“Over a five-year period, Egyptian authorities expropriated 37,292 hectares of land, along with 19,627 properties, 32,533 land plots, and 110,537 housing units belonging to more than half a million citizens.”
Abstract
This study examines expropriation-for-public-benefit policies in Egypt during the period from January 2021 to December 2025 through the construction of a quantitative and spatial database designed to track official expropriation decisions and the development projects associated with land acquisition and urban expansion.
The study develops a composite analytical framework, the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI), to measure the structural and social impacts of expropriation policies beyond conventional indicators that focus solely on the number of projects or the total area expropriated.
The index integrates four principal dimensions: the number of affected individuals, the volume of impacted real-estate assets, the extent of expropriated geographic areas, and the adequacy of compensation relative to the scale of harm incurred. This multidimensional approach enables the assessment of the severity of expropriation, rather than merely its spatial extent.
The study draws on official and multi-level open-source data, including a comprehensive review of the Official Gazette, the Egyptian Gazette (Al-Waqa’i Al-Misriyya), Prime Ministerial decrees, ministerial decisions, and governors’ decrees. These sources were complemented by systematic tracking of press archives and digital resources, as well as geospatial verification using satellite imagery and digital mapping tools.
To address gaps in official data, the study developed an estimation model based on standardized assumptions derived from the 2017 Population and Housing Census and the spatial analysis of development projects. This approach enabled the construction of a comprehensive database for monitoring the urban and social impacts associated with expropriation in Egypt during the study period.
The study identified 525 expropriation projects between 2021 and 2025, resulting in the expropriation of approximately 37,292 hectares of land owned by an estimated 136,519 households, affecting nearly 546,077 individuals. The total number of expropriated properties reached 19,627 buildings and real-estate assets, while 32,533 land plots were directly affected. Residential units recorded the highest level of impact, with a total of 110,537 housing units affected during the study period.
The year 2022 marked the peak of administrative and implementation activity, recording 171 projects, compared to 117 projects in 2021. Project numbers subsequently declined to 98 projects in 2023, 80 projects in 2024, and 59 projects in 2025.
The Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI) likewise reached its highest level in 2022, scoring 1,767.58 points, compared to 1,358.79 points in 2021. The index then declined to 974.90 points in 2023, 807.76 points in 2024, and 622.18 points in 2025. This trajectory suggests that the wave of urban expansion and national development projects during this period was not only the largest in terms of project numbers, but also the most significant in terms of its combined human and urban impacts.
The study’s findings reveal a pronounced geographic concentration of expropriation projects within the Greater Cairo Region and the Nile Delta Region, which accounted for the largest share of projects during the study period.
Although Matrouh Governorate recorded the largest area of expropriated land—approximately 20,982 hectares—driven primarily by major coastal and investment developments such as the Ras El-Hekma Project, Cairo Governorate registered the highest score on the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI), reaching 1,086.16 points, followed by Giza Governorate with 784.72 points. This reflects the high population and urban density of the areas targeted by expropriation projects. Governorates such as Monufia and Gharbia also recorded relatively high severity levels despite the limited size of expropriated land, indicating that expropriation activities were concentrated within densely populated urban settlements.
The largest share of affected populations was concentrated in the Greater Cairo Region, with Cairo Governorate alone accounting for 201,639 affected individuals, followed by Giza Governorate with 157,476 affected individuals. In addition, multi-governorate regional projects emerged as a major source of social impact, affecting approximately 86,904 individuals due to the extensive geographic footprint of large-scale linear infrastructure projects, including regional corridors and road networks.
These findings demonstrate that expropriation in recent years has extended beyond its conventional role as an administrative mechanism for land acquisition. Instead, it has evolved into a large-scale process of urban and social restructuring that has affected hundreds of thousands of residents across Egypt.
At the sectoral level, the Roads and Bridges Sector ranked first in terms of expropriation severity, recording a total score of 1,655.40 points on the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI). It also accounted for the largest number of projects, with 157 projects, reflecting the extensive expansion of transportation corridors and regional road networks across the country.
The Educational Buildings Sector ranked second, with 1,352.81 points, despite the relatively limited area of land expropriated for its projects. This outcome is largely attributable to the complex nature of school-related projects, including leased educational facilities and the multiplicity of ownership arrangements associated with them.
The Urban Development and Housing Sector emerged as the leading sector in terms of both land acquisition and population impact, accounting for approximately 20,760 hectares of expropriated land and affecting an estimated 271,254 individuals. This was driven primarily by new city developments and large-scale urban expansion projects. The Water Supply, Sanitation, and Land Reclamation Sector also recorded a significant score of 1,010.72 points on the index, while public services, public transportation, and public parking facilities ranked among the sectors with comparatively lower levels of expropriation severity.
