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The New Capital العاصمة الجديدة | |
|---|---|
 From top, left to right: Al-Fattah al-Aleem Mosque,Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ, view of the central business district,Green River Park & view of the government district | |
  The New Capital | |
| Coordinates:30°01′19″N31°45′18″E / 30.02194°N 31.75500°E /30.02194; 31.75500 | |
| Country |  Egypt |
| Area (as planned) | |
• City centre | 5.6 km2 (2.2 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 714 km2 (276 sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Major airports | Capital International Airport |
| Abbreviation | (TBD) |
| Website | acud |
The New Capital[1][2][3] (Arabic:العاصمة الجديدة,romanized: al-ʿĀṣima al-Gadīda) is anew urban community east ofNew Cairo inCairo Governorate,Egypt. It is asatellite city of the nation's original capital city,Cairo. As of May 2023, 14 ministries and government entities have been relocated there.[4] On 2 April 2024, presidentAbdel Fattah al-Sisi took the constitutional oath for a third consecutive term in office, officially inaugurating the New Administrative Capital as the seat of government.[5][6]
Plans for the new capital were announced by the thenEgyptianhousing ministerMostafa Madbouly at theEgypt Economic Development Conference on 13 March 2015.[7][8] The capital city is considered one of the projects for economic development, and is part of a larger initiative calledEgypt Vision 2030.[9]
Over the years attempts were made to give the city a proper name, other than the New Administrative Capital. A competition was launched on the new capital's website to choose a new name and logo for the city. A jury of specialists was formed to evaluate the proposals submitted to list and determine the best among them.[10][11] No official results were announced by theEgyptian Government. In October 2021, transportation ministerKamel al-Wazir indicated the city could be named "Wedian" (meaning "Riverbed" or "Valley"), or "Masr" (the Arabic equivalent of "Egypt").[12] Other proposed names include "Kemet", "Al Mustaqbal" and "Al Salam".[13] However, by the time it was officially inaugurated in 2024, it had remained as the New Administrative Capital. On the 8th of November 2025, the New Administrative Capital had been officially renamed as The New Capital.[14]
The new city is located 45 kilometres (28 miles) east ofCairo and just outside theRegional Ring Road, in a largely undeveloped area halfway to the seaport city ofSuez. On a total area of 700 square kilometres (270 sq mi), it is expected to house a population of 6.5 million people, though it is estimated that the figure could rise to seven million.[15][16]
The government has stated that the undertaking of the project is to relieve congestion in Cairo,[17][18] which has a metropolitan population of nearly 20 million.
The city was planned to consist of a government administrative district, a diplomatic quarter, a cultural district (opera and theatres), acentral business district (CBD), parks (the 'green river'), and 21 residential districts.[19] The NAC is being built in stages, initially over the space of 170,000feddans (714 km2/270 sq mi), which later grew to 223,383 feddans (907 km2).[20] Phase 1 (2016 – ), covering over 40,000 feddans - or less than a quarter of the land allocated for the city, holds all government, parliamentary, judicial and presidential buildings, as well as the CBD and residential districts. Plans for Phase II were mulled to start 2024,[21] but the further 40,000 feddan expansion has been delayed to 2026.[22]
Some amenities planned for the city are a central park,[23] artificial lakes,[24] around 2,000 educational institutions,[16] technology and innovation park,[7] 18 hospitals,[16] 1,250 mosques and churches,[23] a 93,440-seat stadium, 40,000 hotel rooms,[16] a major theme park four times the size ofDisneyland,[23] 90 square kilometres of solar energy farms andelectric railway link with Cairo.[17][25][26][27]
It is being built as asmart city with over 6,000 cameras monitoring the streets and along with this authorities will be usingAI to monitor water use and waste management, and residents will be able to submit complaints into a mobile app.[28][29]
