Damietta Furniture City (DFC)

Report

Date:
25 December 2021

For:

Prof. Aly El-Bahrawy

From:
Name ID
1- Mohamed Abdelnaby Hosny 1805507

2- Kareem Magdy Moheb Elfadaly 1803916

3- Ahmed Mahmoud Abdel Fattah 1808125

4- Ali Mahmoud Sayed Ali Morad 1808513

Contents
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 3
DAMIETTA CITY AND ITS FURNITURE INDUSTRY ........ 4
Social Capital vs Spatial Distribution ......................................... 6
Growth ........................................................................................ 7
Damietta’s city centre ................................................................. 7
Some of Eco-sustainable Raw Materials in DFC ........................ 8
1. Wood ................................................................................ 9
2. Bamboo ............................................................................. 9
3. Cork .................................................................................. 9
Specifications of the Furniture City Project .............................. 10
Own reflection .......................................................................... 11
Conclusion ................................................................................ 12
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................... 12
INTRODUCTION

Damietta Furniture City (DFC) was established in 2016 with 5 billions Egyptian
pounds authorized capital aiming to:

• Develop the furniture sector to be a main contributor to promoting Egypt’s

reputation globally, by maintaining means of quality and innovation.
• Increase investments in Egypt, for the furniture sector attracts investors in
the fields of furniture, complementary industries and feeding industries. For
instance, sponge and foam, accessories, glue and paint and processed wood,
etc…
• Modernize industry methods to reach the highest industrial quality.
• Raise the added value of the final product through development and
innovation by fostering the design to be the main alluring component of the
Egyptian products in the global market.

In order to investigate the connections between Social Capital as a driver that

brings about a set of dynamics within a small-scale industry-based city, this paper
investigates how the furniture industry in Damietta functions within the context of
profession-based Social Capital and the effect Social Capital has on the nature of
value chain processes and transactions. The complexities that accompany the use
of trust, networks and norms (Putnam et al., 1993) as a basis for many business
dealings in the dense and enclosed community of Damietta adds a spatial aspect to
the socio-economic setting of the city. The argument in this sense transcends
economic profit and becomes mapping a specific pattern of living that evolved in
the city within the context of socially based business transactions. The location of
Damietta as a regional connector between Mediterranean cities and a northern
gateway to Egypt was also a strong geographical factor that prompted Damietta’s
edge in Industry since it’s early history as far back as the 7th Century (AlShayal,
2000).
 Fig.1: Damietta region map: Damietta city central location and connectivity to the port and new Damietta city

DAMIETTA CITY AND ITS FURNITURE INDUSTRY

The Egyptian furniture industry is a well and long-established domain that is
linked to geographical advantage with notable access to major markets, reasonably
low costs, and highly experienced labour with regard to woodworking skills. The
wooden furniture industry in Egypt dates back centuries with mostly distinct styles
that incorporate Islamic, British and French elements into the design, as well as
part of the sector also producing rather international style designs, specifically
located in Damietta as the northern gate of Egypt (AlShayal, 2000). Exports in the
furniture sector started in the 1960s and 1970s pursuing the Soviet Union and
Eastern Europe. By the 1980s, the export market shifted in Egypt towards Arab
countries to respond to the increasing demand for furniture resulting from booming
urban growth in the region (International Labor Organization, 2016).

From a socioeconomic perspective, Damietta’s economic nature has been always

associated with the entrepreneurial essence of its furniture industry. It is a unique
context where cluster economies (similar to Sassuola, Italy) has evolved through
decades and has been passed down from one generation to the next. Such a mega
project outside the city would be drawing out not only the employment pool in the
city, but also the income and local investment. Instead of developing the city’s
economy, the project –in its current form- is offering an autonomous industrial
base where Damietta’s population shifts to be worker-based rather than owners and
entrepreneurs. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO, 2016), the
value chain of the furniture industry includes design, inbound, manufacturing,
outbound, marketing and aftersales services. Even though this categorisation is
theoretically correct, the way it takes place within the furniture industry in
Damietta is quite different and division of labor within different types and sizes of
enterprises varies greatly from the theoretical underpinning shown below. This is
further explored through the analysis of this paper in the results and discussions
sections, where the value chain patterns within the industry are identified and their
relation to Social Capital dimensions examined.

