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Introduction On 13 March 2015, the Egyptian govern- The New Administrative Capital in ment announced to the public at the : The Political Economy of the Economic Development Conference in Sharm al-Sheikh the breathtaking mega- Production of Urban Spaces in project of the New Administrative Capital (or NAC for short)1. Envisioned to be inhabited by 5 to 6.5 million people and built from scratch in the vast territory of the Eastern Desert 40km east of the Cairo agglomeration, the project is intended to host a new government quarter, including the parliament, ministries, the supreme council, diplomatic missions, and a new president’s palace. Skyscrapers up to 450m tall were depicted, as well as 30 sub- projects, one of them being an airport larger than London Heathrow and another an amusement park four times the size of Patrick Loewert, Christian Steiner Disneyland. The total investment is esti- mated at up to 500 billion US dollars. On The New Administrative Capital reshapes demonstrates that state institutions com- display boards, the mega-project was Egypt’s urban landscape thoroughly. pete for control over it, providing the defined as Madīnat al-Jamīʿa, a City for Nevertheless, empirical research on its military with new rent sources. The loca- Everyone. political economy and spatial imaginaries tion and size of the new palace indicates is lacking. Building on a political geogra- a lack of democratic conviction, and citi- The project is remarkable in various ways. phy framework and extensive qualitative zen participation is largely missing. It absorbs enormous resources in terms of fieldwork, we aim at contrasting official planning efforts, space, and money. The constructions of space with an analysis of Keywords: New Administrative Capital, latter is especially noteworthy, since Egypt the hidden interests, actions, and power Egypt, Urban Development, Mega has faced severe economic problems in struggles among its main stakeholders. Projects, Political Economy, Power the aftermath of the 2011 Egyptian revolu- Whereas foreign and private investors are Struggle tion against Mubarak and the 2013 coup officially key to the project, our analysis d’état against president Mursi. Second,

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the history of the project is very colorful, geography framework about the strategic structions of space and their underlying since it has been promoted by three very construction of space, we therefore ana- logics are presented to the addressees as different presidential administrations. lyze examples of the actions and argu- quasi-objective presentations of reality, mentations of central stakeholders con- whereas they are primarily intended to However, even though many international cerning three central elements of the back the actor’s position in the power visitors at the 2015 conference welcomed NAC: first the role of foreign investors, struggle over the production of space the project as a symbol of new investment second the disavowal of responsibilities (Reuber, Politische Geographie 127). Of opportunities, there was also widespread for project funding, and third locating of course, an actor can use different strategic criticism. Critics pointed to its high invest- the presidential palace. This analysis constructions of space in from one ment costs and size and fueled doubts enables a deeper understanding of how addressee to another. Their analysis allows about the social responsibility of the proj- and why the project developed the way it an interpretative reconstruction of the hid- ect that some said is meant to host only did and provides insights into the quality den agendas and aims of the actors the richest members of the society and to and extent of citizen participation. (Reuber, Politische Geographie 127). serve the government’s interests (e.g. Therefore, building on such a perspective Tadamun; Egyptian Streets; Mohie). On Theoretical and Methodological helps to understand the actions and argu- the other side, the President and ministers Background mentations of project stakeholders. pointed out several times that the NAC will Theoretically, this article advocates a polit- encourage foreign investments, deepen ical geography perspective referring to Of course, organizations do not always act international collaborations (e.g. CNN), Paul Reuber’s idea of strategic construc- coherently. Individual interests often com- and will not cause any burdens for the tions of space (Reuber, Konflikte). Reuber pete within organizations.2 Since our Egyptian taxpayer, but instead will make a argues that every actor selectively gathers paper focuses on the power struggles profit for the Egyptian treasury (NUCA; information about his or her environment among actors, it nevertheless seems via- Ghanīm and ʿAmāra). in order to develop clear objectives of ble to concentrate on the outcome of the future actions. At the same time, actors analyzed actions of stakeholders and