Strategic and Sustainable Land Use Planning of Coastal Sites in Egypt

Coasts and sea fronts are some of the most desired destinations on Earth. In Egyptian contemporary urban planning there are two ways to deal with sea fronts: 1. To remain the property of the state and let them to private companies/developers who create services and make them accessible to the public in exchange for a certain fee. 2. To sell them to private developers who make them private and thus get used by a limited number of people who either own a property in the development and their guests or are hiring in it. The cities of Alexandria and Mersa Matruh represent alternative number one; the coast is visible and accessible to the public. Between Alexandria city and Mersa Matruh city, alternative two was adopted; the sea is private belonging to private resorts. The public is not able to access the sea and sometimes not even see it from afar. Furthermore, land use can hardly be changed in the future, even if the need for energy projects increase. The objective of this paper is to suggest a new alternative, which is a mix between the two alternatives, in order to save what is remaining from the North coast (Mediterranean Sea), the East coast (Red Sea) and the Sinai Peninsula before being transformed into private gated communities. So that, seas remain accessible to all citizens and tourists and sites for the construction of nuclear power plants and other renewable energy projects remain a possibility for future generations