At the institutional level, the Ministry of Local Development recorded the highest overall impact on the DAESI, with a total score of 1,720.48 points, followed by the Ministry of Transport with 1,393.84 points, and the Ministry of Education with 1,292.28 points.
The Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities recorded the largest total area of expropriated land among all government entities, amounting to approximately 17,473 hectares, while the Ministry of Transport was associated with the highest number of affected individuals, estimated at 306,448 people. These findings underscore the central role of infrastructure and urban-planning institutions in driving expropriation processes throughout the study period.
The study concludes that expropriation policies in Egypt between 2021 and 2025 were closely linked to the country’s wave of urban expansion, infrastructure development, and national megaprojects. These policies contributed significantly to the restructuring of urban and social landscapes across major governorates, while generating substantial variations in impact across regions, sectors, and government entities.
The findings also highlight the importance of developing composite measurement tools—such as the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI)—to assess the severity of expropriation rather than merely its geographic extent. Such tools provide a more accurate framework for evaluating the social and urban consequences of public-development projects in Egypt.
Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI)
Diwan Alomran developed the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI) in collaboration with academic and policy experts as a quantitative analytical framework designed to measure the structural and social impacts of expropriation policies beyond conventional metrics that focus solely on the number of projects or the total area of land acquired. The index integrates four principal dimensions: the number of affected individuals, urban losses associated with residential, commercial, and other real-estate assets, the extent of expropriated land, and the adequacy of financial compensation relative to the scale of harm incurred.
The significance of the index lies in its ability to measure the severity of expropriation, rather than merely its geographic scale. The amount of land acquired alone does not adequately capture the magnitude of social impact. Some projects may involve the acquisition of thousands of hectares in sparsely populated areas, while smaller projects may generate far more severe consequences when implemented within densely populated urban districts characterized by fragmented property ownership and high residential density.
By linking the geographic footprint of a project with the number of affected individuals, the scale of residential displacement, the extent of urban losses, and compensation levels, the index provides a more comprehensive assessment of expropriation-related harm. It transforms individual expropriation cases into a standardized measurement framework that enables systematic comparisons across sectors, governorates, and time periods. The full methodology of the index is available here.
A longitudinal analysis of the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI) reveals a trajectory of rapid escalation during the early years of the study period, followed by a gradual decline. At the national level, the index recorded 1,358.79 points in 2021, before increasing sharply to 1,767.58 points in 2022, the highest level observed during the study period. This peak reflects the height of expansion in road networks, transportation corridors, infrastructure projects, and large-scale urban interventions.
Thereafter, the index declined progressively, falling to 974.90 points in 2023, 807.76 points in 2024, and 622.18 points in 2025. This trend suggests that the early years of the study period represented the most intensive phase in terms of the combined human and urban impacts associated with expropriation policies, before the pace of new projects slowed or the severity of their cumulative effects diminished in subsequent years.
Temporal Analysis (2021–2025)
Expropriation-for-public-benefit decisions in Egypt expanded significantly during the period 2021–2025, closely associated with the country’s wave of national megaprojects, urban expansion initiatives, and infrastructure development programs. According to the database compiled for this study, a total of 525 expropriation projects were identified during the study period.
In 2021, the study recorded 117 projects, resulting in the expropriation of approximately 8,203 hectares of land owned by an estimated 296,054 citizens. The number of projects increased sharply in 2022 to 171 projects, involving approximately 2,616 hectares of expropriated land and affecting nearly 144,793 citizens.
Thereafter, project numbers began to decline gradually. In 2023, the study recorded 98 projects, with approximately 4,145 hectares of expropriated land affecting around 48,966 citizens. In 2024, 80 projects were recorded, involving approximately 4,561 hectares of land owned by an estimated 21,348 citizens. By 2025, the number of projects had declined further to 59 projects. Despite this decrease, the year recorded the largest expropriated area during the entire study period, totaling approximately 17,770 hectares, affecting around 34,880 citizens.
It should be noted that the 2025 estimates presented in this study differ from those reported in a previous Diwan Alomran assessment of expropriation during the same year. This discrepancy reflects methodological developments and the expansion of data sources. While the earlier study relied primarily on information published in the Official Gazette and other direct government sources, the current methodology incorporates a broader range of sources, including open-source datasets, geospatial verification, and digital validation techniques. This expanded approach enabled the identification of a wider range of projects and associated impacts.
