Billions earmarked for Egypt's new City

Egpyt's new CIty would be home to 660 hospitals, 1,250 mosques and churches, and a theme park four times the size of Disneyland – all to be completed within seven years.

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Egypt is going ahead with its plans to build a multi-billion new city near Cairo, which will become the new country’s capital.

The scale of the plans certainly defy historical norms. If completed, the currently nameless city would span 700 sq km (a space almost as big as Singapore), house a park double the size of New York’s Central Park, and a theme park four times as big as Disneyland – all to be completed within five to seven years.

According to the brochure, there will be exactly 21 residential districts, 25 “dedicated districts”, 663 hospitals and clinics, 1,250 mosques and churches, and 1.1m homes housing at least five million residents.

Housing Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the project would cost $45bn (£30bn) and take five to seven years to complete.

He said the aim was to ease congestion and overpopulation in Cairo over the next 40 years.

The announcement was made at an investment conference last year which aims to revive the Egyptian economy.

The gathering, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, attracted pledges worth $12bn (£8bn) in aid and investment from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Once the town is built, it will serve as the new capital of Egypt and the government services will relocate to it within twelve years.

The currently nameless city would be home to 660 hospitals, 1,250 mosques and churches, and a theme park four times the size of Disneyland.

Planners say the proposed city's site "is situated along the corridor between Cairo and the Red Sea, providing linkages to significant shipping routes.

It will be built by Capital City Partners, a private real estate investment fund led by Dubai businessman, Mr Mohamed Alabbar who built the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

Up to 1.5 million new job opportunities will arise as a result of the construction of the first phase, revealed Mohsen Salah, the head of Arab Contractors.