Egypt’s government is considering the creation of a new capital city which would be established east of Cairo, stated Egypt’s Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb in a press conference. The proposed ‘administrative capital’ would aim at transferring Ministries, government buildings and foreign embassies from down-town Cairo to the new capital. According to Prime Minister Mehleb, the new city would be established on the Suez-Cairo-Ain Sokhna road. The project will aim at reducing congestion in down-town Cairo and population density. Preliminary studies, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm, show that the project can be completed within two years at a cost of EGP 1.5 billion. However, this number has not been confirmed. The plan to build a new administrative city appears to be in line with the economic and development policies of Egypt’s new President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. Egypt’s new President is tackling development through the implementation of a plan titled ‘The Map of the Future.’ The plan, a creation by former NASA geologist Farouk El-Baz, involves building new cities, making use of more than 90 percent of Egypt’s territory that remains abandoned and constructing new roads, railroads and airports. ‘The Map of the…