The temporal trajectory of expropriation decisions reveals a pattern of rapid expansion followed by a period of gradual decline, reflecting broader shifts in the nature of public-development projects and economic policy during the study period. The substantial increase between 2021 and 2022 suggests that the state moved toward a more intensive use of expropriation as a tool for accelerating the implementation of national projects and urban expansion initiatives. Conversely, the gradual decline in project numbers after 2022 appears to be partly associated with the transition of several large-scale projects into implementation phases, as well as the effects of economic pressures and the slowdown of government-led investment expansion in subsequent years.
Although 2025 recorded the largest area of expropriated land during the study period, 2022 remained the year with the highest level of expropriation severity according to the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI). This distinction highlights the value of the index as an analytical tool that measures not only the geographic scale of expropriation but also the magnitude of its human, urban, and social impacts.
The index reached its highest level in 2022, recording 1,767.58 points, compared with 1,358.79 points in 2021. It then declined to 974.90 points in 2023, 807.76 points in 2024, and 622.18 points in 2025.
The close relationship between the rise in project numbers and the increase in the severity index suggests that the peak observed in 2022 represented more than a quantitative expansion in expropriation decisions. Rather, it reflected a substantial increase in the actual impacts generated by these projects, whether measured through the number of affected individuals, the scale of targeted urban areas, or the broader social consequences associated with implementation.
The subsequent decline in the index further indicates that the reduction was not merely administrative or numerical in nature. It also reflected a decrease in the structural weight and cumulative impact of newly initiated projects compared with the large-scale projects that dominated the early years of the study period. In other words, while expropriation activity continued in later years, the projects undertaken generally produced less severe human and urban consequences than those implemented during the peak phase of expansion.
Geographic Distribution
The geographic distribution of expropriation projects between 2021 and 2025 reveals the continued concentration of urban development initiatives and national megaprojects within Egypt’s major metropolitan regions, particularly the Greater Cairo Region, which accounted for the largest number of projects with 193 projects. It was followed by the Nile Delta Region, which recorded 156 projects. This pattern reflects the longstanding concentration of public investment and infrastructure development within the country’s principal urban and population centers.
The database compiled for this study recorded a total of approximately 37,292 hectares of expropriated land during the period 2021–2025. The geographic distribution of these acquisitions was highly uneven across governorates, with a clear concentration in major regional projects and governorates characterized by significant urban and investment activity.
Matrouh Governorate ranked first in terms of total expropriated land, with approximately 20,982 hectares, representing more than half of all expropriated land recorded nationwide. This outcome was driven primarily by large-scale coastal and investment projects, most notably the Ras El-Hekma Project. Cairo Governorate ranked second with approximately 3,628 hectares, followed by Alexandria Governorate with 2,342 hectares, Giza Governorate with 1,836 hectares, and Aswan Governorate with approximately 1,463 hectares.
In addition, Sharqia, Assiut, Dakahlia, Beheira, and Suez were among the governorates recording relatively large expropriated areas, with totals ranging from approximately 500 to 925 hectares. These findings underscore the uneven spatial distribution of expropriation activities and highlight the strong relationship between land acquisition patterns and the geography of large-scale development and infrastructure projects across Egypt.
Despite ranking first among all governorates in terms of total expropriated land area, Matrouh Governorate recorded only 50.51 points on the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI). This outcome is largely attributable to the nature of the large-scale coastal and investment projects implemented in the governorate, which involved the acquisition of extensive tracts of land characterized by relatively low population and urban densities compared with Egypt’s major metropolitan centers. As a result, the human and urban impacts associated with these projects remained comparatively limited despite their vast geographic footprint.
In contrast, Cairo Governorate ranked first in terms of expropriation severity, recording 1,086.16 points, despite having approximately 3,628 hectares of expropriated land—substantially less than Matrouh. This reflects the highly urbanized nature of projects implemented within Cairo, many of which involved the removal of densely populated residential and commercial areas within congested urban districts, particularly in the context of transportation corridors and urban redevelopment initiatives. Giza Governorate ranked second on the index with 784.72 points, despite recording only 1,836 hectares of expropriated land, further illustrating the significant role of population and urban density in shaping the severity of expropriation impacts.
Alexandria Governorate recorded 395.67 points on the index, with approximately 2,342 hectares of expropriated land, reflecting the impact of coastal expansion projects, transportation corridors, and urban redevelopment schemes. Monufia Governorate also stood out, recording 490.78 points despite having no more than approximately 368 hectares of expropriated land. This indicates that projects implemented in the governorate generated substantial human and urban impacts relative to their limited geographic footprint.
