Egypt to construct 20 fourth-generation cities

CAIRO – 10 September 2018: The Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development will construct 20 fourth-generation cities with a total area of 580,000 feddans to accommodate 30 million citizens and provide job opportunities, announced Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Monday.

Madbouly remarked that President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi pays great attention to the fourth-generation cities to provide a better life to Egyptians, face rapid population growth and offer housing, investment and job opportunities.

He further explained that the 20 new cities are distributed across Egypt;they includethe New Administrative Capital and South of New Cairo in Cairo; new 6th of October City, October Gardens, extension of Sheikh Zayed, New Sphinx, new Al-Warraq in Giza; El-Obour City, El-Qalyubia Governorate; New Alamein city in Marsa Matrouh; new Mansoura City in Dakahlia Governorate; extension of New Nubaria in Behaira Governorate; East Port Said “Salam” in Western Port Said; new Bir al-Abd inNorthern Sinai; new Al-Fashn in BeniSuef; new Mallawi in Minya Governorate; Western Assiut; Western Qena; New Luxor; and Toshka in Aswan.

The Egyptian population has surpassed 100 million, the Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced on April 5, 2017,according to Al-Ahram Gate.
According to Mohamed Abdel Gelil, advisor to the head of CAPMAS, about 92.7 million are living in Egypt, while 8 million are living abroad.

At the same time, statistics issued by Population Pyramid in 2017 referred that Egypt’s population is predicted to reach more than 200 million by 2100.

Hence, Egypt is keen to build new cities and housing units to accommodate the increasing number of Egyptians and to launch family planning campaigns such as “Two are Enough” to raise awareness of Egyptians on the risks of increasing population and reduce the birth rates, particularly in rural areas.

The New Administrative Capital

AbdulMutallab Mamdouh, vice president of the New Urban Communities Authority for Development and Urban, referred that the New Administrative Capital comes at the top of the fourth-generation cities with an area of 170,000 feddans; the city will include 20 residential areas expected to accommodate 6.5 million people and a 650 km road network.

He added that the first phase of the smart residential city with an area of 40,000 feddans offers 2,048 housing units.The Ministry of Housing launched the reservation of units through different payment methods.

The capital will include an international airport and an electric train to link it with the 10th of Ramadan and El-Salam cities.

It will comprise 1,250 mosques and churches, a 5,000-seat conference center, some 2,000 schools and colleges, over 600 medical facilities, and a park that is projected to be the world’s largest.

New Alamein City

President Sisi inaugurated the first phase of the New Alamein City on March 1 in Marsa Matrouh governorate.

The city is located on an area of 48,000 feddans (one feddan equals 1.038 acres) in El Alamein town on Egypt's Mediterranean coast and it is designed to include 5,000 housing units to accommodate more than 400,000 inhabitants.

The first phase will include the inauguration of an eco-city. New El Alamein City will also include a national university that comprises a number of applied science faculties, an opera house, a library and a museum.

New 6th of October City, South of New Cairo

Mamdouh further added that the first phase of the new 6th of October,spanning overan area of 78,000 feddans, comprises residential projects, integrated urban projects, a wholesale market, a dry port and a city for craftsmen.

October Gardens City, New Obour City and West Qena City

Sisi laid on March 1 the foundation stone of October Gardens City, New Obour City and West Qena City via video conference during the inauguration of the first phase of the new city of Alamein.

Mamdouh said that the 41,000 –feddan October Gardens City’s first phase includes the LE 400 billion October Oasis with an area of 3,000 feddans and around 50,000 housing units.

Additionally, New Obour City spreads over 2600 feddans where 26,000 housing units are being built, together with the necessary public facilities, four pre-school nurseries, two primary schools, one secondary school, one language school, three medical centers, 13 shopping centers, a bakery, as well as open courtyards, a police station, a fire station and a youth center.

New Mansoura City

It is a new national project built under the supervision of the Egyptian government with a total space of 5,104 acres. The first phase is already accomplished and built on 2,063 acres.

The first phase of New Mansoura City includes several projects: Sakan Masr with 4,704 units, Dar Masr with 11,000 units, a water desalination plant and a social housing project. Construction works are still proceeding, and 20 percent of Sakan Masr units are already accomplished. The first phase is expected to be finished in 18 months.

The Egyptian government gave direct instructions to construction companies so the national projects can be accomplished at the earliest time. The infrastructure facilities at New Mansoura City are slated to be finished within two weeks. The big city is setto house 680,000 people, which will alleviate the load on current cities that have become overpopulated.

The city will comprise tourist villages, as well as economic, average and above-average housing units, abiding by the old city’s features in terms of the buildings’ height, color, designs, roads and infrastructure.

Additional Reporting: Lolwa Reda