Egypt’s housing minister, Mostafa Madbouly has officially announced the details of the new ‘capital city’ project in Egypt during his presentation at the Economic Development conference in Sharm el-Sheikh

Last month, MEED reported that Abu Dhabi-based Eagle Hills is preparing to unveil a major real estate development that will serve as a new capital city for Egypt.

It is now understood that the project will be developed through a new venture founded by Eagle Hills board member and chairman of UAE’s Emaar Properties Mohammed Alabbar, called Capital City Partners.

New hub

The new city, which will be spread across an area of 700 square kilometres, is expected to have a population of 5 million people and create 1.7 million jobs.

“Cairo’s population is set to double in the next 40 years, therefore it is essential that the country develops a new city,” said Madbouly. “The city will be developed under new construction regulations and will fall under the umbrella of sustainability.”

Madbouly also confirmed that a new airport would be built, along with an extensive road network that connects Suez city with Cairo.

The new city will be built 45km east of Cairo and 80km from Suez.

According to newly created websited dedicated to the project, the development will comprise:

• 40,000 hotel rooms
• 16 square kilometres of airport space
• 490 square kilometres of land for development
• 21 residential districts
• 91 square kilometres of energy farms
• 5.5 square kilometres of business districts

It is understood that the project will be developed entirely through foreign funding, with the first phase expected to cost up to $45bn