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In many countries, informal economies have been successfully managed, and effective plans, mechanisms, and procedures have been implemented to include these activities in urban areas. In Egypt, there is a wide gap between this goal and the competence of the different applied mechanisms in dealing with informal markets, economies, and its activities. This paper aims to propose policies and mechanisms that shall guide the planning process in Egypt, by amending the shortcomings in the currently implemented mechanisms and understanding the reasons for their emergence and their spatial arrangement. The research hence includes analysis for problem evolution and investigates successful policies and mechanisms in selected countries (India, China, and Algeria) in an attempt to highlight their shortcomings and potential amendments. These mechanisms will be tested through a structured interviews with Egyptian stakeholders comprising experts in planning, economy and decision makers, and in the light of the interviews results and outcomes this paper will present a list of proposed mechanisms. A comparative analysis has shown that Prospective mechanisms and policies will include legislative, planning, design, financial, management, and control mechanisms that if coherently combined can help integrating the informal economy in Egypt to achieve a successful inclusion and preventing problems related to these markets in urban areas and better regulate of these areas in future cities planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban regeneration has been an accepted strategy for reviving cities around the globe for decades. In Egypt, the local government in Cairo has launched many regeneration projects: mainly focusing on the formalisation and relocation of street vendors to new public markets. This research tackles the relationship between the design of alternative public markets and the behaviours and needs of street vendors. Six cases in Cairo city, Egypt (El Tunisi, Kasr El Nile, El Turjuman, Ahmed Helmy, Toshka and Ain Helwan, and Misr Street) are analysed using various methods such as observation, surveys, questionnaires and group discussions. The aim is to investigate the reasons behind the failure of alternative markets in Cairo city over the past few years. The results show that unprofitable locations was one crucial factor that led to the rejection of enclosed public markets. Additionally, it was found that the needs of street vendors were not taken into account in the urban design, which provoked street vendors to abandon the alternative markets and strive to fulfil their unsatisfied needs. Another issue is the lack of a strategy to encourage street vendors to participate in the relocation process, which has resulted in vendors abandoning new markets, leading to more economic losses. The research presents a new perspective regarding planning and designing such vital public market spaces that serve a broad sector of the Egyptian community, in an effort to prevent the growth of the informal sector and to ensure the sustainability of regeneration efforts in these markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]