1st Quality of life Conference – El Gouna – Egypt – November 2017 THE NEW ADMINSTRATIVE CAPITAL OF EGYPT A CRITICAL REVIEW FROM THE REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE Yehya M. Serag Associate Professor – Architectural Engineering Department – Faculty of Engineering and Technology - Future University in Egypt On Sabbatical leave from the Urban Planning and Design Department- Faculty of Engineering – Ain Shams University Background and Problem identification The current agglomeration of the Greater Cairo Region forms a megalopolis of roughly 20 Million people, that is composed of the older districts of the GCR as well as the fusion of some of the new cities and settlements that emerged around the old agglomeration. Source: AlMatarneh, 2012 Background and Problem identification In 2015, the intention to build a new capital was revealed to divert the population away from Cairo, and already in 2017 the construction works are underway, with a chosen location of about 45 kilometers East of Cairo. Such a decision had sparked a debate within the planning and even public domains that can only be described as controversial, either in favor or against the project. Source: http://www.constructionweekonline.com This paper attempts to critically analyze the project of the new administrative capital from the perspectives of regional development and planning as well as the impacts of politics on the decision to proceed with the project. Methodology As a working methodology: - A brief article was written about the different point of views regarding the project and was circulated through the online social media to stimulate a better discussion and critical dialogue on the issue itself, which indeed received several critical comments that are reviewed in this paper. - In addition to that several face to face discussions were conducted with experts related to the planning domain individually or in groups, to give a wider discussion on the issue. - Review of what has been covered by the Media following the announcement of the project - Literature review on the past attempts of having a new capital in Egypt and cases from other countries. Historical attempts of relocating the Egyptian Capital The location of the Egyptian capital had changed throughout history starting from the ancient Egyptian times with first recorded capital before 2950 BC being Thinis. The location of the Egyptian capital was moved several times (approximately 28 times) throughout history until it settled in Cairo in 969 A.D. The reasons for the relocations included political reasons as well as Ideological reasons, such as the case with Aketaton ( Tel EL Amarna) city. This city was introduced in Middle Egypt by Pharaoh Akhenaton who abandoned polytheism and introduced the monotheism and needed a new capital in order not to clash with the strong influences of the ancient religion in the former Egyptian capitals in the North and South.. Akhenaton Recent attempts for relocating the Capital An attempt was made in the second half of the 1970s Sadat decided to build a new capital in the desert in 1978 located 96 kilometers North West of Cairo. The idea at that time was to relocate all government institutions to the new city, hence encouraging a considerable population to relocate to the new capital especially with the introduction of a tangible industrial economic base. - The city was intended to be the new administrative capital of Egypt. Sadat city in its present situation - It witnessed the relocation of some ministries such as the Ministry of Housing which was located there for 8 months. - The idea was then totally abandoned after Sadat’s assassination in 1981, and the city had a limited growth in population that reached roughly 150000 inhabitants. The New Capital Cairo Project Location of the New administrative capital in relation to Cairo city, Suez city and the settlements to the East of Cairo. Source: 5+ UDC The New Capital Cairo Project - It is located 45 Km away from Cairo after the second regional ring road of Cairo between the regional roads of Cairo – Suez and Cairo Ain Shokna. It is located 60 Km from Suez city. - It will host 7 million inhabitants on an area of 700 Km2. - The new capital will include districts to host the governmental institutions and ministries as well as a district for the diplomatic representation of the different embassies. - A financial and business center is planned with several administrative and office buildings for different firms and companies. Other areas of the city host universities, sports facilities and a football stadium as well as exhibitions and international hotel chains. The estimated total cost for the construction of the New Capital reaches 46 billion USD. The project will provide 1.5 million job opportunities. The New Capital Cairo Project Different opinions based on three lines of thoughts emerged among the planning and development society. The first Line of Thought: Totally with the project: If it worked in Dubai it can work in Cairo The first Line of Thought: Totally with the project: If it worked in Dubai it can work in Cairo Those who encourage the project argue that: - Having a new “Dubai like” capital will be a strong pole and magnet for foreign and domestic investments. Mostly because of the image that Dubai succeeded in creating over forty years, with a remarkable breakthrough in the last 10 years. Many people in the Arab World look to Dubai as a symbol of success, hence, would accept and work for its replication - During the economic conference that was held in Sharm El Sheikh in 2015, the model for the new city showed a very similar Dubai model of Cairo. - The location of the new Capital brings it closer to the Suez Canal specially after doubling the canal path which was completed in August 2015, and the vast possibilities for investments along the Suez Canal corridor that were announced. With thousands of jobs that are expected to be created the new administrative capital will help in attracting population away from Cairo The model of the New Capital as displayed in the International economic conference. Suez Canal Corridor in relation to the new administrative capital The first Line of Thought: Totally with the project: If it worked in Dubai it can work in Cairo Many argue that the process of moving the capital is not new. There had been several cases of moving the capitals in the 20th century with varying degrees of success. The case of the Brazilian capital is considered a successful case, since the original capital Rio de Janeiro was considered overcrowded and located far away from most regions of the country. The location of the then new capital Brasilia was chosen in the interior of Brazil to cause the development of several marginalized