Egypt's New Capital

[rowan]

I only first heard of this recently, but Egypt is building a brand new capital city out in the desert! Cairo has been the capital for almost 850 years, but with a current population of 10 million (metropolitan area 20 million), it has serious problems with crowding, pollution and rising house prices, and the El Sisi dictatorship has decided to replace it.

The project began in March last year and entails the construction of a 700 square kilometer city to accommodate a population of five million, with 210 kilometers of roads and 1000 mosques. The total cost is projected to be in the region of 45 billion dollars, and this is being funded largely by Chinese developers.

Incidentally, Egypt has attempted to build satellite towns around Cairo in the past but these were mostly unsuccessful and have basically turned into ghost towns, with all kinds of incentives failing to attract citizens to live there. Of course, a capital city will be different with many government personnel having no other option. I wonder what they'll call it? "Nasser" would be a popular choice, I imagine, though that seems unlikely. "Egypt City" or "Sahara City?"

It's not the first time something like this has been done in the world either, with Brasilia's construction in the central highlands in 1960 being one of the better-known examples. Canberra was also a purpose built capital, I believe, though that's going back over a century ago.

[rowan]

I spent a week in Cairo about a decade ago actually, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Visited the Pyramids on camel-back, did the Nile cruise, watched belly dancing, visited the museums and bazaars, made a day-drip to Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast by train. Usual stuff. Thoroughly enjoyed it

[Adder]

Looks more like a " Louis XIVth move to Versailles" type of project. Cairo is a bit rebellious at the moment...

[zer0]

Looks more like a " Louis XIVth move to Versailles" type of project. Cairo is a bit rebellious at the moment...

Only with toilets...

[Adder]

Looks more like a " Louis XIVth move to Versailles" type of project. Cairo is a bit rebellious at the moment...

Only with toilets...

A nice set of curtains should do the trick...

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk

[rowan]

I'm just wondering why they thought the middle of the desert would be a good location. I know Phoenix, Arizona is an example of how well that can work out. It's built totally on air-con and as far as I know is still the fastest growing metropolitan area state-side. But Egypt has a lot of empty coast-line, both on the Med and the Red seas. Surely that's where you'd want to built a new city. Throw in a few miles of sandy beaches and you'll have tourists flocking in from European in their droves

[Sandydragon]

I'm just wondering why they thought the middle of the desert would be a good location. I know Phoenix, Arizona is an example of how well that can work out. It's built totally on air-con and as far as I know is still the fastest growing metropolitan area state-side. But Egypt has a lot of empty coast-line, both on the Med and the Red seas. Surely that's where you'd want to built a new city. Throw in a few miles of sandy beaches and you'll have tourists flocking in from European in their droves

Maybe it's purely Sen as administrative. Let's the tourists visit Cairo and the other key attractions and the capital can just be for government. Not sure I agree with that myself.

[rowan]

I'm just wondering why they thought the middle of the desert would be a good location. I know Phoenix, Arizona is an example of how well that can work out. It's built totally on air-con and as far as I know is still the fastest growing metropolitan area state-side. But Egypt has a lot of empty coast-line, both on the Med and the Red seas. Surely that's where you'd want to built a new city. Throw in a few miles of sandy beaches and you'll have tourists flocking in from European in their droves

Maybe it's purely Sen as administrative. Let's the tourists visit Cairo and the other key attractions and the capital can just be for government. Not sure I agree with that myself.

Yeh, you're right. Brasilia, Canberra and others were all chosen for their more 'central' locations, and undoubtedly that's the rationale here.

[Adder]

Looks like they are wanting lots of Skyscrapers. Its most certainly easier to build from Scratch than over Cairo. Its to be located halfway between Cairo and Suez city.

Sent from my SM-J500FN using Tapatalk

[rowan]

Its to be located halfway between Cairo and Suez city.


Oh, that's not exactly way out in the desert then. In fact, that could easily turn into one of those massive metropolitan agglomerations like Tokyo-Yokahama, BosNyWash, China's Pearl River Delta & Germany's Rhine-Ruhr. Give it a few decades, Cairo-'New Capital'-Suez City might all become one contininuous urban sprawl...

[Adder]

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/09/afric ... w-capital/

Egypt's new capital city moved a step closer to reality with the announcement that Chinese developers will largely fund the megaproject.

