Egypt’s small cities are growing fast and often facing deteriorated urban conditions, an increase in informal urban growth, encroachment on agriculture land and lack of basic urban services. There is an increasing need to address these challenges in an integrated manner and tackle them in urban planning strategies. Nevertheless, the efficient use of local resources and the development of local plans can contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of local city dwellers. The General Organization for Physical Planning (GOPP) in collaboration with UN-Habitat initiated a strategic urban planning project for small cities in 2008 with a main of achieving better planning and sustainable management of secondary urban settlements in Egypt.