Head of the General Organization for Physical Planning Mostafa Madbouli presented an urban development plan to the Shura Council on Tuesday.
Madbouli said the plan seeks to achieve horizontal rather than vertical growth to increase the inhabited area of Egypt by six percent.
The plan aims to accommodate 185 million people in 40 years, with a presumed two percent increase in the country’s population during that time, Madbouli explained.
“Seventy percent of Egypt is developable. This plan would develop 24 percent of the country and potentially total LE3 trillion in investments.”
He said the first phase, which lasts ten years and involved building roads and infrastructure, would cost LE60 billion, while the second phase is projected to cost LE90 billion.
“The plan aims to increase the inhabited area in Egypt to 12 million acres in 40 years, up from 8 million acres that are populated today,” he added.
Madbouli said that in the first five years of the project, the Suez Canal area would be developed and an experimental project to generate electricity from solar energy would be undertaken. He added that the plan would also aim to fight illiteracy and increase tourism to 53 million people visiting the country annually by 2025.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
