aim to preserve natural resources, reduce carbon emissions, employ renewable energy, and apply advanced waste management systems to allow facing climate change challenges and providing a healthier environment for future generations, but in the field of institutional capabilities and electronic governance, the minister indicated that the strategy enhances the development of modern digital management systems that achieve transparency and efficiency and opens the field For citizens to participate in decision -making, construction is completed in the seventh sector, which is digitization, data and modern technologies, through the creation of advanced digital platforms and the employment of artificial intelligence technologies and the Internet of Things to improve public services, simplify procedures and ensure Egypt’s position at the heart of the global digital revolution.
The Minister of Housing emphasized that these sectors do not operate in isolation from each other, but rather integrate to form a single fabric that makes Egyptian cities flexible and able to adapt to changes, attractive to investments and talents, and is able to achieve a balance between man and resources, and between development and sustainability, and between the present and the future, adding that smart cities are not just modern technologies or connected networks, but rather human cities in their essence, providing smart education Health care from distance, smooth movement and rational management of energy and resources, cities that give the citizen a sense of reassurance and open new horizons for him for creativity and production, and it carries a message of hope that the state is keen to improve the quality of citizens ’life and provide a safe and sustainable environment that preserves their rights and the rights of future generations.
Eng. Sherif El -Sherbiny concluded his speech, stressing that what is announced today is not the end, but rather the beginning of a new path based on the partnership between the state, society and the private sector, and the close cooperation between creative minds and national cadres, saying: Smart cities are a comprehensive national project that requires everyone to be real partners in construction and implementation, so let us work together to give our children and grandchildren cities worthy of their dreams They have the doors of the wide future.
Dr. Abdel -Khaleq Ibrahim, Assistant Minister of Housing for Technical Affairs, gave a presentation on the strategy, during which he indicated that it is the cornerstone of Egypt’s 2030 vision and national urban policy, and this initiative represents a new method of thinking about how Egyptians live, work and communicate with their environment, based on the principles of sustainability, comprehensiveness and competitiveness to reformulate Egypt’s urban future for future generations, and the strategy seeks to build digital smart cities Incorrated data, technology and design to improve life quality, through smart transportation systems, advanced energy networks, resource management solutions, digital governance, and citizens’ participation, ensuring that these cities are more sustainable, flexible and fair environments.