It was originally planned that parliament, presidential palaces, government ministries and foreign embassies would be moved into the city between 2020 and 2022, but due to construction delays and COVID-19 the move of over 30,000 government employees was delayed to March 2023.[30][31][32] By 5 May 2023, 14 ministries and government entities had relocated to the New Administrative Capital.[33] In April 2, 2024, presidentAbdel Fattah al-Sisi's swearing in in front of Parliament for a third term in office, officially inaugurated the city as the new seat of government.[34]
It is expected to cost over US$100 million to move the government from Cairo to NAC but a full cost and timeline for the overall project has not yet been revealed.[27][35]
Feedback on former experiences of capital relocation was looked at, for instance by meeting with representatives fromAstana, which replacedAlmaty as the capital city ofKazakhstan in 1997.[36]
When the project was officially announced in March 2015, it was revealed that the Egyptian military had already begun building a road from Cairo to the site of the future capital.[7]
The proposed builder of the city was Capital City Partners, a private real estate investment firm led byEmirati businessmanMohamed Alabbar.[15]But in September 2015, Egypt cancelled thememorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with Alabbar during the March economic summit, since they did not make any progress with the proposed plans.[37]
In the same month Egypt signed a new MoU withChina State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) to "study building and financing" the administrative part of the new capital, which will include ministries, government agencies and the president's office.[38] However, CSCEC signed agreements with Egyptian authorities in 2017 to only develop the CBD.[39][40][41][42]
This left the Egyptian government to finance and manage most of the construction, setting up the Administrative Capital Urban Development Company (ACUD) on 21 April 2016, an Egyptianstate owned enterprise (SOE) whose major shareholders are theMinistry of Defense (National Service Products Organisation and the Armed Forces Land Projects Authority) holding 51% by in-kind contribution of the land, and theMinistry of Housing'sNew Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), holding 49% of the shares via capital injection ofEGP 20bn (US$2.2bn in 2016) and an authorised capital of EGP 204bn (US$22bn).[43][44][45]
ACUD manages the planning, subdivision, infrastructure construction and sale of land parcels in conjenction with the New Administrative Capital Development Authority affiliated to NUCA,[46] as the latter does with its other new towns.
State-owned construction companyArab Contractors was called for constructing the water supply and sewage lines to the new capital.[47]
In January 2019, PresidentAbdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated a large-scale mosque and a cathedral.[48]
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Al-Fattah al-Aleem is aSunni mosque with indoor and outdoor space for 17,000 worshipers, in addition to two Quran memorization houses for men and women and a library.[49]
TheIslamic Cultural Center (Grand Mosque) is the largest mosque in Africa. The mosque is built in theMamluk style and is on a hill overlooking the New Administrative Capital. It is the largest of mosque in Egypt and third largest in the Middle East.
The Nativity of Christ is aCoptic Orthodox cathedral that can accommodate more than 8,000 worshippers. It is considered the largest of its kind in Egypt and the Middle East.[48]
"The green Nile" as the Egyptians called it while it was being made.TheGreen River Park (also known as Capital Park) is an urban park planned to extend along the entirety of the new capital, representing theNile river. It is expected to be 35 kilometres (22 miles) long, aiming to be double the size of New York'sCentral Park. The initial phase of the park will be of about the first 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) and is under construction.[50][51]