Across the Nile Delta, Gharbia Governorate recorded 350.44 points despite a relatively small expropriated area of approximately 114 hectares, while Dakahlia Governorate recorded 250.07 points with approximately 520 hectares, and Qalyubia Governorate recorded 276.17 points with approximately 296 hectares. These findings highlight the concentration of expropriation activities within densely populated urban settlements, where the acquisition of comparatively small areas of land can generate disproportionately large human and urban consequences.
Several Upper Egyptian governorates recorded moderate levels of expropriation severity, including Sohag, which scored 181.05 points, and Aswan, which recorded 110.75 points. By contrast, governorates such as Luxor, the Red Sea, and Port Said remained among the least affected. North Sinai, South Sinai, and the New Valley registered negligible levels of expropriation activity during the study period, reflecting the absence—or limited presence—of organized expropriation projects in those governorates.
Overall, the geographic distribution of expropriation severity demonstrates that densely populated urban governorates—particularly Cairo and Giza—bore the greatest share of the human and urban impacts associated with public-development projects, even when the total area of expropriated land was substantially smaller than that of major investment-oriented and coastal governorates. Conversely, governorates such as Matrouh exhibited a distinct pattern characterized by large-scale geographic expansion across sparsely populated areas, highlighting the diversity of expropriation dynamics and the varying urban and investment rationales underlying land acquisition across different regions of Egypt.
Distribution by Type of Expropriated Property
The distribution of assets affected by expropriation decisions between 2021 and 2025 reveals the extensive urban and social impacts associated with public-development projects. These impacts extend beyond the geographic footprint of expropriated land to encompass the scale of affected buildings, housing units, and land parcels subject to acquisition procedures.
For this component of the analysis, the database relied on a standardized estimation methodology based on documented scientific assumptions, particularly in cases where official decisions and government records lacked detailed information. According to the methodological framework, each property or housing unit was treated as an independent household, with an average household size of four individuals used to estimate the number of affected persons. Standardized assumptions were also employed to estimate undocumented properties through digital mapping and spatial analysis, including an average of six households per building in densely populated areas, alongside specific estimation procedures for leased educational facilities and complex ownership arrangements. Missing figures relating to land areas and property counts were further estimated through geospatial analysis, satellite imagery, and project planning alignments.
Expropriated Buildings and Real-Estate Assets
The database recorded approximately 19,627 buildings and real-estate assets affected by expropriation decisions during the study period, with a strong concentration in Egypt’s major urban governorates.
Cairo Governorate accounted for the largest number of affected properties, with 10,246 buildings, followed by Giza Governorate with 4,459 buildings, and multi-governorate regional projects with 1,946 buildings. Alexandria Governorate also recorded a notable increase in 2025, with 606 buildings affected as part of coastal development and urban expansion projects.
This urban concentration indicates that a substantial share of expropriation activity targeted built-up areas and densely populated residential neighborhoods, particularly within the Greater Cairo Region and along major regional transportation corridors.
Expropriated Land Parcels
The database identified approximately 32,533 affected land parcels, including agricultural land, vacant plots, and landholdings associated with large-scale development projects.
Multi-governorate regional projects accounted for the largest share, with 9,619 parcels, followed by Giza Governorate with 8,296 parcels, Assiut Governorate with 3,015 parcels, and Cairo Governorate with 1,268 parcels.
This pattern reflects the broad geographic footprint of transportation corridors, highway projects, and agricultural expansion initiatives, which relied more heavily on the acquisition of open land and extensive landholdings than on the demolition of densely developed urban areas.
Affected Housing Units
Housing units represented the largest category among all affected real-estate assets. The study recorded approximately 110,537 housing units that were either expropriated or directly affected by public-development projects during the study period.
The largest concentration was recorded in Cairo Governorate, with 58,385 housing units, followed by Giza Governorate with 28,560 units, and multi-governorate regional projects with 11,675 units. Alexandria Governorate also ranked among the most affected areas, recording 4,422 housing units, while Qalyubia Governorate recorded 2,706 units.
These figures illustrate the substantial social and urban consequences associated with public-development projects, particularly within densely populated urban areas that experienced major transportation expansions, road construction, and large-scale urban redevelopment initiatives.
Affected Population
The affected population represents the most sensitive dimension in measuring the consequences of expropriation, as it directly reflects the scale of social displacement and the human impacts associated with public-development projects. According to the methodology adopted for the database, the number of affected households and individuals was estimated using a standardized set of assumptions. Each housing unit or independent property was treated as equivalent to a single household, while the number of affected individuals was calculated using an average household size of four persons per household, with adjustments made to account for higher household densities in rural and informal settlements.
Additional assumptions were employed to estimate the impact of properties lacking detailed documentation, including an average of six households per building in densely populated urban areas. Special estimation procedures were also developed for complex cases, such as leased educational facilities and areas where the number of housing units could not be reliably identified through official documentation alone.
