Egypt announced plans to build new Capital East of Cairo

Egypt announced plans to build new Capital East of Cairo

Egypt announced plans to build a new capital east of Cairo, in a massive new project that in its first phase would cost $45bn and take up to seven years to complete.

Fed up with pollution, traffic gridlock, a packed population with soaring rents and creaking infrastructure, Egypt is teaming up with a developer in the United Arab Emirates to build a city in what could be one of the world's most ambitious infrastructure programs.

The New Capital of which name is yet to be announced, will spread out over 150 square miles, or 700 square kilometres in size or roughly the size of Denver, and could be home to 7 million people, Housing Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced the plan on Friday at the opening of the three-day international economic conference held in Sharm el-Sheikh and attended by hundreds of business executives and world leaders.

The aim, he said, is to alleviate congestion and overpopulation in Cairo over the next 40 years. By that time, Cairo - currently home to about 18 million - would have doubled in size. The first phase of the ambitious programme, Madbouly said, is an expansion of the current outskirts of the capital to the east, adding an additional 105 km of development.

Eventually the new capital would expand to , much of it green spaces, linking up with the Suez Canal zone, the minister said, calling the project a source of "pride and inspiration" to young Egyptians. It would house up to nearly seven million people in 25 residential districts.

In the new Capital of Egypt, in addition to the new embassies and government buildings, it plans to have an international airport bigger than Heathrow, solar energy farms, 40,000 hotel rooms, nearly 2,000 schools and 18 hospitals -- all linked together by over 6,000 miles of new roads as well as universities. The new Capital of Egypt would be a new administrative centre who name also yet to be announced.

Egypt plans to build new Capital East of Cairo is backed by a group that describes itself as "a private real estate investment fund by global investors focused on investment and development partnerships" led by Emirati developer Mohamed Alabbar. Alabbar made his name as the founder of Dubai's Emaar Properties, primarily known for developing the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.