to Against this background, the lack of aim at enforcing their point of view in a largely ignore their internal power strug- empirical research on the political econ- way that argumentatively secures their gles, especially since most of them are omy and spatial imaginaries of the project objectives in relation to competing actors quite hierarchically organized. We investi- is astonishing. Therefore, we aim at con- and/or the public. Thereby, they con- gated the publicly oriented actions and trasting the officially created images of the sciously create subjective, selective, and argumentations that bring the strategic project with an analysis of the underlying condensed images of reality, which constructions of space of distinct actors and partially hidden interests of the main Reuber calls “strategic constructions of into life by using publically available jour- actors and the power struggles among the space” (Konflikte 22-44; Politische nalistic media sources, speeches, docu- main stakeholders. Building on a political Geographie 116-129). These specific con- mentations, and advertisements. The pro-

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cesses within and among the collective back to the City of Revolution under 1. Six so-called Wadian, isolated, green, actors are, however, hard to grasp, espe- President Nasser in the 1950s. Under his and high-rent residential quarters with at cially because many stakeholders see successors, presidents Sadat and least 25,000 units each, including social withholding (even public) information Mubarak, new endeavors to relocate state infrastructure and the supply of shops and about such a project as a question of institutions were made in the deserts west services such as malls, libraries, mosques national security. Additionally, the involved and east of Cairo, but they all failed due to and churches, social care centers, gas sta- institutions in Egypt are notorious for pro- a lack of funds, the resistance of state tions, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, tecting their turf and in general do not employees, and political circumstances banks, police stations, citizens’ service publish sufficient data (Sims 140, 245, 281; (Stewart; Feiler 302-303). Finally, in 2014, centers,and club houses. Wahdan 10, 60). For this reason, a 14-month President Sisi’s government resumed the 2. A park complex covering 23 square kilo- ethnographic field research project was plans of a new capital, which subsequently meters in the first phase and 30 square carried out, including professional activity became one of the top priority projects of kilometers in total. Its serpentine shape in the NAC project. During this time, 36 the national development strategy Egypt intends to imitate the course of the River qualitative interviews were conducted 2030 (MPMAR 51-61). Its priority is high- Nile. with various project participants whose lighted by the surprising progress the 3. The governmental quarter, containing identity will remain anonymous, given the project has made in the past few years, the parliament, ministries, the supreme sensitivity of the topic. With few excep- considering the unsuccessful earlier council, diplomatic missions, and other tions, the time horizon covers the period attempts to relocate the governmental government- related and international from spring 2015 to early 2018. The inter- capital. The motifs of the importance of a entities. views were transcribed and a content new capital and the revival of the idea are 4. The presidential palace analysis has been made. Afterward, the open to speculation, but most interlocu- information based on interviews, field tors agree that among the reasons are the In the West and Northwest, the project research, working experience, and public need for a big vision to legitimize presi- area borders on the easternmost quarters sources was triangulated. Since the gath- dential rule and the intention to evacuate of Cairo proper (see fig. 1). Thus, unlike the ered information was partially contradic- governmental institutions from the center name suggests, the NAC will be part of a tory, it underwent an interpretative analy- of turmoil that waned only shortly before. contiguous urbanized area and a mere sis to reconstruct as well as possible the The overall size of the mega-project was extension of the urban expansion of Cairo processes that took place in the field. set at 753 square kilometers, of which 126 agglomeration. This spatial continuity is square kilometers were developed in the made clear by the fact that the mega-proj- Pathways to and Basic Components of the first phase until 2018. The area to be devel- ect will not have its own governorate, but New Administrative Capital oped in this first project phase can be instead will be under the administrative The history of attempts to relocate the divided into four large zones (as at responsibility of the governorate of Cairo governmental center to the desert reaches February 2018): (Hasan, “ʿA ṣima”).

