Investment cost of developing 980-feddan New Garden City neighbourhood in New Administrative Capital (NAC), exceeded EGP 80bn, said Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Assem El Gazzar. He added in a press statement that the project offers 23,000 housing units with various spaces, ranging between 60-200 sqm, pointing out that this neighbourhood will imitate the Cairo Downtown. The original neighbourhood of Garden City – located in the heart of Cairo – houses elite families and foreigners as well as foreign embassies, such as the United States, Britain, and Italy, in addition to upscale hotels and restaurants. As for the New Garden City, the neighbourhood will be developed in three phases and will include a five-star hotel, villas, luxury houses, and other educational, sports, commercial, entertainment, and medical facilities. New Garden City's buildings will be designed according the old French style similar to those in Downtown Cairo. Located 45km east of Cairo, the New Capital is part of the Egyptian government's plan to expand urban areas to deal with the country's rapid population growth and improve the nation's infrastructure. The minister stressed that work in the New Capital's towers area is going at a record rate, and a floor is poured at a rate of five days, and the Iconic Tower has reached up to 120 metre so far, pointing out that construction works in the other 20 skyscrapers in the NAC is running in parallel. Around 550,000 cubic metres of concrete were used in those skyscrapers in the central business district in NAC, El Gazzar noted. He added the Iconic Tower's concrete base, whose installation took about 40 hours, is the second largest tower base in the world. He further disclosed that Egyptian building code was modified in order to construct the New Capital's skyscrapers, explaining that the American building code was used in the construction of these tall towers. He concluded, "Skyscrapers area is like new engineering school for Egyptians."