Based on this methodology, the study estimates that approximately 136,519 households were affected by expropriation between 2021 and 2025, corresponding to an estimated 546,077 individuals. These figures highlight the substantial social footprint associated with expropriation projects during the study period.
At the governorate level, Cairo Governorate recorded the highest level of human impact, with approximately 50,410 affected households and 201,639 affected individuals, followed by Giza Governorate, with 39,369 households and 157,476 individuals.
Multi-governorate regional projects also emerged as one of the largest sources of social impact, affecting approximately 21,726 households and 86,904 individuals. This reflects the extensive geographic reach of major linear infrastructure projects, including regional transportation corridors and road networks that pass through multiple population centers.
Among the coastal governorates, Alexandria Governorate recorded relatively high levels of impact, with approximately 5,992 affected households and 23,968 affected individuals, particularly in connection with coastal redevelopment projects and the restructuring of waterfront urban areas. Qalyubia Governorate also ranked among the most affected governorates, recording 2,946 households and 11,784 individuals, reflecting the outward expansion of Greater Cairo’s urban development corridors into its territory.
In Upper Egypt, Assiut Governorate recorded approximately 3,059 affected households and 12,236 affected individuals, while Luxor Governorate recorded 651 households and 2,604 individuals, and Aswan Governorate recorded 668 households and 2,672 individuals. These figures reflect the expansion of infrastructure and regional-development projects in southern Egypt, although their human impact remained considerably lower than that observed in the country’s major metropolitan governorates.
Overall, the distribution of affected populations demonstrates that expropriation in Egypt during recent years extended far beyond a technical process of land acquisition for public projects. Instead, it constituted a large-scale process of social and urban restructuring that affected hundreds of thousands of residents. These impacts were concentrated primarily within Greater Cairo and other densely populated urban areas, underscoring the profound urban transformations associated with the country’s infrastructure expansion and development programs.
Sectoral Distribution of Expropriation Projects
The sectoral analysis of expropriation projects in Egypt between 2021 and 2025 reveals substantial variation in the scale and nature of impacts generated across sectors, whether measured by the extent of land acquisition, the number of affected persons, or the level of expropriation severity as captured by the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI). The findings demonstrate that some sectors relied primarily on large-scale land acquisition, while others generated more intensive social and urban impacts despite their relatively limited geographic footprint.
Roads and Bridges Projects
The Roads and Bridges Sector ranked first among all sectors in terms of expropriation severity, recording a total score of 1,655.40 points, the highest level observed in the sectoral database. The sector also accounted for the largest number of projects, with 157 projects, involving the acquisition of approximately 6,097 hectares of land and affecting an estimated 239,795 affected persons during the five-year study period.
This reflects the central role played by transportation corridors, regional highways, and bridge projects in reshaping Egypt’s urban landscape, particularly within Greater Cairo and the Nile Delta, where these projects were frequently associated with the removal of residential and commercial blocks along new transport routes and the expansion of existing road networks.
The peak of sectoral activity occurred in 2022, when the sectoral index reached 595.33 points, compared with 472.82 points in 2021. The index then declined progressively to 330.80 points in 2023, 129.18 points in 2024, and 127.27 points in 2025. This trajectory suggests that the early years of the study period witnessed the most intensive phase of corridor and highway expansion before the pace of development gradually slowed.
School Property Acquisition Projects
The School Property Acquisition Sector ranked second in terms of expropriation severity, recording a total score of 1,352.81 points, despite the fact that the associated land acquisition did not exceed approximately 33 hectares. The sector accounted for 135 projects, making it the second-largest sector by project count.
This pattern reflects the distinctive nature of school property acquisition projects in Egypt, which often involve the expropriation of privately owned properties that have long been used as public schools under lease agreements. In many cases, these acquisitions concern school buildings located within densely populated urban areas, where ownership structures are frequently fragmented among multiple heirs or stakeholders. As a result, such projects can generate substantial property-related and social impacts despite their relatively limited geographic footprint.
The sector maintained relatively high levels of expropriation severity throughout the study period. It recorded 270.86 points in 2021, rising to 360.51 points in 2022, before declining to 130.21 points in 2023. The index subsequently increased to 330.61 points in 2024 and remained elevated at 260.62 points in 2025. This pattern suggests that the state’s reliance on expropriation as a mechanism for securing ownership of leased school properties remained a persistent feature of public policy throughout the study period, rather than being limited to the initial phase of large-scale urban expansion and infrastructure development.