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TOANENDFORTHETIMEBEING/FlCIALLY THE 05 km involvement of the foreign businessman El came to a halt because he refused to City N involve his UAE-based company Emaar as i ElE Shorouk SShoro le Al Marj City a guarantor of loans. As a result, foreign FUNDINGFORTHElRSTDEVELOPMENTPHASE could not be secured. Cairoi GizaGi City On the side of the Egyptian government, legal regulations constrained al-Abbar’s Fig. 2: 1st phase of the NAC the 2: 1st phase of Fig. New Administrative scope for maneuver, since the area of the Capital future new city was not cleared of military units. In consequence, the construction was not likely to begin in the foreseeable FUTUREEGɒ!BDAL ɒįȾÆ !CCORDINGTOTHE authors’ interlocutors, this obstacle indi- New Administrative Capital e l i CATEDADEEPERCONmICTAMONGDIFFERENT N Development Phase One

Concept: Patrick Loewert, Christian Steiner project stakeholders. The negotiations Cartography: Alexandra Kaiser, 2019 with al-Abbar were led mainly by the Fig. 1: Location and Size of the New Administrative Capital in Relation to the agglomeration Ministry of Housing. Its former Minister, now additionally Prime Minister, Mustafa The Role of Foreign Investors In March 2015, the Dubai-based business- Madbuli, succeeded in excluding other )N OFlCIAL SPEECHES AND INTERVIEWS  THE man Muhammad al-Abbar was presented ministries from the project development President and ministers pointed out sev- to the public as a potential investor. and took over its management (al-Sayyid). eral times that the NAC is one of the main However, negotiations between him and 4HUS THEINmUENCEOFTHEMILITARYBECAME projects in Egypt to encourage foreign the Ministry of Housing had already begun limited, even though the Armed Forces investments and to deepen international in summer 2014. A Memorandum of Engineering Authority was initially in COLLABORATIONS EG #..  4HIS SPECIlC Understanding was signed, and two of charge of supervising construction. The strategic construction of space was Abbar’s companies, Capital City Partners military supposedly reacted and insisted intended to counter critics, who feared and Eagle Hills, were supposed to assume on its legal right to keep all desert land that the project would be a burden for the a large share of the project development. that, by law, is owned by the Ministry of Egyptian state and society. In June 2015, the negotiations were can- $EFENCE AND AFlLIATED AUTHORITIES 3IMS celled, and the cooperation was brought 262-263). By using this opportunity of

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intervention, it countered the takeover of called Administrative Capital Urban This example demonstrates that the the mega-project by the Ministry of Development (ACUD), which was founded, Ministry of Housing and the military con- Housing. among other things, to control the imple- tinuously engaged in a power struggle to mentation of the many sub-projects in the gain control over the project development In December 2015, Presidential Decree new city. Whereas three of its 13 Members on the expenses of foreign investors. By No. 446 allowed the Armed Forces Land of the Board of Directors belonged to the helping the military to get a hold on the Projects Agency to “expand its commer- Ministry of Housing, five members were project, President al-Sisi, himself formerly cial activity and form for-profit corpora- related to the Armed Forces (Hasan, a leading general in the Army, indirectly tions, both on its own and jointly with “Majlis”). Finally, in August 2017, General allocated new investment opportunities to national and international capital sources” Aḥmed Ḏakī ʿAbdīn was appointed the the influential Egyptian military-economic (ṣawāf). Among other things, this move new CEO of the ACUD, replacing a civilian, complex. Therefore, officially framing the enabled the military to participate in the and was entrusted with substantial com- NAC as a space of international invest- negotiations about the development of petencies. His new deputy was General ment opportunities not only helped to the mega-project. Another presidential al-Laṭīf, the former managing director of counter public criticism, but also veiled decree in February 2016 awarded the the company. the allocation of rent sources to the agency with the supervision of the con- Egyptian military, which contributes to struction of two development projects, Even though the Ministry of Housing con- assuring the loyalty of the armed forces one of them being the NAC (ibid.). tinued to lead the negotiations with for- and is therefore vital to sustain Egypt’s eign investors, the Ministry of Defense had continued “neopatrimonial” political sys- The international scope of the military taken fierce control of the project devel- tem of rule. (Pawelka) involvement was secured by two further opment. Recently though, there seems to incidents: first, representatives of the be a downturn of military control. Some The Disavowal of Responsibilities for Armed Forces joined international dele- interview partners claim that the ACUD Project Funding gations to attract foreign investors and lost track of the various developers par- The former Minister of Housing Mustafa developers. Second and consequently, ticipating in the NAC, something that ben- Madbuli repeatedly advocated a strategic the military expanded its influence on efits the position of the Ministry of Housing. discursive construction of space in which international investors in August 2016, Its importance, though, seems to be the NAC would not cost the Egyptian state when a military-owned company was pro- reduced by the ambitious Investment “a single cent”, but instead will make a vided with the authority to give binding Minister, Saḥar Naṣr, who sometime in profit for the Egyptian treasury (NUCA; instructions to various international devel- early 2017 gained ground regarding the Ghanīm and ʿAmāra). Other decision- opers. Another blow to the Ministry of negotiations especially with Chinese for- makers recurrently supported this argu- Housing already occurred in April 2016, eign investors, engaged in the NAC’s busi- mentation (Aḥmad; Ahram). with the establishment of a company ness district.

