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This paper shows the comparative analysis of two informal areas representing two typologies of informal housing in Cairo metropolitan area. Ezbet Bekhit is an example of informal areas built on state-owned desert land, while Abu Qatada is a different example built on former privately-owned agricultural land.

The purpose of here is to reveal social differences through differences in spatial patterns. The challenge is to view settlement community as a spatial system through spatial configuration. Virtual gate method was employed to get data on people’s movement, while space syntax was used to analyse the spatial of configuration of the two areas. The results showed that there is a significant positive relationship between pedestrian movement pattern and spatial accessibility. In Ezbet Bekhit, association was found at both a settlement and city wide scales, while in Abu Qatada correspondence was found at a city wide context only. The findings also showed that there is different gender movement in settlement spaces. Differences in cultural movement pattern are also observed in the two areas, where some categories of people avoid meeting some other in Ezbet Bekhit or local people intermingle with non-local in Abu Qatada. This in turn influences social issues such as feeling of safety. (C) 2016 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.