Water Supply, Sanitation, and Agricultural Reclamation Projects
The Water Supply, Sanitation, and Agricultural Reclamation Sector recorded 1,010.72 points on the severity index, encompassing 101 projects, approximately 2,051 hectares of acquired land, and an estimated 6,524 affected persons.
This reflects the dual nature of the sector, which combines traditional water infrastructure projects—such as treatment plants, pumping stations, and sewerage networks—with agricultural reclamation initiatives requiring the acquisition of comparatively large land areas.
The sector reached its highest level in 2022, recording 441.17 points, compared with 228.94 points in 2021. It subsequently declined to 200.48 points in 2023, 119.99 points in 2024, and only 20.13 points in 2025. These figures indicate that most water infrastructure and agricultural reclamation projects were concentrated during the initial phase of the development expansion cycle.
Urban Development and Housing Projects
The Urban Development and Housing Sector ranked fourth, recording a total score of 654.48 points, despite accounting for the largest area of acquired land among all sectors, totaling approximately 20,760 hectares, as well as the highest number of affected persons, estimated at 271,254 individuals.
This apparent discrepancy reflects the nature of the sector itself, which includes new city developments—most notably the Ras El-Hekma Project—informal settlement upgrading initiatives, and large-scale urban redevelopment schemes. Such projects typically involve extensive geographic expansion but vary considerably in terms of population density and their direct impacts on existing residential communities.
The index reached its highest level in 2021, recording 246.79 points, before declining sharply to 80.39 points in 2022. It then increased to 135.61 points in 2023 and remained relatively stable during 2024 and 2025. This suggests that the most disruptive urban development projects affecting established residential areas were concentrated in the early years of the study period.
Public Services Projects
The Public Services Sector recorded 532.63 points on the severity index, encompassing 54 projects, approximately 258 hectares of acquired land, and an estimated 1,656 affected persons. The sector includes healthcare facilities, government service centers, and other public-service infrastructure projects that are generally associated with geographically limited interventions.
The sector followed a pattern similar to other service-oriented sectors. The index recorded 80.07 points in 2021, increased sharply to 259.94 points in 2022, and subsequently declined to 94.89 points in 2023, 50.01 points in 2024, and 47.72 points in 2025. This trend reflects the contraction of public-service infrastructure interventions following the initial expansion phase.
Transportation and Public Transit Projects
The Transportation and Public Transit Sector recorded 235.80 points on the severity index across 24 projects. These projects covered approximately 8,090 hectares and affected an estimated 24,000 persons.
The sector includes projects such as metro lines, the electric rail network, and the monorail, all of which are characterized by extensive linear infrastructure corridors. Despite their large geographic footprint, these projects remained fewer in number than conventional road projects.
The sector exhibited fluctuating levels of severity without a clear long-term trend. It recorded 49.40 points in 2021, declined to 20.26 points in 2022, increased to 72.90 points in 2023, fell to 43.83 points in 2024, and rose again to 49.41 points in 2025. This variation reflects the phased implementation of metro, monorail, and electric rail projects, whose expropriation decisions were issued at different stages throughout the study period.
Public Garages and Parking Facilities
The Public Garages and Parking Facilities Sector recorded the lowest level of expropriation severity among all sectors, with only 89.37 points across 9 projects, involving no more than approximately 5 hectares of land and affecting 92 persons.
The sector remained the least impactful category throughout the study period, with annual severity levels fluctuating within a narrow range of approximately 10 to 39.57 points. This reflects the highly localized and limited nature of such projects compared with larger infrastructure and urban-development interventions.
Overall, the sectoral distribution of expropriation in Egypt demonstrates that the most significant impacts were determined not only by the scale of land acquisition, but also by the nature of the projects themselves and the intensity of their social and urban consequences. While Roads and Bridges Projects played the leading role in reshaping urban space in terms of overall severity and cumulative impact, the Educational Facilities and Urban Development and Housing sectors generated some of the most substantial effects on affected persons and real-estate assets. These findings highlight the diversity of state-led development interventions during the study period and underscore the importance of assessing expropriation not solely through the extent of land acquired, but through its broader impacts on communities, livelihoods, and the built environment.
Expropriating Authorities
An analysis of the government entities requesting expropriation reveals a clear concentration of land acquisition activities within a limited number of executive institutions responsible for infrastructure development, urban expansion, and urban redevelopment. According to the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI), the Ministry of Local Development ranked first among all government entities, recording the highest severity score at 1,720.48 points, despite being associated with the acquisition of only approximately 2,465 hectares of land.
This outcome reflects the highly urbanized nature of projects implemented by governorates and local administrative authorities, many of which involved the removal of residential and commercial blocks within historic urban centers and densely populated districts. Consequently, projects associated with the Ministry of Local Development affected an estimated 211,657 persons and accounted for the largest number of projects, totaling 159 projects.
