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Abstract

Amid rising inflation and a housing crisis in Egypt, this research develops a model to assess the affordability of sustainable housing for low- and middle-income groups by integrating environmental, social, and economic sustainability criteria. The research methodology used Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate the relative weights of sustainability criteria in housing projects. Based on their impact on construction costs, these criteria were classified by experts into five main groups: Design Criteria (preliminary studies, initial cost, environmental planning), Neighborhood Criteria (location, design, management), Social and Cultural Criteria (privacy and safety), Natural Resource Sustainability (water, energy), Housing Unit Criteria (design and indoor environmental quality). This classification led to the identification of sixty-two sub-criteria. The results revealed that certain sub-criteria of Natural Resource Sustainability, such as “Rainwater Management” and “Water Recycling”, increase the initial cost of sustainable housing projects relatively. Some Social and Cultural criteria, like “Safety and Security” and those of “Renewable Energy”, significantly raise costs, while others such as “Neighborhood Location” and “Privacy” have a lower cost impact. The proposed model effectively identified a set of sustainability criteria compatible with the affordability levels of standard, economic, middle-class, luxury, and ultra-luxury housing, considering the cost implications of sustainability criteria. Finally, the research recommended integrating sustainability criteria into housing policies while implementing measures to reduce initial housing costs. This approach supports sustainable affordable housing by applying the proposed model in feasibility studies to accurately estimate the cost of targeted affordable housing.

Keywords

Sustainability, Affordable housing, Analytic hierarchy process AHP, Housing in Egypt

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