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Cairo is bursting at the seams.

With a population density of 15,000 people per square kilometer, the megacity on the Nile is one of the most densely populated cities in the world.

More people live in the city center alone than in Switzerland – 9.5 million inhabitants in an area of ​​606 square kilometers.

About one-fifth of Egypt’s population is housed in the entire metropolitan area – about 19.3 million people in total.

Life in Cairo pushes people to the limit of nervous tension. Cars and people throng the streets every day, suffocating with traffic. The noise roars into the winding streets, where rubbish and rubbish are piled up in pyramids. There is no efficient waste collection system and the particulate matter load exceeds the critical limit value every year. The list of problems extends to Nut – the Egyptian goddess of the sky.

Cairo’s population has grown disproportionately since the 1960s. Then there were still 3.5 million people, in 2050 there should be 24 million.

And despite this disaster, the city’s octopus continues to spread.

Life on the rooftops of Cairo

Numerous urban areas are already growing daily, not only in width, but also in height. In the slums, families are putting their houses on the roofs because of a lack of affordable housing. Or because the city’s numerous dilapidated settlements, which lie in the swampy banks not far from the Nile, are on the verge of collapse.

A kind of city rises above the city.

Too many people, too little space – Cairo has had its day as a capital.

That is what President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi must have thought when he announced in 2015 that he wanted to build a new administrative city from scratch. It was to be a city of superlatives – with the tallest skyscrapers in the country and one of the largest mosques in the world. Entirely based on the models in the Persian Gulf.

Al-Sisi justified his plan on state television:

Since the announcement, there has been a gigantic construction site in the middle of the desert, 35 kilometers east of Cairo.

City of superlatives

6.5 million people are expected to live in the future capital of Cairo, which will be about the size of Singapore. 50,000 new jobs are to be created there.

There are plans for 1.1 million (luxury) apartments, 2,000 schools, 600 hospitals, 1,200 mosques, six universities, an artificial river and an international airport. In addition, there will be an amusement park that should be four times the size of Disneyland, a park that should be twice the size of New York’s Central Park and a tower (Iconic Tower) that will exceed Dubai’s skyscraper Burj Khalifa by more than 120 meters. meters and to become the tallest building in the world.

On top of that.

Further up from the ground, a crystal pyramid (Diamond Tower) is being built, which should not be as high as the Iconic Tower, but is still the tallest building in Africa. Even al-Sisi himself will one day move to the capital and a palace will be built for him.

That’s the plan. A number of residential buildings have now been completed, including the government building. From January, 500 government employees will move into the high-rise complex, the size of which cannot be compared to any other government building in the region.

One of the world’s largest mosques, the Al-Fattah Al-Aleem Mosque has not remained just a mirage. In 2019, the president inaugurated the largest mosque in the country with an area of ​​450,000 square meters.

For everyone else, the gates at the gates of Cairo will gradually open from 2023.

What the city still lacks: a name.

In 2019, the population could submit proposals. Under three conditions: The name must express Egyptian identity, consist of only two words and must not refer to politics or religion. So far, the government has not released a name.

The dry Nile would provide the city with water

Sustainability and safety are also on the agenda for the construction project. In the future, the buildings may only use the energy they generate themselves via photovoltaic cells and wind turbines. In addition, the city must be free of crime – a city-wide surveillance system must ensure that.

But the reality is a bit different when it comes to sustainability.

Egypt is already experiencing water shortages. The country is completely dependent on the water of the Nile. The body of water covers 97 percent of Egypt’s water consumption. The situation is exacerbated by increasing demand from the rapidly growing population, climate change and the commissioning of the Ethiopian GERD dam. Water will also be pumped up from the already depleted Nile for the mega project. The water must reach the city via a newly constructed river.

New city – not without ulterior motives

Like other megacities that have sprung up out of nowhere, the Egyptian government wants…surprise…among other things to bring a major sporting event to the country – or to the new capital. The land of the pharaohs wants to be the first African country to host the 2036 Olympic Games.

Appropriate stadiums, Olympic swimming pools, tennis courts and other sports facilities are planned.

Financed by China

But with the new city, Egypt does not only want to secure the sporting event. The future capital is part of the “Egypt Vision 2030” project, which aims to promote Egypt’s economic development. The cost of the new capital is estimated at $59 billion. The project is mainly financed by loans that critics see as rather opaque.

China is one of the biggest sponsors. Because: the geographical location of the capital is not unimportant for China. The capital is not far from the Suez Canal, one of the most important waterways in the world, connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and rescuing ships between the North Atlantic and the Indian Ocean on their way around Africa.

The Middle Kingdom lent the country a $3 billion loan. China’s largest construction company, China State Construction Engineering, took on the construction work. For another $1.2 billion, China financed the monorail that connects Cairo to the new administrative city.

The collaboration took place as part of the “Belt and Road” (New Silk Road) initiative, a strategy initiated by China aimed at connecting Asia to Africa and Europe through land and sea networks. The Suez Canal is also part of the Silk Road.

city ​​for the rich

And who will live there later? This has not yet been communicated. One thing is certain: the apartments are offered at very high prices. A two-bedroom apartment costs an average of $50,000 in a country where a third of the population lives in poverty.

Egyptian political scientist Maged Mandour, who writes about affairs in the Arab world with a particular focus on social change in the Middle East, told the New York Times:

The new city must one day become a symbol of the economic boom. A city of superlatives. It is quite possible that it will also become another symbol of the gap between rich and poor in Egypt.