This paper deals with the study of the sustainable city focusing on environmental sustainability through sustainable urban form. The study was intended to offer a comprehensive picture of the challenges for human settlements and improved living conditions today and in the future. The need increases for developing more innovative and new ways, such as sustainable city, for conceiving the urban areas and future built environment'. Sustainable Development and sustainable urban development (SUD) is now becoming the basic concept for sustainable cities solving problems, meeting the acute and systemic challenges and improving the living conditions of people – without neglecting the needs and life chances of the future generations.
The aim of this paper is to conclude lessons from the historic cities and from the present experiences of foreign countries in the context of sustainable cities. The paper is composed of three parts, Fig. 1:
The first part discusses the challenges facing world cities in general and Egyptian's in particular, and the sustainable development and sustainable urban design as a tool to achieve Environmental sustainability in cities.
The second part reviews the different experiences of sustainable city's urban form, through historic cities and present examples
The third part presents proposed actions that help to reach the environmental dimensions of sustainability in the Egyptian cities