The New Administrative Capital: an ambitious project
p. 80-81
Texte intégral
2015 | 700 km2 | 6,500,000 | $45 billion | January 2019 |
The project is launched | Proposed surface area | Expected inhabitants | Cost of the first phase | Inauguration of the cathedral and great mosque |
1During a conference on Egypt’s economic development held at Sharm el-Sheikh in March 2015 President Sisi announced the launch of the New Administrative Capital, to be built some 45 km east of Cairo. This creation ex-nihilo in the desert, mid-way between Cairo and the Red Sea, is one of the great national construction projects. The intention is to establish a world-class capital and centre of economic activity on an area the size of the state of Singapore. Officially, the development is supposed to relieve the congestion of an over-populated megacity, and also to create employment (for up to two million) and business in an attractive investment zone. This residential and politico-administrative ensemble will host high tech industries and a “knowledge city”.
2Certain voices have questioned whether the project is entirely appropriate given the somewhat lukewarm success of the new towns that have been built over the past 50 years, and the similar attempts, ultimately abandoned, to create administrative centres in the desert (Sadat City in the 1970s, and Future City in the 1990s). Others view this transfer of the organs of power as motivated by security concerns and a desire to keep a safe distance from the dense masses of potential protesters. Despite reservations regarding the opacity of the project, its cost, the neoliberal city model being adopted, and the true objectives, the project is rapidly advancing.
A presidential urban project
3Broken down into three phases over a period of seven to 12 years, according to the press releases, the future capital will follow a functional zoning system and include: a governmental district hosting a presidential palace, ministerial buildings, a parliament, a diplomatic quarter and an international airport; 21 residential areas covering two thirds of the city with one million housing units and 40,000 hotel rooms; a recreational park four times bigger than Disneyland; as well as a zone given over to technology and innovation with at least six foreign universities.
4Accessible by major highways, this giant urban area is described as a green, sustainable, smart city, powered by renewable energy and linked to neighbouring towns by a variety of forms of public transport: monorail from Nasr City, bus from New Cairo, future bullet train from Ain Sukhna to Alexandria, light rail transit service from Salam City via 10th of Ramadan City. A 25-km-long green corridor is planned to stretch through the curving residential areas, and will be the longest of its kind in the world. Official pronouncements regarding the project are peppered with superlatives: al-Fattah al-Aleem Mosque will be the largest in all Egypt; the Cathedral of the Nativity is the biggest in the Middle East; the highest tower in Africa is being built by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) in the business district.
5The design of the New Capital was entrusted to a group of mainly Egyptian architects, the Urban Design Consortium (UDC 5+), and the plans were reviewed in 2017 by a Lebanese engineering firm. Implementation of Phase 1 of the project was led by the Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD), a public company with a capital of LE6 billion shared between the armed forces (51 %) and the Ministry of Housing represented by the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA). ACUD is responsible for the majority of the land and for its auction to real estate developers whose advertising billboards dot the streets of Cairo.
6The rapidity of the road building by the army and the involvement of Chinese companies, for example in the construction of the business district and the rail link from Salam City, are noticeable features, in the absence of any broadcast detailed master plan.
Multiple questions
7One of the recurring criticisms of the project is the sum allocated to such lavish constructions when the everyday lives of the majority of citizens are led in mediocre conditions requiring urgent improvements to urban, social and healthcare infrastructure. Some concern surrounds the participation of private investors, especially foreigners, an engagement that the government is counting on. The fragility of the property market and the possible bursting of the speculative bubble are mentioned. The length of the journey to downtown Cairo and the feared cost of public transport to the New Capital, for which the infrastructure will require heavy investments, have generated some uncertainty regarding the future inhabitants: apart from the civil servants and employees of the transferred agencies, along with the staff of foreign embassies, who will the other occupants be? Are the new roads simply leading to a ghost town serving as a dormitory for the wealthiest households that own two or three residences? The sustainability of the project remains to be seen, while a gas power station has already been completed on site by Siemens. The place devoted to the private car appears to be central given the spatial layout and the footprint allowed for highways, all of which foreshadow an American style town. The point of absolute water scarcity in Egypt will be reached before 2030, and thus the multiple water features and green spaces planned for what is a desert environment would hardly appear viable even in the medium term. Water supply is supposed to be provided by two canals running from the Nile (for the green corridor), by non-renewable underground aquifers, and by desalinated water pumped in from Ain Sukhna and Suez. It is, indeed, a bold scenario.
4.15 Site of the New Capital and the official plan of Phase 1

Auteur
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Hala Bayoumi
Hala Bayoumi, CNRS research engineer in mathematics applied to humanities and social sciences. She has been head of the Digital Humanities Unit at Centre for Economic, Legal and Social Studies and Documentation (CEDEJ) since 2007 and was awarded the CNRS Crystal Medal in 2017
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