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Despite official statements, funding of the connected from the possibility to control planners and subordinates do not even project was not as easy as hoped. Even the real estate revenues, which it needed see the necessity for further citizen par- though the NAC is considered to be a to recoup its investments. At the moment, ticipation and show a derogatory attitude project of national significance, initial con- it seems very likely that the ACUD and the toward a more integrated form of plan- cepts envisaged that private investors military are exploiting this reorganization ning. Instead, many perceive “people” and would finance the greater part – up to 83 by appropriating returns from land sales, “government” as two entities that are dis- percent – of the project. However, inves- which means that a new mechanism to tinct from each other – as formulated by an tors dropped out because they did not transfer huge assets from the NUCA to the advisor of the Ministry of Housing: “In the expect an acceptable return for their ACUD and the military has been imple- case of the new capital, we don’t even involvement in costly endeavors like a mented. By April 2018, the authority had need to think about asking the people, national conference center and ministerial pumped loans and subsidies totaling at because it’s a national project.” buildings. Although some private Egyptian least 15 billion Egyptian pounds – around developers stated that national compa- 720 million Euro – into the mega-project, In sum, by shifting the financial burden to nies would comprehensively support the which will provide the ACUD and the mili- the NUCA, the government successfully project (e.g. Mounir), the state had to tary with a multiple in revenues. pursued two aims: first, this made it pos- invest additional money to sustain the sible to deny citizens a say in the mega- project. The scapegoat was the New The head of another sub-authority of the project because they allegedly do not Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), a Ministry of Housing in 2016 described the contribute to financing, and, second, the sub-authority of the Ministry of Housing, involvement of the NUCA as a way to pre- main stakeholders sustained their official originally founded in 1979 to supervise the vent the taxpayer from incurring any costs: strategic construction of space by shirking development of new towns. From the very “In fact, the national budget is not strained responsibility for project funding. beginning, the authority had to inject at all by the capital project because the money into the mega-project, especially NUCA took on the financing. This was in Locating the Presidential Palace indirectly via the ACUD, which was mainly response to criticism that the Egyptian Interestingly enough, the location and size financed from the budgets of the NUCA state squanders billions in this project” of the presidential palace is a topic that is and the Armed Forces. Both hoped for (Aḥmad).3 Ironically, at the same time, the considered thoroughly neither by the crit- returns on their participation in real estate financial involvement of the NUCA is used ical national or international media nor by projects. The NUCA, however, had to relin- to bypass citizen participation. If a national the government in its strategic construc- quish its responsibility in the new capital authority finances the project and the citi- tions of space. In promotional videos and city to ACUD and to various independent zens do not bear any costs, then accord- booklets on the NAC, the palace is not companies and corporations and there- ing to some planner’s argumentation, citi- mentioned at all or only in passing by fore lost influence on real estate sales. zens do not have the right to ask for defining the palace as just one compo- Thus, the NUCA became increasingly dis- participation. A large number of urban