The China Fortune Land Development Company (CFLD) agreed to provide $20 billion for the currently unnamed city, after a meeting between heads of the firm and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.
This follows a previous commitment of $15 billion from another Chinese state-owned company, bringing the project close to its $45 billion budget requirements for phase I.
Plans for the new capital were first announced in March 2015. Government officials described the development as a solution to crowding, pollution and rising house prices in Cairo.
"Cairo Capital is a momentous endeavor to build national spirit, foster consensus, provide for long-term sustainable growth," said the project website. "The new city will create more places to live, work and visit."
The 700 square kilometer city to be constructed in the desert to the East of Cairo would become the new seat of government, and it is presented as a far grander vision than the current capital.
Proposals for the city include housing for five million people, over 1,000 mosques, smart villages, industrial zones, a 5,000-seat conference center, and the world's largest park.
Interest in the project has been brisk. An Indian company is reportedly planning a vast medical center and university, while a Saudi firm intends to build a 12.6 hectare mosque and Islamic museum.
Construction is already under way. According to Egypt's Al-Ahram newspaper, engineers have begun work on infrastructure including bridges and 210 kilometers of roads.
The first phase of the project will see government ministries and residential blocks rise from the sand. This phase could be complete within five years, with the first residents moving in.
Ghost town?
Despite the optimism from officials, there are concerns that the project will encounter familiar problems. Egypt has already constructed several satellite towns around Cairo, which have registered low occupancy despite high investment.
Abandoned architectural marvels in China's largest ghost town
Spectacular architecture in China's largest ghost town
"The needs of Cairo should be met by the existing eight new towns around it," says David Sims, an urban planner and author based in the Cairo. "But people call them ghost towns."
The satellites repeated the same mistakes, says Sims, which are also likely to affect the new capital.
"The new towns produced housing that is unaffordable, unobtainable and inaccessible for the majority of Cairo's inhabitants," says Sims. "The new towns were built with a high modernist approach that did not allow the informal enterprises and activities that most Egyptians rely on."
A street of individually owned villas and apartment blocks rises from the sand in New Cairo, one of the new satellite 'ghost towns.'
A street of individually owned villas and apartment blocks rises from the sand in New Cairo, one of the new satellite 'ghost towns.'
Learning lessons
Egypt has a fundamentally misguided approach to development planning, according to architect and planner and Kareem Ibrahim of the NGO Tadamun.
"We have a chronic problem with the urban government of existing cities, and no matter how many cities you build you are not solving this problem," he says.
Ibrahim's research found that around 50% of Cairo neighborhoods lacked access to sewage services, while public services were failing, and municipal councils were operating with as little as $4 per capita per year.
"The levels of deprivation were shocking," says Ibrahim. "The investment should be going towards providing equal rights to public services and utilities. Let's think about how to develop better governing structure for the cities we have, and then build new cities."

[morepork]

"Building national spirit" through outsourcing infrastructure. Should be smooth sailing....

[rowan]

I think they're the second biggest recipient of US aid behind Israel since installing a (pro-Israel) dictatorship to keep the Muslims (and democracy) at bay, once again. Surely they could have thrown some of that money at it...

[Mellsblue]

Keeping Muslims at bay with 'over 1000 mosques'.

[rowan]

Keeping them at bay in the political arena, Einstein. That's clear from context.

In fact, I've come to realize that mosques are actually part of that process, just like the church plays a role in controlling the masses in the West, and was invented for precisely that reason.

[Mellsblue]

Were he alive, Einstein would be delighted.

Mosques and their Imams are well known for their conformity. Nothing like a good conspiracy theory, though.

[rowan]

I won't start a new thread for Egyptian politics, but this is good news. Interesting times indeed:

Egypt’s Court of Cassation has overturned the death sentence pronounced against deposed President Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood and ordered a retrial.

http://www.euronews.com/2016/11/15/egyp ... rotherhood

[rowan]

Well, this sucks...

Six years after the uprising that ended his rule, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been acquitted over his alleged involvement in the killings of nearly 900 protesters in 2011. The Court of Cassation's final ruling on Thursday could see Mubarak walk free.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/03/h ... 23669.html

[Lord Lucan]

I only first heard of this recently, but Egypt is building a brand new capital city out in the desert! Cairo has been the capital for almost 850 years, but with a current population of 10 million (metropolitan area 20 million), it has serious problems with crowding, pollution and rising house prices, and the El Sisi dictatorship has decided to replace it.