Fig.2: Value Chain of Furniture Industry in Damietta

Social Capital vs Spatial Distribution
Egypt was distinguished by furniture industry thousands of years ago as the ancient
Egyptians worked in agriculture especially tree plantation which helped them to
obtain the needed wood for fabricating furniture. Thus, they became professional
in this industry, and this was depicted on temples’ walls. The Egyptians inherited
this craft and succeeded in exporting wood products and establishing furniture
exhibitions abroad especially in the European Union countries.
The Egyptian furniture product, especially the high-quality handmade of Damietta,
enjoys a good reputation worldwide, leading to opening new markets for its
exportation on domestic, regional and international levels.
(DFC) has contracted with an Egyptian company to design an electronic site to sell
the city’s products on line and ship them to the world. The work in this electronic
site was scheduled to take place at the middle of 2020. The company hired
professional photographers to take special photos of the factories and workshops’
products to be posted on the site, as the company aims to develop these products in
terms of the good quality and price and modernize the designs in order to be able
to compete globally.[1]

Fig.3: Example of compact urban fabric with mixed-use typology of the internal
streets of Damietta’s city centre (source: Author, 2019)
Growth
Damietta is traditionally considered the focus of furniture manufacturing in Egypt.
Estimates regarding the share of Damietta in the gross production of furniture in
Egypt range from 40%, as reported by the Development Economic Policy Reform
Project (DEPRA)3 , to 80%, as reported by the Ministry of Trade & Supplies
(MOTS)4 . Damietta alone, per official statistics (CAPMAS), accounts for over
1/4th of the enterprises working in furniture manufacturing, as well as 1/4th of the
entire labor force in the sector, ranking the highest by far in both categories across
all Egyptian governorates.

Geographic Distribution of Furniture Manufacturing Enterprises

Examining the results of the last three censuses conducted by CAPMAS reveals
that Damietta however has started to lose its status in the Egyptian furniture
industry between the two census years of 1986 and 1996, compared to the 10 year
period, separating the 1976 & 1986 censuses.

Damietta’s city centre

An investigation of spatial distribution of furniture enterprises as well as the urban
fabric of the city reveals an abundance of mixed-use entities with clear
concentrations of enterprises in certain areas of the city centre. It is also significant
to note the small-scale land plots in the city which reflect on small areas for
individual enterprises, as well as a compact street network within the city. As most
land plots range between 200-400sqm (CAPMAS, 2019), the small scale of
enterprises is almost ensured, which reflects on continuous need for the value chain
patterns that thrive with higher Social Capital in the specific context of the city of
Damietta. These spatial factors contribute to creating a proximal environmental
where owners are in constant contact with business partners and potential
collaborators, increasing the chances of taking forward product orders and business
interactions. Figure 4 below shows how the enterprises utilise the street space as a
common “gallery” to showcase their products with proximity that ensures daily
social interaction between adjacent workshops.[1]

Fig.4: Example of compact urban fabric with mixed-use typology of the internal streets of Damietta’s city centre
(source: Author, 2019)

Some of Eco-sustainable Raw Materials in DFC

In eco-design, the raw materials used are key elements of each project. It is in fact
strictly required that the materials be biodegradable, reusable, recyclable and non-
toxic
Their impact on the environment must be as low as possible, both in terms of
component production and of their final disposal
Among the most requested materials in terms of green design, we find wood,
bamboo, cork, aluminum and bioplastics.
 1. Wood
Natural, recyclable, resistant and coming from a renewable source, wood is
undoubtedly one of the key materials of sustainable design.
Appreciated from an aesthetic and sensorial point of view, wood is also a good
insulator and is used in construction for its many qualities, which make it perfect to
respond to the utility-aesthetic combination required by modern design.
It is advisable to favor recycled wood, or wood obtained from old furniture, pallets,
shavings, pruning or packaging, and avoid painting it with toxic solutions.

2. Bamboo
Light and resistant at the same time, the bamboo, precisely because of its qualities,
is nicknamed the vegetable steel.
Belonging to the grass family, bamboo is a grass and not a woody essence, and
thanks to this characteristic it has a lighter impact on the environment.
Furthermore, contrary to some prejudices, bamboo is capable of combining
hardness with lightness.
Considered an excellent alternative to wood, bamboo grows quickly (the average
regrowth time is approximately 5 years) and avoids deforestation.
Its ductility and hollow conformation make it versatile and easy to work with.

