What is a district such as the Fifth Settlement?

A district is a named part of a city, such as the Fifth Settlement inside New Cairo. It has its own boundaries and its own services, and it is the level at which the site files a compound: every compound is listed under the district it stands in.

Is a district the same as a city?

No. The city is the widest division — Cairo, Giza, Alexandria — and a district sits inside it. New Cairo is made of districts, and the Fifth Settlement is one of them. A compound always belongs to a district, and its place on the site names both the wider area and the district.

How does the site handle places?

The site keeps a fixed list of places with three levels: city, area and district, each written in English and in Arabic. A compound's location is picked from that list and never typed, so the district name that reaches a page is the city's own name for the place rather than a shorthand.

Why does the district matter on the site?

The district is what joins a compound to the wider area around it. The area page, the catalogue counts and the footer all work through that link, so a compound that is not linked to its district does not appear in them.

Can one district hold more than one compound?

Yes. A district is land, and several developments can stand inside the same one, from different developers. That is what makes the district a useful frame: it shows what is around the compound you are reading about.

Do districts differ from one another?

They do. Districts differ in how densely they are built, in the size of their plots, in the width of their roads, and in how much of their land is given to homes, to shops or to services. Those differences are set by the city's planning and by what each developer is approved to build.

Does the district decide what a unit costs?

No. A unit's price is written against the compound and the unit itself. The district is what you weigh beside the price — how the compound is reached, what stands around it, and what is planned there — when you compare two homes at the same figure.

What should I check about a district before I reserve?

• the roads that reach it, and how the compound's gate opens onto them;
• what is already built on the land around the plot, and what is planned there;
• the landmarks beside the compound, which its own page lists;
• the district name the developer uses, so the page you read is the one you mean.