الفهرس 
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Abstract
As Wagner (1972) defines places as the products of common cultural and symbolic elements and processes, He adds that the basic elements required to form a place are; a static physical setting; activities that occur within that setting and meanings which grow out of the activities there. He contends that being so; place formation is largely a social process. Thus, the physical setting forms the basic parameters within which meanings and identities are construed from social relationships and activities. Hence, the impact of development on social relationships and activities shall be considered in any process of planning for urban development, and such impacts will need to be assessed. ”Social Impact Assessment” (SIA) can be defined as the process of assessing or estimating, in advance, the social consequences that are likely to follow from specific policy actions or project development, particularly in the context of appropriate national, state, or provincial environmental policy legislation. Comparing the definition of the environment in impact assessment and recent emerge of social dimensions as an important factor in achieving sustainable development; we can observe the direct relation between SIA and sustainability. The above introduction leads to the research problem, which is how to consider the social dimension while planning for new urban development at informal areas in Egypt in order to achieve sustainable development objectives. The research argues that by using SIA, we will be able to investigate whether the urban development at specific informal area took into account the community’s social aspects or not and hence, conclude results and recommendations that shall be considered during the informal areas development. To answer the research main question, the research carried out the necessary literature review of SIA, explained the SIA model and process, and its relation to sustainability. International examples of SIA and community rating systems were studied, their application model and considered social issues, at different levels and types of development projects, were analyzed. International concept for informal areas and intervention modes were presented, the research focused on the selected case study, Manshiet Nasser, analyzing its assets and problems to identify social issues for consideration during the conceptual framework preparation. The research methodology was clarified, justifying the selection of the case study and the selected data collection tools. The design of the questionnaire and investigation process were introduced, in addition to the selected data analysis tools. Based on the conceptual framework and the research methodology, the research carried out the empirical research study. The following is a brief description of the followed stages: First Stage: Literature Review Social Impact Assessment (SIA) aims to predict social impacts as early as possible, find ways and means to reduce adverse impacts, shape projects to suit the local environment and present the predictions and options to decision-makers. Aiming to utilize Social Impact Assessment (SIA) to achieve sustainable urban development, the research provides the necessary literature review of the SIA verifying thoroughly the relation between different factors toward sustainable urban development by describing how urban design would focus on sustainability and defining the relation between sustainable urban development and SIA. To carry out SIA investigation, SIA model shall be developed using tools and methods and following consequential steps to assure proper approach and verified results. Since SIA explores effects on people, a range of participatory, observation and interview tools would be the most suitable for this type of assessment. As clarified at the end of this stage, the presented SIA international examples shows that SIA process can be applied to different types and levels of development projects. The introduced examples clarified that SIA context will vary according to many factors; the area of interest, size of the development and complexity level of the SIA investigation are the most important. As a conclusion of any SIA, the study is to identify impacts related to the proposed development in the locality, as well as matters in the public interest. The outcomes will be a series of recommendations outlining possible strengths and limitations, proposed alternatives to the original development proposal to increase skills in conducting SIAs. Relevant mitigations shall also be recommended where potentially adverse impacts are identified and cannot be avoided; moreover, residual impacts and compensation should be advised. Second Stage: Conceptual framework This stage starts with analyzing two community development rating systems; first is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - Neighbourhood Development (LEED-ND) - USA, and the second is the Pearl Community Rating System (PCRS) - United Arab Emirates. Social features of the two rating systems were described striving for sustainable development toward social sustainability. The research investigated the social dimensions and issues considered, in the two rating systems, through the analysis based on the types of social issues and possible impacts associated with development projects. The conclusion of this chapter shall provide evaluation of how social issues were thought-out in regional and international rating systems. These social issues consideration are highly relevant to assessing the impacts of the community development Scheme, which among other things, seeks to develop a more “Socially sustainable community”. Secondly, the research explores informality from global perspective focusing on Manshiet Nasser as an example of informal areas in Egypt, which will be the case study location. To allow for in-depth understanding of MN area, Demographic and Socio-Economic profiles were studied and the work of NGO in MN were investigated. By studying the lifestyle of the inhabitants and their effectiveness in improving the community, the research analyzed the assets and described the Social Problems facing Manshiet Nasser as to maximize the positive assets and identify the best intervention methods to minimize the negatives. This allowed for a better understanding of the community and identification of the social issues for investigation during the research questionnaire. Third Stage: Empirical Research Study In this stage, the research explains the strategy to select the case study required to conduct the research. A single case study was designed to use quantitative and qualitative research methods using questionnaires in structured face-to-face interviews to collect data from households, in addition to direct field observation and documentary sources review. In the empirical research study, it is explained, how the collected data was filtered, organized then analyzed in the next chapters, searching for answers to the research questions, using the relevant quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods. The purpose of this research is to bridge the gap, that have been identified earlier, between SIA and social impacts, at one side, and addressing sustainability in residential developments at informal areas in Egypt, on the other side. Therefore, in depth analysis of the collected data guided the research through; presenting the significant findings; clarifying the implications of this study in respect of the literature review, conceptual framework and development practice; concluding the limitations of the study and providing recommendations for current and future consideration and further research.