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Patrick Loewert nent of the governmental district (e.g.  ITS SIZE HAS SHRUNK TO AN AREA OF Concept: Patrick Loewert, Christian Steiner Oekoplan). around 6 km2, most probably because of Cartography: Alexandra Kaiser, 2019 02 km holds a Bachelor in History as well THEOMNIPRESENTLACKOFlNANCE as a Bachelor of Science and a Initially, the palace was planned to be Master of Science degree in Human located in the heart of the new city. Interesting as well is the composition of Geography from the University of Together with the presidential advisory the governmental in relation to the palace Münster. He wrote his Master thesis council on the mega-project, Chinese district (which most tellingly are planned d on Urban Development in the Cairo planners, who have been part of the proj- as two separate areas), which latter was region. Currently, he is working at the ECTSINCEANOFlCIALVISITBY0RESIDENTAL 3ISI sketched out and developed in coopera- Wüstenrot and Württembergische in China in September 2015, played a key tion among Chinese and Egyptian compa- gional Ring Ro Group as a project leader and role in the conceptual design of the pal- nies, too. Initial plans aimed to develop 12 Regional Ring Road concentrates on urban renewal ace. The scheduled size of the palace dis- ministry buildings in the NAC. Their relo- analyses, urban digitalization, and trict of 9.5 km2 was not determined coin- cation from Cairo’s city center was city development concepts. In his cidentally, but derived from the idea that defended by arguing that the ministries Palace district, 2nd version PhD project, he is working on public the palace should be as large as the areas concerned did not need to deal with the High-priority-Ministries participation and sustainability issues in OF SEVERAL FOREIGN PALACES COMBINED n citizens on a daily basis, even though they Parliament and Council of Ministers National and international medium-priority urban mega projects in the Arab World. including the presidential complexes in included the Ministry of Social Solidarity institutions email: [email protected] 4URKEYAND)NDIAnINORDERTOUNDERLINE and the Ministry of Health and Population, National and international low-priority the importance of the Egyptian president. which directly address concerns of the institutions, e. g. diplomatic missions In late autumn 2015, the palace compound population. Six additional ministries suc- &IG#OMPOSITIONOFTHEEASTERNlRSTPHASEOFTHE was shifted to the northern border of the cessfully demanded to join the relocation NAC before the reduction of the palace district new city after the planners concluded that n hOUT OF FEAR TO BE LEFT BEHINDv  AS AN a more remote location might be safer. involved planner put it. As of the begin- its mere gatekeepers. The spatial compo- The new complex was even larger and NINGOF MORETHANOFAPPROX  SITIONANDTHEDISTANCETOTHEPALACEREmECT measured 10.5 km2. The palace district was ministries and higher authorities are sup- the importance that is attached to various planned to be fully covered by manors posed to move to the new district. The institutions, while the palace itself repre- and guesthouses, presidential gardens, ministries will be built close to the south- SENTSTHESPATIALCENTEROFPOWERlG  and security buildings. A solar plant was ern edge of the palace area, resembling a supposed to make the palace indepen- promenade directed toward the entrance In sum, the available plans and our inter- dent of the urban power supply. Some of of the palace. The Council of Ministers and views indicate that it was the aim of the the authors’ interlocutors claimed that, the Parliament are located on the right planning authorities from the very begin- since then, the location of the palace has and left sides of the north-south axis lead- ning to bring a centralistic idea of urban not changed, while by the beginning of ing to the palace, as though they serve as development to life. Similar to the idea of

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Christian Steiner absolutistic cities in Europe in the 17th tional investors counters public criticism chain, since urban planners often do not century, this emphasizes the almost abso- of the project’s financial burden on the see the necessity and benefit of further is Chair for Human Geography at lute power of the head of state. Egyptian state, this strategic construction citizen participation, either. In sum, it the University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. of space also helped to veil the allocation seems as if the development of the NAC Earlier, he was Visiting Professor for Conclusion of new rent sources to the Egyptian mili- unfortunately mirrors the Egyptian state’s Economic Geography at the Universities The analysis of three central elements of tary-economic complex, to which undemocratic pathway of development of Frankfurt, Osnabrück