The project began in March last year and entails the construction of a 700 square kilometer city to accommodate a population of five million, with 210 kilometers of roads and 1000 mosques. The total cost is projected to be in the region of 45 billion dollars, and this is being funded largely by Chinese developers.

Incidentally, Egypt has attempted to build satellite towns around Cairo in the past but these were mostly unsuccessful and have basically turned into ghost towns, with all kinds of incentives failing to attract citizens to live there. Of course, a capital city will be different with many government personnel having no other option. I wonder what they'll call it? "Nasser" would be a popular choice, I imagine, though that seems unlikely. "Egypt City" or "Sahara City?"

It's not the first time something like this has been done in the world either, with Brasilia's construction in the central highlands in 1960 being one of the better-known examples. Canberra was also a purpose built capital, I believe, though that's going back over a century ago.

How about Hamunaptra, and why pray tell are the Chinese funding it?

[morepork]

I only first heard of this recently, but Egypt is building a brand new capital city out in the desert! Cairo has been the capital for almost 850 years, but with a current population of 10 million (metropolitan area 20 million), it has serious problems with crowding, pollution and rising house prices, and the El Sisi dictatorship has decided to replace it.

The project began in March last year and entails the construction of a 700 square kilometer city to accommodate a population of five million, with 210 kilometers of roads and 1000 mosques. The total cost is projected to be in the region of 45 billion dollars, and this is being funded largely by Chinese developers.

Incidentally, Egypt has attempted to build satellite towns around Cairo in the past but these were mostly unsuccessful and have basically turned into ghost towns, with all kinds of incentives failing to attract citizens to live there. Of course, a capital city will be different with many government personnel having no other option. I wonder what they'll call it? "Nasser" would be a popular choice, I imagine, though that seems unlikely. "Egypt City" or "Sahara City?"

It's not the first time something like this has been done in the world either, with Brasilia's construction in the central highlands in 1960 being one of the better-known examples. Canberra was also a purpose built capital, I believe, though that's going back over a century ago.

How about Hamunaptra, and why pray tell are the Chinese funding it?

In order to take jobs from angry white people.

[rowan]

I only first heard of this recently, but Egypt is building a brand new capital city out in the desert! Cairo has been the capital for almost 850 years, but with a current population of 10 million (metropolitan area 20 million), it has serious problems with crowding, pollution and rising house prices, and the El Sisi dictatorship has decided to replace it.

The project began in March last year and entails the construction of a 700 square kilometer city to accommodate a population of five million, with 210 kilometers of roads and 1000 mosques. The total cost is projected to be in the region of 45 billion dollars, and this is being funded largely by Chinese developers.

Incidentally, Egypt has attempted to build satellite towns around Cairo in the past but these were mostly unsuccessful and have basically turned into ghost towns, with all kinds of incentives failing to attract citizens to live there. Of course, a capital city will be different with many government personnel having no other option. I wonder what they'll call it? "Nasser" would be a popular choice, I imagine, though that seems unlikely. "Egypt City" or "Sahara City?"

It's not the first time something like this has been done in the world either, with Brasilia's construction in the central highlands in 1960 being one of the better-known examples. Canberra was also a purpose built capital, I believe, though that's going back over a century ago.

How about Hamunaptra, and why pray tell are the Chinese funding it?

In order to take jobs from angry white people.

Hamunaptra? I had to do a google search on that. Not sure the setting for a D-grade Hollywood film would be entirely appropriate. El Sisi might even name it after himself - Sisi City

As for the funding, as the second biggest recipient of US aid, behind Israel, right now you'd think they might just have been able to do it themselves. But since they're probably spending that money on weapons and mansions and stuff, no reason why the Chinese shouldn't be funding it...

[rowan]

Mubarak release . . .

At least one person has died and three more have been injured after an explosion in a suburb of the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

The incident in Maadi on Friday morning occurred around the same time deposed former President Hosni Mubarak left Maadi Military Hospital, where he had been detained, after six years behind bars.

Security services said that the cause of the blast was not immediately known. No claim of responsibility has been made.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 47366.html