In Egypt the gap between the declared Development objectives and adopted strategies and policies to achieve it, invariably proved hard to bridge, breach and compromise. The present work brings together selected parts of the authors research endeavor in Development and beyond, during the past two decades, most of which was presented and published at International journals, conferences and symposia. Three overlapping objectives are behind the conception and form of this work, namely: 1- To critically present certain aspects and features of the development experience in Egypt - an interesting and challenging Developing setting - during the past three decades, emphasizing Community Design and Development, and Housing. 2- To prove that the gap separating theory and practice, can be bridged and compromised. 3- To allow access to scattered research polemics and discourses, to all interested in urban and community development, in developing settings (Egypt included), and to re-present itto delineate and highlight facets of an integrated approach to community design and development, and housing in Developing contexts.