In 2005, the prime minister and the governor of al-Giza issued two decrees stipulating that Kerdasa, a village that had been affiliated with the city of Ausim, would assume a new status as an independent city and administrative centre (markaz ʾidāry) for twelve towns and villages, to the west and north of Greater Cairo. Within two years, several new government institutions had been established, such as a police station (markaz shurṭa) in the town centre, a city council (majlis al-madīna), and a popular council (al-majlis al-shaʿby), among others. The decision increased the town's share of public expenditure and changed the legal status of many activities and transactions in the town. For example, all real estate properties, including land, residential apartments and commercial stores, automatically fell under a new tenancy law, which slightly benefited owners at the expense of their tenants. The decision also expanded the area that had been designated for urban development at the expense of agricultural land and improved the quality of services provided by the government.

Prior to this period, Kerdasa had administratively been considered a village with just one police post (nuqtat shurṭa), although its population, according to the 2006 Egyptian Census, had exceeded 60,000, and despite it being considered the centre of an electoral district (dāʾira intikhābiyya) in parliamentary elections, with two members in the People's Assembly. At that time, the town had formally been administrated by a local unit (wiḥda maḥaliyya) and a local council (al-majlis al-maḥaly). The first was an executive municipal apparatus that was responsible for most public services, while thesecond was a representative board elected by Kerdasa inhabitants, though its authority was extremely limited. Both institutions represented the municipal machinery in the town and were affiliated to the Governorate of al-Giza. They were intended, by virtue of their structure and existence, to comprise the local government in Kerdasa.

The transformation of Kerdasa from a village into a city was a formal recognition of its status that had transpired through a long historical process of urbanisation. However, this recognition came very late, since prior to that the town had, for the greater part, been urbanised from the mid-1990s, if not earlier. From the mid-1980s, Kerdasa has been a service centre for a large part of the surrounding area, embracing factories, clinics, many schools and hundreds of workshops.