- Published on 05 November 2024
Introduction
The New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) has been working on the New Cities Programme for 45 years, through which it has established 49 new urban communities across Egypt. This programme is the result of “the need to provide the requirements of new and growing communities with the characteristics of civilised societies without compromising the size of the agricultural area,” as engineer Hasaballah El Kafrawy explained when, as Minister of Housing, he presented the NUCA bill to Parliament for discussion in 1979. Nearly half a century after laying the foundation stone of the first new city, has NUCA succeeded in redirecting a large proportion of population growth out of the Nile valley into the desert?
Through a series of interactive maps, this research visualizes statistics on the geographical distribution of NUCA’s landbank and new city population. While the interactive maps show data at the level of each of the 27 governorates, the tables in the appendices disaggregate it by each of the 49 new cities that were established, or still under construction, by mid-2024.
NUCA landbank
One way of assessing NUCA’s development goals is by analysing the geographic distribution of its landbank across Egypt’s governorates. By the end of 2023, NUCA held 9001 Km2 or 2.2 million acres of land in 23 out of Egypt’s 27 governorates (Map 1). One third of NUCA’s landbank (3,044 Km2) was in Matrouh, all of which overlooks over 200 km of coastline on the Mediterranean sea, and which have been, or are in the process of redevelopment as resorts. In second place comes Cairo with one fifth of NUCA’s landholdings (1,808 Km2), showing the primacy of the capital city, home to the largest cities developed by NUCA: The New Administrative Capital (904 Km2), and New Cairo (404 Km2). However, Greater Cairo as a metropolis (the governorates of Cairo, and parts of Giza, Qalubia and Sharkia) holds 40% of NUCA’s landbank, making it the highest concentration of NUCA land on a regional level. By contrast, NUCA held relatively little land in Upper Egypt, the New Valley, half the Nile Delta and Sinai. NUCA did not hold any land in only four governorates: Kafr Al-sheikh and Gharbia in the Nile Delta, because they do not have any desert hinterland, and the Red Sea and South Sinai, while desert governorates, no reason has been given for why NUCA has not developed land there. All of NUCA’s plots of land holdings are designated as new cities (Appendix 1), except in Matrouh governorate, where 88% of its (3,044 Km2) landbank remains unassigned, with the rest designated for the coastal resort towns of New Alamein and New Ras Al-Hekma. The rest of the area has not yet been allocated as new cities, and a large proportion of it represents private tourist villages or has been developed through the Authority (Marakia, Marbella and Marina).
Map 1: NUCA land area by governorate. Source: See Appendix 1&2.
While NUCA’s land holdings seem small compared to the size of the country, comprising just under 1% of Egypt’s land area. On a local level its holdings comprise 68% of Cairo governorate’s area, 24% of Qalubia, and 21% of Munofia (Map 2). However, in most governorates where it holds land, its percentage ranges between one and seven percent.
Map 2: Percentage of NUCA land to total governorate area. Source: See Appendix 2.
A better approach to assessing the impact of the NUCA on local urban development could be to calculate the area of land it owns as a percentage of Egypt’s total inhabited area, which was estimated at 112,174 square kilometres in mid-2023, or about 11.2% of the total area of the Republic. We find here that the Cairo Communities Authority’s land portfolio, estimated at 9001 square kilometres, represents only 8% of Egypt’s inhabited area, which is a relatively small percentage. The rest of the land that was classified as inhabited included existing urban areas (cities and villages), agricultural land (old and being reclaimed), industrial and tourism development land (resorts and archaeological areas), and energy (plants and farms).
At the local level, NUCA land accounted for 100 per cent of inhabited land in Cairo,[1] 40.7 per cent of inhabited land in Matrouh, 31.6 per cent in Suez, and between 20 and 25 per cent of inhabited land in Qalyubia, Menoufia and Giza (Map 3). In Upper Egypt, NUCA holdings averaged only 5% of populated land in Upper Egypt, with little or no importance in Luxor, New Valley, Beheira, and Ismailia.
Map 3: Percentage of new cities to governorate inhabited area. Source: See Appendix 5.
New Cities’ Demographics 2023
At the end of 2023, 1.7 million people lived in NUCA’s new cities across the country. Cairo had the largest population of more than 550,000, followed by Giza, with 476,000, while Aswan had the lowest population size: only 121 inhabitants (Map 4). In addition, new cities in 11 governorates did not report a population in 2024 (Appendix 3).
Map 4: New cities population by governorate. Source: See Appendix 3&4.
