Global geography textbooks need to be changed: Egypt moves capital into "desert new city"

Cairo, a city on the Banks of the Nile, has been the center of power in Egypt for more than 1,000 years, and now that is beginning to change.

In the desert, 45 kilometres east of Cairo, a new city is being erected, the new administrative capital of Egypt. The Egyptian government recently said that the Egyptian government held its first cabinet meeting in Xindu on December 23.

Zhao Jun, an associate professor at the Middle East Research Institute of Shanghai Chinese University, who has long been engaged in Egyptian studies, told the first financial reporter that this move has a strong symbolic significance and tells the world that Egypt's new administrative capital has begun to operate. But he also pointed out that the main body of the Egyptian government is still in Cairo, and it will take several years for various departments to move from Cairo to the new capital.

The Egyptian presidential palace issued a statement in early November saying the Egyptian government would move to the new capital from December and conduct a six-month trial run. At present, some Egyptian ministry staff have been stationed in the office building of Xindu.

The "capital" that does not yet have a name

Egyptian Prime Minister Madbuli said at the cabinet meeting on the 23rd that the government's move to the new administrative capital is not only a change in office locations, but also means that Egypt will further enhance its government governance capabilities, improve the level of digital services, and steadily move towards a better future in the face of many challenges. The Egyptian government expects to move all government departments to the new administrative capital by the end of 2022.

It seems that the new capital has begun to take shape, but Egypt has not yet come up with a suitable name for it, and it is still being collected. In late October, the Egyptian government announced online that a contest for the new administrative capital would be held, with the winner receiving a cash prize. According to sources, the winner who proposes the best name of the new capital will receive a prize of 50,000 Egyptian pounds (about 20,300 yuan).

In 2015, the Egyptian government began planning a new administrative capital in the desert east of Cairo, covering an area of about 700 square kilometers. The Egyptian government said the project is part of Egypt's Vision 2030, which aims to improve the quality of life of citizens, expand urban areas and address the rapid population growth of the capital.

According to the Egyptian government plan, the new administrative capital will be built in three phases: the first phase includes a government office area, a business district and a diplomatic area, of which the government office area includes 10 complexes, and the government cabinet, parliament and 34 ministries will be relocated here; the second and third phases are mainly residential areas, which are expected to accommodate more than 6.5 million residents after completion. The new administrative capital will become Egypt's new political and financial center in the future.

Zhao Jun told the first financial reporter that the government office area under construction in the first phase of the new administrative capital has been basically completed, due to the epidemic, the previous project has not progressed smoothly, and the schedule of the government moving into the new capital has been postponed repeatedly, and now it has finally begun to become a reality, adding points to Egypt's international image. As for the construction of the second and third phases, because it requires a lot of financial support, whether it can be completed as scheduled in 2030 depends on the future state of Egypt's economic development.

It is worth noting that in this century-old plan of Egypt, there is a strong Chinese element. As early as January 2016, China State Construction Corporation limited signed a contract with the Egyptian Ministry of Housing to undertake the construction of the Central Business District (CBD) project in Egypt's new administrative capital.

The project covers a total area of about 505,000 square meters, including 20 single high-rise buildings and supporting municipal works. The most notable of these is the Iconic Tower project, which has a crown of 385.8 meters and will become the tallest building in Africa when completed.

"Weight Loss" for Cairo

Cairo is densely populated and overwhelmed by urban infrastructure. This is the main reason why the Egyptian government wants to "flee" from Cairo.

Egypt's population has exploded over the past 30 years and is now increasing at a rate of 2.5 million people per year. To make matters worse, 96% of the population lives in the Nile Valley and Delta, and the capital Cairo is one of the "hardest hit areas".

The population of the greater Cairo metropolitan area is now over 22 million, which has seriously exceeded the livable cordon (8 million people) and is expected to double to a staggering 40 million by 2050.

The population surge and the blockade of the streets around government buildings and embassies in the city center have nearly blocked the city's arteries, al-Jazeera said, adding cairo to "barely function.".

In addition, due to the concentration of people, garbage accumulation in the city is not cleaned up in time, some neighborhoods do not even have sewers, and nearly 70% of urban residents live in more than 100 slums around the greater Cairo metropolitan area, which has led to the deterioration of the living environment of Cairo people.

In fact, the Egyptian government has long tried to build new cities and evacuate the population. In 1976, then-President Sadat successively launched more than 10 desert new city plans, such as Ramadan City, Sadat City, etc., but in the end these projects failed. By 2014, the total population of these cities was less than 1 million.

Egypt hopes that when the new administrative capital is completed, it will improve the living environment of the old city, free up space to improve infrastructure, and highlight its tourism, leisure and cultural attributes.

In addition, Zhao Jun also pointed out to the first financial reporter that there are political factors in the motivation of the Egyptian government to move the capital. At present, Egypt's political authorities are in the city center, and in the past events, protesters have flocked to the city center to besiege government offices, and now the administrative organs have been moved to the suburbs, which is more conducive to security.

However, not everyone is happy to move the capital at present. The transportation and time cost of shuttling between Cairo and the new administrative capital has deterred many people, including staff at embassies in Egypt.

The construction of the 50 embassies in the new administrative capital is expected to be completed by mid-2022, but many embassies now have no intention of relocating, they are not willing to spend high costs to leave Cairo, and because the supporting facilities are not yet perfect, the embassy staff living in Cairo are not willing to travel 100 kilometers a day to work in Xindu.