3. Cork
Obtained from the bark of the cork oak, widespread in the Mediterranean areas and
in the African forests, cork is considered an ecological material due to its low
impact extraction method.
In addition to making furniture and accessories, it is used to insulate walls and
make coverings.
It is entirely recyclable, elastic, waterproof and fireproof, and is obtained with
much simpler and less impacting manufacturing processes than those used to
produce synthetic materials, such as plastics.
Specifications of the Furniture City Project
 Establishing wood stores zone that includes 50 stores and a fundamental
services zone on 30% of the total area.
 Five Feddans are allocated for the complementary industries and 15 Feddans for
the petrochemicals and environmental-friendly paints with a total of 17
factories.
 40 Feddans are allocated for infrastructure projects.
 Establishing the biggest marketing exhibitions in the Middle East on an area of
110,000 square meters, where it consists of three floors, dubbed “Egypt
Furniture Mall” along the two facades of the city.
 Establishing a hospital for limb surgery for treating the occupational hazards.
 Establishing an administrative center including the governmental services
center that comprises branches of all relevant ministries (Investment – Trade
and Industry- Industry Modernization Center- Ministry of Finance- Chamber of
Commerce- Export Center) to provide their services directly.
 Establishing residential hotel.
 Establishing central recycling units.
 Establishing a research, development and design center.
 Establishing the Woodworking Academy.
 Establishing a renewable energy plant.

Fig.5: Specifications of the Damietta Furniture City Project

Own reflection
Damietta has always been – and still to be – the epicentre of Egyptian furniture
production. It has 35,000 registered workshops that make furniture parts, furniture,
or interior design goods.
The majority of businesses are tiny one-man or family operations, with the
workshop on the ground floor and the family living above. Today, dozens of larger
modern factories have arisen, most of which are run by local families who are
well-versed in the craftsman's tradition.
In the past years Egypt produces extremely little wood suitable for construction
and furniture, thus wood imports have always been critical. The harbours of
Rosetta (Rashid) and Damietta (Dumiat) were the first ports of entry for timber
into Egypt, followed by the harbour of Alexandria. With this great innovation
everything will be changed.
It is probably that Damietta Furniture City will be the Middle East's first and
largest furniture manufacturing and feeding zone. As Furniture manufacturing is
regarded as one of Egypt's most promising industries today. Furthermore, Egypt is
known for its furniture manufacture and craftsmanship on a global scale.
Damietta's position as Egypt's and the Arab world's furniture capital produced a
pool of product diversification in the district, as well as a draw for clients due to
the large range of products available. This agglomeration also provided excellent
ground for knowledge to spread. Gradual product development and innovation,
where advancements are made incrementally designs or technical advancements
that are frequently and extremely commonly successful If a company introduces a
new product, it is soon adopted by other companies. practicable in terms
technology.

Obviously, there is an important point that we need to highlight is labors

conditions:
 Many people believe that labor, particularly skilled labor, is the industry's
key competitive advantage. Damietta was known for its craftsmanship for
years, if not decades. Furthermore, as compared to other countries. Damietta
city will open a lot of opportunities of employment.
  During the time, the economic bloc in Damietta was promoted as an engine
and catalyst for complementarity. In the value chain, the results show
evidence of trust, networks, and standards.

Conclusion
Finally there might be further research that looks into the bridges that connect
Damietta to the international market, and compare it to other cities like Sassuola or
other similar examples of industry-based urban environments in terms of internal
Social Capital versus external links to the global market. Another method could be
to focus more closely on the kind of links between businesses in Damietta,
building on Burt's research into the causes for the rise or fall of certain
relationships that have a significant impact on the market.
Exploring ways to operationalize and statistically quantify the amount of Social
Capital aspects within various value chain patterns could be a follow-up to the
research provided in this paper.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] N. Heysham, H. Elkadi, and S. Biscaya, “Exploring social capital within
Damietta’s furniture industry value chain as a mode of Community
Currency,” vol. 25, pp. 52–67, 2021.
[2] AlShayal, G. E. (2000). Complete History of Damietta; Political and
Economic. Alexandria.
[3] Blanc, J. (2011). Classifying “CCs”: Community, complementary and local
currencies’ types and generations. International Journal of Community Currency
Research, 15(2011), 4–10.
[4] Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. In N. W. Biggart (Ed.), Handbook
of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 280–291). London:
Greenwood Press.
[5] Ruddick, W. O. (2015). Trust and Spending of Community Currencies in
Kenya. In 3 rd International Conference on Social and Complementary Currencies
Oct 27th-30th 2015 Management School at Federal University of Bahia - Salvador,
Brazil (p. 22).