what your lavish new capital will look like

A monorail will pass through the financial district, dominated by a 385-meter-high central tower that is nearing completion. Beyond, the silhouette of a park 10 kilometers long, at the bottom of which stands out a huge mosque.

The city, known simply as the new administrative capital, was designed to operate with smart technology in virgin land, far from the pollution and chaos of Cairo. It will also have its own university headquarters, entertainment venues and a diplomatic quarter.

But the progress of the work has been marked by ups and downs, and when funding from the United Arab Emirates proved insufficient in 2015, the Egyptian military and government took back the $ 25 billion of the estimated cost. of the first phase. ., with direct investments outside the budget.

Some international credits and funds have also been guaranteed.

The coronavirus pandemic has also delayed work, and when the government steps in, not even the first of the three planned phases, which will cover 168 square kilometers, will be completed.

“All phase 1 projects have a completion rate of over 60%,” said Khaled el-Husseiny, a spokesperson for the new Egyptian capital.

The official added that the delayed move of officials will begin in July, ahead of the city’s official inauguration, which is scheduled for the end of the year.

The latest technology

There will be a center for electronic surveillance of infrastructure and urban security, the roofs will be covered with solar panels, absolutely all payments will be electronic – without circulation of cash -, and the city guarantees 15 square meters of green space per permanent resident.

“In this new city, we are trying to solve all the known problems of the past,” says Husseiny.

The finished city is expected to be home to at least 6 million people, and the second and third phases are mostly residential developments.

It will take decades for the project to be completed, although the government will have the full operational capacity of its new headquarters while work continues, said Amr Khattab, spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, responsible for implementation. residential areas of the city.

What no one knows is how long it will take Egypt’s center of gravity to travel from Cairo to the awe-inspiring new capital in the middle of the desert, 45 kilometers from the abundant Nile. So far, thousands of residential units are empty. the path. along the entrance road to the city.

Completion of the financial district, which has yet to be touted, is slated for 2023.

The construction of the electric train line and the monorail is already underway. The first 50,000 civil servants who will start working here during the summer will benefit from a free bus service.

According to Khattab, 5,000 of the 20,000 homes in the first residential area have already been sold and will be delivered in May.

On Monday, the Al-Sisi government announced $ 96 million in incentives for officials chosen for the transfer.

Sale of land

Officials say that later the city will include social housing and begin to finance itself through the sale of land, although it is not known how much income they have generated so far through this route.

Of the $ 25 billion in the first phase, about $ 3 billion is spent in the government district, Husseiny says.

El funcionario agrega que el gobierno obtuvo algo de financiamiento internacional para el tendido railway, y un prestamo chino of 3000 million dólares that ayudó a financiar el distrito comercial, construido por la Corporación de Ingeniería de Construcción del Estado de China, la constructora más of the world.

Al-Sisi has embarked on multiple infrastructure megaprojects and national development programs, and is making it clear that he does not intend to neglect the rest of the regions.

“We are not leaving Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said or the other provinces. We move forward together with the old and the newThe president said last week, adding that the inauguration of the capital will mark “The birth of a new state”.

While the government’s argument that the new capital can reduce congestion in Cairo is supported, it he fears that the new city will be inaccessible and inaccessible to many.

“There will be those who can live there, and those who cannot,” said Alaa Ibrahim, a 39-year-old electrician from the Imbaba district, a popular district of Cairo.

By Aidan Lewis and Mohamed Abdellah, from Reuters