However, to put the population numbers of new cities into perspective, we need to compare it to the national as well as local populations to have an idea of NUCA’s effectiveness in absorbing population growth. Overall, NUCA’s new cities accounted for only 1.7% of Egypt’s population at the start of 2024. At the local level, new cities in Cairo Governorate hosted 5% of its population, with a similar percentage for new cities in Giza, the highest incidents of population absorption. In third and fourth places were new cities in Sharkia and Damietta with 4.2% and 3.4% of those governorates’ populations respectively (Map 5). The lowest incidents of population absorption were in Sohag and Aswan governorates, where merely 0.01% of the population lived in new cities.
Map 5: Percentage of new cities to total governorate population. Source: See Appendix 4.
Conclusion
In the 45 years between NUCA’s establishment in 1979 and today, 2.2 million acres of public land have been allocated to it for development and transformation into new urban communities. After setting aside areas allocated over the past five years (i.e. not yet inhabited) and removing areas for roads and services (about half the area of the cities), about 900,000 feddans remain for housing. This vast land is enough to house more than 27 million people, based on average NUCA urban planning densities of 60 people per acre. In contrast, official statistics show that only 1.7 million people live in new cities today, a very small percentage of the capacity of all these cities, and a less than optimal use of the billions of pounds of public spending on them. Even as these cities, especially the newer ones, continue to grow, they will not reach capacity in the near future.
With the inexorable rise in building material pricers and the cost of construction, housing and utilities, it has become imperative to reconsider the policy of developing new cities to focus on increasing their absorption capacity rather than expanding cities and building new ones. Here, the social and structural barriers that led to the cities not attracting the population as planned, despite the construction of hundreds of thousands of housing units, must be studied and solutions to these barriers found, one which may require investing in more social services such as education, health and public transport, and incentivising the renting of empty housing, rather than encouraging more real esate development.
Methodology
Administrative boundaries of the governorates
The latest map of Egypt published by the Egyptian General Survey Authority dated 2022 was used, with the addition of one amendment to the borders of Cairo and Suez governorates according to Presidential Decree No. 314 of 2022, which was not on the map.
New Cities
This research has focused on new cities and lands belonging to the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) and subject to NUCA Law No. 59 of 1979. As of mid-2024, there were 49 new cities (Annex No. ). The research did not include new cities not affiliated with the NUCA, such as Galala City in Suez governorate and New Rafah City in North Sinai.
Landbank
The landbank area has been calculated from primary official data, usually from presidential land allocation decrees or minister of housing decrees declaring the strategic plans for cities published in the Official Gazette. Each decree includes the area of state-owned land allocated to NUCA, or, the area of the strategic plan. In some cases where decrees were not found, or their areas were not clear, information has been sourced from NUCA’s official website newcities.gov.eg. All areas were collected until mid-2024.
Demographics
The population in the new cities was obtained from the CAPMAS periodic bulletin on population issued at the level of centres and divisions on 1/1/2024, which publishes population estimates based on the 2017 census.
Appendices
Appendix 1: Total area of NUCA lands as of August 2024
| NUCA Lands | ||||||
| Region | Governorate | City | Total Area | References | ||
| Acres | Sq Km | Percentage | ||||
| Greater Cairo | Cairo | Shorouk | 52,992 | 214 | 2.2% | MoH 227/2018 |
| Greater Cairo | Cairo | 15th of May | 18,329 | 74 | 0.8% | PD 390/2017 |
