Egypt has issued a presidential decree to build a new city by northwest of Cairo, an official source in the country's Housing Ministry's arm NUCA said on Tuesday. The new city will be at the Wadi El Natrun-New Alamein road, to be one of Egypt's fourth generation cities, an official source in the New Urban Communities Authority told Amwal Al Ghad. On space of 54,000 feddans, the new city is expected to be named New Delta or New Gharbia, the source added. "We (NUCA) will announce more details about the new city within the upcoming period," he said. Egypt is embarking on a slate of ambitious and new, fourth-generation ‘smart' cities on the cusp of the nation's Sustainable Development Strategy 2030, in bid to increase residential area, improve life quality and absorb population surge. The new cities, announced so far, will be established in Luxor, Qalyubia, Matrouh, Daqahliya, Beheira, Giza, Port Said, Cairo, North Sinai, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiut, Qena, and Aswan, while the largest such city is the New Administrative Capital, east of the capital Cairo. They are expected to accommodate about 30 million people in addition to providing millions of jobs. The new cities will harbour a new Administrative Capital, residential projects, wholesale market, service projects, distinctive residential plots of land, integrated urban projects and malls. They will also have fully-fledged urban communities, dry port, and a city for craftsmen, industrial zone, social housing units, seawater, desalination plant, and logistics areas. The fourth generation cities are integrated cities in terms of availability of services and the use of advanced technologies in infrastructure and facilities. Egypt is 13th most populated country in the world, having a population of more than 100 million. But only 7 percent of Egypt's urban territory is currently fit for occupancy. That's why the New Urban Communities Authority aims to increase the urban area in Egypt from 7 percent to 14 percent by 2050.