The Octagon (State's Strategic Leadership Centre) is Egypt's newMinistry of Defense headquarters. The complex is considered the largest of its kind in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world, much likethe Pentagon in the United States of America.[52][53]
TheCapital International Airport is the airport for Egypt's new capital, intended to relieve pressure onCairo International Airport, servingCairo, and theSphinx International Airport, near theGiza Pyramids, servingGiza.[54][55]
A whole "city/village" built as a sports complex for the country's possible bids for international sporting events, particularly theOlympic Games and theFIFA World Cup with more than 22 sporting facilities, one of which is the fourth biggest football stadium in the world. TheMisr Stadium (also known as Sports City Stadium) opened in 2024 with a capacity of over 93,900 people; it is the largest stadium in Egypt and the second largest in Africa. The stadium is expected to replace theCairo International Stadium as the new national stadium.[56][57]
Over 30 skyscrapers are under construction, including theIconic Tower, set to be Egypt and Africa's largest skyscraper.[58]
| Rank | Name | Usage | Max height | Roof height | Floors | Started | Construction status | Total area | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Iconic Tower[66][67] | Hotel, office and residential | 393.8 m (1,292 ft) | 382.2 m (1,254 ft)[68] | 78 | 2019 | Completed | 260,000 m2 (2,798,617 sq ft)[68] | Africa's tallest building |
| 2 | New Administrative Capital Building D01[69] | Administrative and residential | 196 m (643 ft) | 49 | 2018 | 116,621 m2 (1,255,298 sq ft) | Africa's tallest residential building[69] | ||
| 3 | C01 | Office and administrative | 190 m (623 ft) | ? | 39 | ||||
| 4 | C04 | 170 m (558 ft) | 34 | ||||||
| 5 | C07[70] | 160 m (525 ft) | 31 | ||||||
| 6 | C08[70] | 31 | |||||||
| 7 | C11 | 155 m (509 ft) | 27 | ||||||
| 8 | C12 | 27 | |||||||
| 9 | D02 | Administrative and residential | 176 m (577 ft) | 45 | |||||
| 10 | D03 | 45 | |||||||
| 12 | D04 | 135 m (443 ft) | 40 | ||||||
| 13 | D05 | 120 m (394 ft) | 38 | ||||||
| 14 | C05 | Office and administrative | 95 m (312 ft) | ? | 18 | ||||
| 15 | C06 | 18 | |||||||
| 16 | C02 | 85 m (279 ft) | 16 | ||||||
| 17 | C03 | 16 | |||||||
| 18 | C09 | Hotel and office towers | 55 m (180 ft) | 9 | Luxury five star hotel | ||||
| 19 | C10 | 9 | |||||||
| Name | Usage | Max height | Roof height | Floors | Started | Construction status | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Diamond Tower[71] | Mixed-use | 248 m (814 ft) | 64 | 2021 | Under construction | Amazon Holding developments | |
| Forbes International Tower | 235 m (771 ft) | 55 | 2026 | Approved | Magnom Property | ||
| Infinity Tower[72][73] | 200 m (656 ft) | 40 | 2021 | Under construction | Infinity for Urban Development | ||
| East Tower[74][75][76] | 180 m (591 ft) | ? | 45 | 2022 | UC Developments | ||
| 6ixty Iconic Tower[77] | 44 | AlBorouj Masr | |||||
| Taj Tower | Office & commercial | 170 m (558 ft) | 43 | Taj Misr Developments | |||
| Quan Tower[78][79] | Mixed-use | 110 m (361 ft) | 25 | 2023 | Contact Developments | ||
| Central Iconic Hotel[80][81] | Leisure and hospitality | ~100 m (328 ft) | 18 | Modon Developments | |||
| Double Two Tower | Mixed-use | 100 m (328 ft) | 23 | 2022 | Nakheel Developments | ||
| Triton Tower | 80 m (262 ft) | 14 | RNA Developments | ||||
| Ryan Tower | 75 m (246 ft) | ? | 15 | Khaled Sabry Holding | |||
| PAVO Tower | 68 m (223 ft) | ? | 14 | Mercon Developments | |||
| Name | Usage | Max height | Roof height | Floors | Started | Construction status | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nile Business City Tower | Mixed-use | 233 m (764 ft) | 56 | 2022 | Under construction | Nile Developments | |
| Levels Business Tower | 145 m (476 ft) | 36 | Urbnlanes Developments | ||||
| 31North Tower[82][83] | 131 m (430 ft) | ? | 36 | 2021 | Nile Developments | ||
| OIA Towers[84][85] | 111 m (364 ft) | 30 | EDGE Holdings | ||||
| Podia Tower[86][87][88] | 110 m (361 ft) | 29 | Menassat Developments | ||||