and Innsbruck the NAC aimed at contrasting the officially President Sisi himself belongs. This strate- after the overthrow of the Mubarak regime. and a visiting research fellow at the created images of the project with the gic shift can be interpreted as a means to Restoration is back again. Centre for Modern Oriental Studies in underlying and partially hidden interests assure the loyalty of the armed forces in Berlin. He has published extensively of and power struggles among the main order to sustain the political system. on the nexus of the political economy, stakeholders in the production of urban tourism, and urban development in space. We thereby demonstrated that the In this system, the president is the ulti- the Arab world. Aside from that, his power relations within the project consti- mate source of power and wealth. This current research interests are in the tute a complex field of organizational idea of statehood is mirrored in the cen- fields of human-environment relations interests. We also revealed how decisive tralistic concept of the NAC, which paral- and pragmatism-inspired economic actors try to interpret and sometimes lels the model of absolutistic cities in geography. His habilitation on even hide essential information about the Europe in the 17th century by putting the “Pragmatism, Environment and Space” negotiations and financing connected to presidential palace in the very center of was awarded the Hans Bobek Prize of the NAC, as well as the location and size the project. Since this understanding of a the Austrian Geographical Society. of one of its largest and politically most modern Egyptian state contradicts demo- email: [email protected] delicate sub-projects, the presidential cratic ideas, which fueled the revolt palace. against the Mubarak regime, it is not sur- prising that external and internal con- Whereas official announcements repeat- structions of space are diverging and the edly emphasize the role of foreign inves- role of the palace is not made a topic of tors and private funding, our analysis public debate. demonstrates that the national Ministry of Housing and the military took over control In line with these findings, it is not surpris- of the project. The two Egyptian entities ing, either, that the NAC can be seen as a thereby engaged in a power struggle, counterexample of participative urban which President al-Sisi decided in favor of development. It is misleading, though, to the military. While the official framing of locate the responsibility for these deficien- the NAC as a space for private interna- cies exclusively at the top of the command

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Notes Works Cited al-Sayyid, Muṣṭafa Kāmal. Feiler, Gil. “Housing Policy Marshall, Shana. “The “Al-ʿAṣima al-jadīda w ṣunnʿ in Egypt.” Middle Eastern Egyptian Armed Forces 1 The name of the mega ʿAbd al-ʿAṭī, Muḥammad. “Al- al-qarār fi Maṣr” [The New Studies, vol. 28, no. 2, 1992, and the Remaking of an project changed several ḥukūma tulghī mudhakarat Capital and Decision Making pp. 295-103. Economic Empire”. Carnegie times. Even though a tafāhum al-ʿAṣima al-jadīda in Egypt]. 29 June 2015, Middle East Center, 15 April competition was held to find mʿ al-ʿAbbār” (Government http://www.shorouknews. Ghanīm, Aḥmad, and 2015, http://carnegie-mec. a proper name in spring Cancels Memorandum of com/columns/view. Muḥammad ʿAmāra. “Al- org/2015/04/15/egyptian- 2018, no final decision Understanding on New aspx?cdate=29062015& ḥukūma: al-ʿAṣima al-jadīda armed-forces-and-remaking- has been announced yet. Capital with al-Abbar). Al- id=0814377a-f792-4ad2- lan tukallifna ayy Abāʾ” of-economic-empire- Therefore, the authors Masry al-Youm, 24 June 2015, abd4-8d0eea5ad1e2. [Government: New Capital pub-59726. Accessed 11 refers to the project as “New https://www.almasryalyoum. Accessed 8 March 2018. Will Not Place Burden]. February 2018. Administrative Capital”. com/news/details/760573. Al-Watan, 29 October 2015, Accessed 2 March 2018. CNN. “Al-ʿāṣima al-ʾIdāriyya http://www.elwatannews. Mohie, Mostafa. “Egypt’s 2 E.g. within the Armed lan Takūn qabl 20 ʿAman” com/news/details/828278. New Capital: A City for Forces, there is a strong Aḥmad, Muṣṭafā ʾAḥmad. [Administrative Capital Accessed 20 February 2018. Investments or for Alleviating competition among officers “Raʾīs al-Taḫṭīṭ al-ʿUmrānī Will Take 20 Years]. CNN Overpopulation?” Mada potentially resulting in