While the government abruptly cancelled surprise plans to move the capital out of Cairo, Reem Leila wonders what if Within days of Shura Council Speaker Safwat El-Sherif declaring that the government has finalised plans to establish a new capital, the president announced that such a proposal is unlikely in the near future. El-Sherif told reporters on 17 November that he received a letter from Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif indicating that a new capital will be home to all government bodies, as well as the People's Assembly (PA) and the Shura Council. But President Hosni Mubarak, on tour of Ismailia a few days later, told the media that the project would cost billions of pounds what would be better spent on welfare for the poor. The idea of moving the capital was discussed last year at the National Democratic Party's (NDP) Political committee. Tarek Talaat Mustafa, head of the PA's Housing and Planning Committee, revealed that his committee spent several months studying the idea of building a new capital. "Economists, social scientists and other experts were involved in the discussions," Mustafa said. "We wanted to move out, but with a new vision." He explained that the proposal is not only about location, but also policy and the problem of centralising everything in Cairo. "The move was planned to start gradually, so that by 2050, all government bodies, ministries and associations would have been relocated," revealed Mustafa. Almost 95 per cent of Egypt's 73 million inhabitants live on only five per cent of the land. Cairo's population has exploded in the past three decades, increasing from 6.4 million in 1975 to 20 million in 2005. The latest statistics by the Egyptian Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities (MHUUC) show that there are 1,221 "informal areas" which accommodate 12-15 million of the population. "Cairo will always remain the core of economic activities, while the new capital will be the political centre," explained Mustafa. "It is similar to the division between New York and Washington, DC." Suggestions were made to relocate the new administrative capital to several places, including Al-Minya Al-Gadida which is not too far from Cairo and close to the governorate of Minya. While other options included 6th of October City, Alexandria, Suez and Port Said, experts believe they suffer many of the problems found in Cairo. Al-Minya Al-Gadida, however, is seen as a good choice especially that it already has several means of transportation. "Relocating the capital is the only solution for Cairo's congested traffic, pollution and over crowded population," argued Mohsen Zahran, professor of urban planning at Alexandria University. "This is better than spending millions on bridges, digging tunnels or filling in the Nile, which are all temporary solutions to the problems facing central Cairo." Since the early 1970s, the emphasis has been on infrastructural development in the capital, where bridges and tunnels were built and major intersections and streets re- organised in order to facilitate the flow of traffic. But in fact, the first proposal to establish a new capital was made in the late 1970s by then president Anwar El-Sadat. Accordingly Sadat City, located on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road, was originally designed to be Egypt's future political capital. Political institutions and ministries were expected to be relocated there, and the city would be linked to Cairo by railway. But the grand scheme did not become a reality and Sadat City became yet another, largely deserted satellite city. While Zahran believes that the new capital should not be more than 250km away from Cairo, he pointed out that throughout history Egypt's capital has moved 17 times up and down the country, from Alexandria to Aswan and in between. According to Cairo Governor Abdel-Azim Wazir, Greater Cairo is home to 3,616 schools and 460 hospitals, 554 historical sites attracting tourists who can stay at any of Cairo's 82 hotels. The governorate spent nearly LE9.6 billion in 1997-2000 on infrastructure and another LE11 billion in 2002-2007. "We need to extend both services and local administration outside the capital," stated Salah Hegab, an architectural consultant. But saving what remains of Cairo, and possibly relocating parts of what makes a city the capital, is not just about logistical change. It is about a change in governance as well. "We have to move towards decentralisation," argued Hegab. "Local authorities should share the capital's bureaucracy; the city is suffocating from excessive amounts of pollutants from three million vehicles running on Cairo's streets." The metropolis was designed to accommodate only 500,000 vehicles. Abdallah Abdel-Aziz Attia, professor of architecture and urban planning at Ain Shams University, has other concerns if the ambitious proposal does one day become actionable. "Building a new capital is very costly and will take a huge amount of time," Attia asserted. "It is not really feasible." He believes that relocating the ministries and the administrative institutions is not the easiest option available. According to the latest statistics, nearly 20 per cent of Egyptians live below the poverty line, and another 20 per cent are on the line. Hence, Attia agrees with the president that money would be put to better use by improving the lot of the poor. "It is more practical to spend the money on the poor, instead of wasting it in another money pit like [the desertification project] at Toskha," opined the urban planning expert.
