First announced in 2015, Egypt’s new, as-yet-unnamed capital city has been under construction for years, at an estimated cost of more than $50 billion. Temporarily referred to as the New Administrative Capital, the massive development is just one of several megaprojects being built by the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The new city, about 28 miles southeast of Cairo, is planned for more than six million residents, and is designed in part to relieve traffic and other stresses on the crumbling infrastructure in Cairo. The project, largely operated by Egypt’s Ministry of Defense, will consolidate and move government headquarters into a more controlled setting, monitored by more than 6,000 surveillance cameras. It is already home to the tallest building in Africa, a huge presidential palace, dozens of ministry buildings, schools, hospitals, mosques, and churches—with many more to come. Completion remains years away, and the Egyptian government has gone deeply into debt, but some people have begun moving in, even though many Cairo residents, according to Reuters, say they “cannot afford to live in the new city.”
Egypt’s New Capital-City Megaproject
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![Several tall buildings are seen under construction in a desert, including business towers and a mosque.]()
Read moreVehicles drive along a road near the newly built Shuhada mosque at Egypt's New Administrative Capital, about 45 kilometers east of Cairo, on March 7, 2021. #
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![An aerial view of an office-building complex under construction, made up of 10 octagonal buildings arranged within circular roads]()
Read moreThis aerial photo taken on March 13, 2020, shows ongoing construction of The Octagon, the new headquarters for the Egyptian Ministry of Defense, in the New Administrative Capital. When complete, the site will become the largest defense-headquarters complex in the world. #
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![A huge cathedral is seen under construction in a desert area.]()
Read moreWorkers continue construction of the enormous new Coptic Cathedral, The Nativity of Christ, in the New Administrative Capital on January 3, 2019. #
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![A before-and-after pair of satellite images showing a large construction project in a desert]()
Read moreA before-and-after pair of Google Earth satellite images that show the largely untouched site of the New Administrative Capital in 2014, and again in 2023. The image spans about six miles from side to side, and includes the residential, government, and business districts. View it on Google Maps here. #
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![An elevated view of a number of tall buildings under construction]()
Read moreA view from the under-construction Iconic Tower skyscraper, showing ongoing work in the business and finance district of Egypt's New Administrative Capital on August 3, 2021 #
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![A very wide highway, with only a few vehicles using it]()
Read moreVehicles drive on a 12-lane section of the new highway leading to the New Administrative Capital, on October 18, 2017. #
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![A truck drives past rows of new apartment buildings.]()
Read moreApartment blocks in the residential district of Egypt's New Administrative Capital, seen on July 31, 2023 #
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![The interior of a new sports stadium]()
Read moreA view inside the New Capital Stadium in the New Administrative Capital, seen on December 28, 2020 #
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![An aerial view of several large construction sites in a desert]()
Read moreAn aerial view of the construction site of the business and finance district and other sections of the New Administrative Capital, seen from the window of an airplane on April 9, 2021 #
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![A view of a very tall building in a construction site]()
Read moreBuilders work beneath the new Iconic Tower skyscraper on August 3, 2021. The structure topped out in 2021 at a height of 393.8 meters (1,292 ft), making it the tallest building in Africa. #
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![Two workers move a wheelbarrow with a wonky wheel at a construction site.]()
Read moreWorkmen move a wheelbarrow during construction work at Egypt's new parliament headquarters on March 7, 2021. #
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![A satellite view of buildings in a government district under construction]()
Read moreThis Google Earth satellite view from 2023, about 3 km (1.85 miles) across, shows a view of the New Administrative Capital's Government District, with large offices set up for multiple government ministries. See it here on Google Maps. #
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![Two workers in a large construction site]()
Read moreChinese workers stand at the site of the Iconic Tower skyscraper on August 3, 2021. #
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![Workers stand on lifts among several large buildings under construction.]()
Read moreConstruction takes place in the New Administrative Capital's Central Business District on July 24, 2023. #
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![People walk beside supports of an under-construction light-rail track.]()
Read moreEgyptian workers and vehicles are seen on a road next to the construction site of a new light-rail track in the New Administrative Capital on June 21, 2023. #
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![An elevated view of a large cluster of new apartment buildings]()
Read moreResidential buildings are seen in the New Administrative Capital on March 8, 2021. #
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![A satellite view of a large new sports complex]()
Read moreThis Google Earth satellite view from 2023 shows the enormous new sports complex, including the New Administrative Capital Stadium, the largest stadium in Egypt. View this area in Google Maps. #
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![Two people sit and eat inside a large concrete pipe at a construction site.]()
Read moreLaborers rest and have a meal inside a concrete pipe as they take cover from the sun at a construction site at Egypt's New Administrative Capital megaproject on August 3, 2021. #
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![A distant view of an enormous mosque under construction]()
Read moreThe new Egypt Grand Mosque, seen under construction on March 7, 2021. The mosque was completed in 2022 and is the largest mosque in Africa, with a capacity for more than 100,000 worshippers. #
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![A large government building, seen under construction]()
Read moreThis picture taken on August 1, 2023, shows the exterior facade of the new headquarters for the Senate, the upper house of the Egyptian Parliament, at the New Administrative Capital megaproject. #
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![An interior view of a large open space, to be used as a government meeting hall.]()
Read moreAn interior view of the new headquarters of Egypt's House of Representatives, at the New Administrative Capital, photographed on August 1, 2023 #
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![Two workers push carts among tall new buildings.]()
Read moreConstruction workers move material while working on structures in the business and finance district, on August 1, 2023. #
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![A view of a cluster of about nine or 10 tall buildings in the desert]()
Read moreA view of the Central Business District of Egypt's New Administrative Capital, including the Iconic Tower, seen on July 31, 2023 #
Islam Safwat / Bloomberg / Getty
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