regions with the new The case of therapid Brazilian capital is considered a capital witnessing growth after its construction in the successful case, since the original capital Rio de Janeiro late 1950s and early 1960s. was considered overcrowded and located far away from most regions of the country. The location of the then new capital Brasilia was chosen in the interior of Brazil (1200 Km away from the old capital) to cause the development of several marginalized regions. The city of Putrajaya, became the administrative capital of Malaysia since 1999. The main aim of doing so is to decongest Kuala Lumpur, which is a highly overcrowded city, by moving the governmental institutions to the new administrative capital (located almost 34 Km away from the old capital), which is a similar case to the intended new administrative capital in Egypt. The Second Line of Thought: T here is a need for a new Capital but not next door to Cairo The second Line of Thought: There is a need for a new Capital but not next door to Cairo Several planners and urban developers, consider that a new capital should be developed to act as a new dynamic growth center that stimulates development and attracts investments, activities and people, yet towards either an underpopulated region of the country or towards a region that suffers from regional inequalities and disparities. Such strategies tend to deconcentrate the population and divert them away from the congested centers. - Many fear that the New Capital will simply fuse with the existing agglomeration, as was the case with the earlier attempts that introduced the concept of satellite cities to Greater Cairo region and ending up with some of them almost fusing with the old agglomeration as it is only 45 km away from Cairo. - Construction at the chosen location might guide the urban sprawl slowly towards the East in the desert, hence, forming a mega agglomeration in that location, fusing Cairo with Suez. - Some experts argue that a proper location for a new capital should be at least 500 Km from the current one should be chosen. For example a suggested location for the capital could be chosen in the Menya valley in Middle Egypt, (close to the location of Tel el Amarana). Source: http://www.constructionweekonline.com The second Line of Thought: There is a need for a new Capital but not next door to Cairo Another dimension related to National Defense, some experts are concerned with the national security dimension in terms of a possible nuclear foreign assault coming from the East. Accordingly , smaller population dispersal on smaller and separated settlements is more appropriate, similar to the doctrine adopted during the cold war. This is of course the total opposite to the population concentration patterns expected in the New Capital and its possible fusion with Cairo and Suez. In terms of infrastructure networks, some experts consider that building the New Capital at this location, will first affect the water supply in relation to other settlements surrounding the existing Cairo agglomeration, and second, the water supply networks to the New Capital itself will be questionable in terms of the funds needed to construct them, and the amount of water that should be allocated to the new Capital in the said location. The Third Line of Thought: T here is a need to address regional disparities not to build a new capital The Third Line of Thought: There is a need to address regional disparities, not to build a new capital This line opposes the idea of building a new capital in present time. The experts adopting this opinion build their argument on the importance of first addressing the stark regional disparities between the different provinces in Egypt as well as the pressing need for providing the basic needs and improving the quality of life equally among the Egyptian population. - The poverty statistics that were revealed for the year (2012/2013) showed striking variations of the percentage of poor people in the Egyptian provinces. It is noticed that the highest percentage of poor people was recorded in the provinces of the south of Egypt. This resulted in an increase in the inter migration patterns in Egypt, where most of these migrations are in the form of rural to urban migrations, and of course inter-urban migration with Cairo being the preferable destination. These patterns have been escalating over the last few decades, with several alarming reports since the 1990s. The Third Line of Thought: There is a need to address regional disparities, not to build a new capital - It is important to ensure the distribution of investments and services among all the Egyptian provinces in a just and fair way, this should be also coupled with providing incentives and job opportunities in other regions to pull some of the job seeking population away from Cairo. - Supporters of the third line believe that instead of investing 46 Billion USD in building the new capital, such investment should be pumped to alleviate the regional disparities throughout Egypt, by providing services, job opportunities and strategic projects to enhance the quality of life and provide decent living standards in the migration origins in the country. Concluding Remarks "Is this adequate for the present situation in Egypt?“ This was the question raised in this discussion concerning the construction of the New Administrative Capital. Three lines of thought were discussed: 1) totally in favor of constructing the New Administrative city eyeing Dubai as the role model and hoping that soon , this new mega project will cause a frog leap in the economic development of Egypt. 2) the second opinion approves the concept of having a new capital to make a discharge of the population currently concentrated in Cairo, however, objecting the choice of its location, which will fuse it with existing cities of Cairo and Suez. 3) the third opinion totally rejects the idea and arguing that the amount of investments being pumped in this mega project, could have made significant improvement in terms of alleviating regional disparities by introducing strategic development projects throughout Egypt. Despite such discussion, the project is currently under construction. At the same time it might be difficult to know which opinion is valid, or whether the new administrative capital will achieve its goals, as it usually takes decades to be able to judge on the success or failure of an urban development project, especially if it is building a new capital. In other international cases such as the case of Brasilia it took several decades before concluding on the success or failure of the city. It seems that this will also be the case with the NEW ADMINSTRATIVE CAPITAL of Egypt. Your listening was Much Appreciated!