The Ministry of Transport ranked second in terms of expropriation severity, recording 1,393.84 points on the index. This ranking was driven by the extensive network of roads, bridges, and regional transportation corridors implemented during the study period. The ministry was associated with 127 projects, involving approximately 13,160 hectares of acquired land and affecting an estimated 306,448 persons, the highest number recorded among all government entities. These figures underscore the profound urban and social impacts generated by transportation projects, particularly those passing through densely populated areas in Greater Cairo and the Nile Delta.
The Ministry of Education and Technical Education ranked third, recording 1,292.28 points on the severity index despite being associated with no more than approximately 29 hectares of acquired land. This reflects the distinctive nature of school property acquisition projects, particularly the acquisition of privately owned properties used as public schools under long-term lease arrangements. Such projects frequently generate substantial property-related and social impacts despite their limited geographic footprint due to fragmented ownership structures, multiple heirs, and complex property rights arrangements. The ministry accounted for 129 projects during the study period, making it one of the most active users of expropriation mechanisms.
The Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities ranked fourth, recording 739.16 points on the index, despite accounting for the largest area of acquired land among all government entities, totaling approximately 17,473 hectares. This reflects the distinct nature of housing developments and new city projects, which typically involve the acquisition of extensive tracts of open or sparsely populated land. As a result, the number of affected persons associated with these projects remained relatively limited at approximately 14,832 individuals, compared with projects implemented by the Ministries of Transport or Local Development.
The data also indicate a more limited role for security and sovereign institutions, which recorded 135.43 points on the severity index across 14 projects and approximately 2,619 hectares of acquired land. The category of Other Ministries and Government Agencies recorded 118.73 points.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation and the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation jointly recorded only 69.03 points, despite the fact that some of their projects involved extensive agricultural areas. The contributions of the Ministry of Higher Education, the Urban Development Fund, and the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy remained comparatively limited in terms of both project numbers and overall impact.
Overall, the distribution of expropriation authorities demonstrates that the principal drivers of land acquisition in Egypt between 2021 and 2025 were institutions directly involved in reshaping urban space, transportation networks, and infrastructure systems. The prominent roles of the Ministry of Local Development, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of Education and Technical Education highlight the central function these institutions played in managing the urban and social transformations associated with the country’s development agenda during the study period.
Compensation
The distribution of financial compensation associated with expropriation decisions between 2021 and 2025 reveals substantial variation across governorates and projects in terms of compensation expenditures. According to the database compiled for this study, the total value of recorded compensation payments amounted to approximately EGP 55.2 billion.
Multi-governorate regional projects accounted for the largest share of compensation expenditures, totaling approximately EGP 20.07 billion. This reflects the extensive geographic footprint of major regional corridors and transportation networks, which required compensation payments across multiple governorates.
At the governorate level, Giza Governorate ranked first, with total compensation payments amounting to approximately EGP 11.78 billion, followed by Cairo Governorate with approximately EGP 10.28 billion. These figures are closely linked to the high urban density and elevated land and property values within the Greater Cairo Region, as well as the extensive scale of transportation corridors, road projects, and urban redevelopment initiatives implemented in these governorates.
Alexandria Governorate also recorded relatively high compensation expenditures, totaling approximately EGP 4.83 billion, largely driven by coastal expansion projects, transportation corridors, and urban redevelopment interventions in areas characterized by high real-estate values.
The data indicate that compensation spending peaked in 2023, when total expenditures reached approximately EGP 16.7 billion, compared with EGP 15.6 billion in 2022 and EGP 13.4 billion in 2021. Compensation expenditures then declined sharply to approximately EGP 4.31 billion in 2024, before increasing modestly to approximately EGP 5.18 billion in 2025. Nevertheless, compensation levels remained substantially below the peak levels recorded between 2021 and 2023. This trajectory reflects the intensive implementation of national development and infrastructure projects during the middle years of the study period, followed by a gradual slowdown in the issuance of new expropriation decisions.
A comparison between compensation expenditures and the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI) reveals a complex relationship between financial spending and the social and urban impacts of expropriation. The index does not measure the absolute value of compensation payments; rather, it evaluates the extent to which compensation corresponds to the scale of harm generated by expropriation. Consequently, higher compensation payments do not necessarily imply lower levels of expropriation severity, particularly in cases involving the displacement of large residential populations and the removal of significant urban assets within densely populated areas.