li-l-Waṭan: Khazīnat al-Dawla Arabic, 7 September 2015, Hasan, Aḥmad. “Al-ʿAṣima al- Masr, 22 March 2015, https:// incoherent actions and lā Tataḫammal Mallīman https://arabic.cnn.com/ jadīda Muḥāfadha Mustaqilla www.madamasr.com/ strategies of the military Wāḥidan min al-Mašrūʿāt business/2015/09/07/cairo- aw Tābiʿa li-l-Qāhira?” [Will en/2015/03/22/feature/ (Marshall 18). Moreover, a al-Qawmiyya“ (Head of new-capital. Accessed 6 July the New Capital Be an economy/-new- notorious partisan feuding Urban Planning to al-Watan: 2018. Independent Governorate capital-a-city-for-investments- between members of two Treasury Will Not Pay One or Part of Cairo?] Youm 7, 27 or-for-alleviating- sub-divisions of the Ministry Cent to National Projects). Denis, Éric. “La May 2017, http://www.ahram. overpopulation/. Accessed 5 of Housing is well known that Al-Watan, 8 November 2017, financiarisation du foncier org.eg/NewsPrint/376684. March 2018. has continued for decades http://www.elwatannews. observée à partir des aspx. Accessed 10 March (Denis 150). com/news/details/1571486. métropoles égyptiennes 2018. Mounir, Hossam. “Assigning Accessed 28 March 2018. et indiennes.” Revue Tiers Implementation of New 3 This line of argumentation Monde vol 206, no. 2, 2001, ---. “Majlis ʾidārat sharikat Administrative Capital is based on the original Ahram. “ʿAbdīn: mashrūʿ 139-158. al-ʿAṣima al-ʾIdariyya al- to Egyptian Companies assumption in the 1970s that al-ʿAṣima al-ʾIdariyya jadīda yaʿqid awwal ijtimāʿ Falls in Favour of Banks the NUCA might regain the ʾistithmārī w lan yukallif Egyptian Streets. “China to lahu bi-ḥudūr 13 ʿUḍwan” in Egypt.” Daily News costs of implementing new khazīnat al-dawla mallīman Build Business District in [Board of New Administrative Egypt, 19 February 2017, towns in the desert by resales wāḥidan” [Abdeen: Egypt’s New Capital, Amid Capital Company Holds http://dailynewsegypt. of land. The problem is that Administrative Capital Project Skepticism Against the First Meeting, 13 Members com/2017/02/19/615665/. the authority is deep in debt Will Not Cost Any Cent to Mega-Project”. 12 October Attending]. Youm 7, 10 May Accessed 7 April 2018. and the resales rarely paid Treasury]. 20 February 2018, 2017, https://egyptianstreets. 2016, http://www.youm7. off for various reasons (Sims http://www.ahram.org. com/2017/10/12/china-to- com/2710867. Accessed 9 ––› 168-170, 218-219). eg/NewsQ/638497.aspx. build-business-district-in- March 2018. Accessed 27 March 2018. egypts-new-capital-amid- continued-skepticism- against-the-mega-project/. Accessed 14 July 2018.

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––› MPMAR. “Sustainable ---. Raumbezogene politische Wahdan, Dalia. Planning Development Strategy: Konflikte: Geographische Egypt’s New Settlements: The Egypt’s Vision 2030.” 2016, Konfliktforschung Politics of Spatial Inequities. http://sdsegypt2030. am Beispiel von American U of Cairo P, 2009. com/category/reports-en/ Gemeindegebietsreformen. page/2/?lang=en. Accessed Franz Steiner, 1999. 20 July 2018. ṣawāf, Laylā. “The Armed NUCA. “Wazīr al-Iskān: al- Forces and Egypt’s Land.” ʿAṣima al-ʾIdariyya al-jadīda Mada Masr, 26 April 2016, lan tukallif al-dawla mallīman https://www.madamasr. waḥidan“ [Minister of com/en/2016/04/26/feature/ Housing: New Administrative economy/the-armed-forces- Capital Will Not Cost and-egypts-land/. Accessed One Cent to Treasury]. 29 22 August 2018. September 2014, http://www. newcities.gov.eg/dispNews. Sims, David. Egypt’s Desert aspx?ID=970. Accessed 28 Dreams: Development or March 2018. Disaster? The American U of Cairo P, 2014. Oekoplan. “The New Administrative Capital Stewart, Dona J. “Changing Movie.” YouTube, uploaded Cairo: The Political Economy 5 March 2017, https:// of Urban Form.” International www.youtube.com/ Journal of Urban and watch?v=QLFqA99fBCA. Regional Research, vol. 23, Accessed 12.01.2019. no. 1, 1999, pp. 128-146.

Pawelka, Peter. “Politische Tadamun. “Egypt’s New Systeme im Vorderen Cities: Neither Just nor Orient: Analysekonzepte Efficient.” 31 December und Forschungsstrategien.“ 2015, http://www.tadamun. Orient, vol. 41, no. 3, 2000, co/2015/12/31/egypts- pp. 389-413. new-cities-neither-just- efficient/?lang=en. Accessed Reuber, Paul. Politische 2 February 2018. Geographie. Ferdinand (CC BY 4.0) Schöningh, 2012. ISSN: 2196-629X https://doi.org/10.17192/ meta.2019.12.7933

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