| Green River Tower | 110 m (361 ft) | ? | 30 | 2023 | Modon Developments | ||
| Obsideir Towers | 110 m (361 ft) | ? | 29 | 2022 | Dubai Developments | ||
| Monorail Tower | 100 m (328 ft) | ? | 26 | ERG Developments | |||
| Pyramids Business Towers[89] | 96 m (315 ft) | ? | 21 | Pyramids Developments | |||
| I Business Park Towers[90][91] | 91 m (299 ft) | ? | 20 | ARQA Developments Group | |||
| Trio V Tower | 90 m (295 ft) | ? | 18 | Nakheel Developments | |||
TheOblisco Capitale is a planned and approved skyscraper set to be inaugurated in 2030. It is designed by theEgyptian architectural design firmIDIA in the form of aPharaonicobelisk, and if built, it would be the tallest building in the world at a height of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft), surpassing the world's tallest tower,Burj Khalifa.[92]
| Name | Usage | Max height | Roof height | Floors | Started | Construction status | Total area | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oblisco Capitale Tower[93][94][95] | Hotel, office and residential | 1,000 m (3,281 ft) | 210 | Exact date 2025 | Approved | ? |
| |
| Nut Tower | Office and residential | 380 m (1,247 ft) | 80 | 2026 | Approved | ? | ||
TheCairo Light Rail Transit (abbreviated LRT) connects Cairo to the New Administrative Capital. The line starts at Adly Mansour Station atAl Salam City onCairo Metro Line 3, and splits into two branches atBadr City. One runs northward, parallel to theCairo Ring Road, to10th of Ramadan City, while the other turns south towards the New Administrative Capital. Intermediate cities along the train's route includeObour, Shorouk, and Mostaqbal.[96]
In addition, amonorail line under construction will connectCairo to the new capital, with connections to theCairo Metro and theCairo LRT.[97]
In January 2021, Egypt signed a contract withSiemens to construct a high speed rail line that extends from the northern Mediterranean city ofEl Alamein toAin Sokhna city on theRed Sea passing through the new capital andAlexandria. The 450 km (280 mi) line is expected to be finished by 2023. Later phases of the 1,750 km (1,087 mi) high speed network will connect the new capital with cities as far asAswan in the south ofEgypt.[98]
The New Administrative Capital will be served by the newCapital International Airport. The airport includes a passenger terminal with a current capacity of 300 passengers per hour, eight parking spaces for aircraft, 45 service and administrative buildings, an air control tower and a 3,650 m (11,975 ft) runway suitable for receiving large aircraft, equipped with lighting and automatic landing systems.[99] The airport has an area of 16 square kilometres (6.2 sq mi) and is expected to partially ease the pressure onCairo International Airport andSphinx International Airport.[100][101]
Many have criticized the city for being designed primarily for theupper classes rather than themiddle andlower classes. This is not the first time the Egyptian government has attempted to build cities outside the Nile Delta and Valley to alleviate theoverpopulation of Cairo. However, previous attempts have failed in their mission due to these cities being marketed to the upper-middle and upper classes. Thehigh prices of the housing units made them unaffordable for the majority of the population, resulting in many of the units remaining unsold.[102][103]
The Egyptian government's ability to finance the project has been put into question. Although presidentAbdel Fattah El-Sisi stated that "the state won't pay a penny" for the new capital, funds from the public coffers continue to flow into building the capital, adding to that the loans the government has acquired to fund the project, which has significantly increased thenational debt and driven highinflation.[104][105]
| New Egyptian cities | |
|---|---|
| First generation | |
| Second generation | |
| Third generation | |
| Fourth generation | |
Districts and suburbs ofGreater Cairo | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairo Governorate |
|   | ||||||||
| Giza Governorate |
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| Qalyubia Governorate |
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