In both Cairo and Giza, for example, compensation expenditures ranked among the highest nationwide, yet both governorates continued to record exceptionally high levels of expropriation severity. This reflects the large number of affected persons and the extensive urban and social impacts associated with transportation corridors and urban redevelopment projects. Conversely, some large-scale projects in coastal governorates, particularly Matrouh, recorded comparatively lower severity levels despite their extensive geographic footprint, owing to lower population densities and more limited direct human impacts compared with major metropolitan centers.
It is important to note that the data presented in this section do not constitute an assessment of the fairness, adequacy, or effectiveness of compensation relative to the actual losses incurred by affected persons. Rather, the analysis is limited to documenting compensation amounts that were publicly disclosed or could be traced through official records and expropriation decisions. Accordingly, the figures presented here reflect the scale of financial expenditures associated with government expropriation procedures and should not be interpreted as a direct measure of compensation justice or the extent to which compensation adequately offset the social and urban impacts resulting from expropriation.
General Analysis and Findings
The findings of this study indicate that expropriation in Egypt between 2021 and 2025 was not merely an administrative tool for allocating land to public projects. Rather, it represented one of the key mechanisms through which the country’s urban and social landscape was reshaped at the national level. The scale of the projects identified, the geographic breadth of interventions, and the large number of affected persons all suggest that the state relied extensively on expropriation as a mechanism to accelerate infrastructure development, urban expansion, and urban redevelopment in recent years.
The data show that the wave of expropriation was directly associated with the expansion of major transport corridors, national development projects, and new cities. This was reflected in the sharp increase in the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI) during 2021 and 2022, before the index began to decline gradually in subsequent years. This trend suggests that the early years of the study period witnessed the most intensive phase of urban interventions with cumulative impacts on both residents and the built environment, whether through the removal of existing residential areas or the redistribution of land uses within and around cities.
The study reveals a fundamental distinction between the geographic extent of projects and their actual impact. The findings show that governorates or sectors with the largest areas of acquired land were not always those with the highest levels of social and urban severity. Densely populated governorates such as Cairo and Giza recorded much higher severity scores than governorates where larger areas were acquired in low-density settings. This demonstrates that the real impact of expropriation is more closely linked to the urban and social fabric of the affected areas than to the size of the land acquired alone.
The findings also show that roads and transport corridor projects were the primary drivers of expropriation during the study period, both in terms of the number of projects and the scale of their social and urban impacts. New mobility networks and regional corridors reshaped large parts of cities, particularly within Greater Cairo and the Nile Delta, where interventions were concentrated in inhabited and high-density areas. At the same time, other sectors—such as School Property Acquisition Projects—displayed a different pattern of impact, driven less by large-scale geographic expansion and more by complex property ownership structures and overlapping legal rights.
From a rights-based perspective, the study indicates that the growing scale of expropriation in recent years raises fundamental questions about the relationship between urban planning and residents’ rights to housing, stability, and secure tenure. Although Egypt’s legal framework for expropriation is grounded in the concept of public purpose, the scale of human and social impacts documented in this study points to the need for more transparent and equitable tools for assessing harm, determining compensation, and ensuring community participation, particularly in densely populated urban areas.
The findings further show that financial compensation, even when substantial in some projects, does not necessarily reflect the full scale of the social and urban losses borne by affected persons. The monetary value of compensation alone is insufficient to measure the consequences of residential displacement, the loss of social ties, or the disruption of place-based livelihoods and ways of life, especially in areas that experienced extensive redevelopment or the removal of urban fabric established over decades.
The study also reveals a spatial imbalance in the distribution of urban interventions, with most projects continuing to be concentrated in Greater Cairo, the Nile Delta, and coastal investment corridors. This reflects the persistence of a development model centered on major urban regions and strategic investment corridors. By contrast, several frontier and lower-density governorates remained largely outside the scope of government policies aimed at promoting balanced urban development and creating new population-attraction areas, reflecting uneven investment and urban-expansion priorities across Egypt’s regions.
Overall, the findings confirm that expropriation between 2021 and 2025 formed part of a broader process of reshaping Egypt’s urban map, closely linked to infrastructure development, the reorganization of urban space, and investment-led expansion. They also underscore the importance of developing composite measurement and analytical tools—such as the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI)—to better understand the real impacts of public projects and provide a more accurate assessment of the social and urban costs associated with expansion and development policies in Egyptian cities.
Appendices
Monitoring and Analysis Methodology (available here)
Methodology of the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI) (available here)
Results and Supplementary Annexes for the Diwan Alomran Expropriation Severity Index (DAESI) (available here)
Inventory, Distribution, and Classification Tables (available here)
Analysis and Findings
Ibrahim Ezz El-din
Senior Researcher and Director of Policy and Research
Diwan Alomran for Urban Studies