| Greater Cairo | Cairo | Badr | 18,545 | 75 | 0.8% | NUCA Badr City page |
| Greater Cairo | Cairo | New Cairo | 99,814 | 404 | 4.2% | PD 191/2000, 499/2016, MoH 1060/2017 |
| Greater Cairo | Cairo | Capital Gardens | 33,800 | 137 | 1.4% | PD 645/2020 |
| Greater Cairo | Cairo | New Administrative Capital | 223,383 | 904 | 9.3% | PD 57/2016, PD 333/2022 |
| Greater Cairo | Giza | Sheikh Zayed | 23,250 | 94 | 1.0% | MoH Strategic Plan, MoH 367/2020 |
| Greater Cairo | Giza | New Sphinx | 76,931 | 311 | 3.2% | MoH 90/2020 |
| Greater Cairo | Giza | New 6th of October | 78,198 | 316 | 3.3% | MoH 146/2018 |
| Greater Cairo | Giza | 6th of October | 51,929 | 210 | 2.2% | NUCA 6th of October City page |
| Greater Cairo | Giza | October Gardens | 40,749 | 165 | 1.7% | MoH 888/2019 |
| Greater Cairo | Giza | New Warak | 1,516 | 6 | 0.1% | PD 20/2018, Ministerial decree 775/2019 |
| Greater Cairo | Qalubia | Obour | 16,000 | 65 | 0.7% | NUCA Obour City page |
| Greater Cairo | Qalubia | New Obour | 58,914 | 238 | 2.5% | Egypt’s Projects Map, New Obour City |
| Alexandria | Alexandria | New Alexandria | 419 | 2 | 0.0% | Ministerial Decree 688/2021 |
| Alexandria | Alexandria | New Borg Al-Arab | 50,000 | 202 | 2.1% | PD 506/1979 |
| Delta | Munfia | Sadaat | 121,000 | 490 | 5.0% | Ministerial Decree 620/2017 |
| Delta | Sharkia | 10th of Ramadan | 95,000 | 384 | 4.0% | |
| Delta | Sharkia | New Salhia | 1,617 | 7 | 0.1% | NUCA New Salhia City page |
| Delta | Beheira | New Rosetta | 3,185 | 13 | 0.1% | Ministerial Decree 1002/2020 |
| Delta | Beheira | New Nubaria | 1,818 | 7 | 0.1% | PD 375/2023 |
| Delta | Dakahlia | New Mansoura | 5,913 | 24 | 0.2% | PD 378/2017, PD 8/2018 |
| Delta | Damietta | New Damietta | 30,000 | 121 | 1.3% | NUCA New Damietta City page |
| Suez Canal | Port said | West Port said | 3,075 | 12.4 | 0.1% | PD 550/2019, Ministerial decree 797/2023 |
| Suez Canal | Port said | New Port Said (Salam) | 22,154 | 90 | 0.9% | PD 589/2019 |
| Suez Canal | Ismailia | New Ismailia | 2,039 | 8 | 0.1% | PD 177/2018, MoH Decree |
| Suez Canal | Suez | New Suez | 65,494 | 265 | 2.7% | PD 316/2021 |
| Desert | Matrouh | New Alamein | 48,971 | 198 | 2.0% | PD 108/2018, Ministerial Decree 349/2019 |
| Desert | Matrouh | New Ras Al-Hekma | 40,667 | 165 | 1.7% | PD 55/2024 |
| Desert | Matrouh | Touristic Villages (Marakia, Marina, Marbella) | 4,620 | 19 | 0.2% | MoH 543/1983 |
| Desert | Matrouh | North Coast | 657,956 | 2,663 | 27.5% | PD 361/2020, PD 421/2021, PD 55/2024 |
| Upper Egypt | Beni Sweif | New Al-Fashn | 17,958 | 73 | 0.7% | PD 347/2018 |
| Upper Egypt | Beni Sweif | New Beni Sweif | 25,136 | 102 | 1.0% | PD 161/2016 |
| Upper Egypt | Minya | New Malwa | 18,420 | 75 | 0.8% | PD 347/2018 |
| Upper Egypt | Minya | New Minya | 24,639 | 100 | 1.0% | PD 392/2004 |
| Upper Egypt | Assiut | Nasser (West Assiut) | 6,006 | 24 | 0.3% | PD 78/2017 |
| Upper Egypt | Assiut | New Assiut | 30,300 | 123 | 1.3% | NUCA New Assiut City page |
| Upper Egypt | Luxor | New Luxor | 9,675 | 39 | 0.4% | PD 356/2018 |
| Upper Egypt | Luxor | New Tiba | 9,495 | 38 | 0.4% | PD 198/2000, PD 329/2014 |
| Upper Egypt | Sohag | New Sohag | 29,516 | 119 | 1.2% | Prime Ministerial Decree 1623/2015 |
| Upper Egypt | Sohag | New Akhmim | 9930 | 40 | 0.4% | Prime Ministerial Decree 1623/2016 |
| Upper Egypt | Aswan | New Toshka | 3,965 | 16 | 0.2% | PD 268/2006, PD 355/2016 |
| Upper Egypt | Aswan | New Aswan | 22,490 | 91 | 0.9% | PD 96/199, PD 807/2015 |
| Upper Egypt | Fayoum | New Fayoum | 11,538 | 47 | 0.5% | PD 37/2024 |
| Upper Egypt | Qena | West Qena | 8,971 | 36 | 0.4% | PD 168/2017 |
| Upper Egypt | Qena | Nagaa Hammadi | 25,152 | 102 | 1.0% | PD 85/2021 |
| Upper Egypt | Qena | New Qena | 19,039 | 77 | 0.8% | PD 69/2024 |
| Desert | North Sinai | New Bir Al-Abd | 2,708 | 11 | 0.1% | PD 132/2019 |
| Desert | New Valley | East Owainat | 1,073 | 4 | 0.0% | NUCA East Owainat City |
| Total | 2,224,290 | 9,001 | 100.0% | |||
Appendix 2: Total area of NUCA lands by governorate
| Governorate | NUCA land area within Gov. (Acres) | NUCA land area within Gov. (Sq Km) | % | Percentage of NUCA land to total Gov. area |
| Total Governorates | 2,224,290 | 9,001 | 100.0% | 0.9% |
| Cairo | 446,863 | 1,808 | 20.1% | 68.6% |
| Alexandria | 50,419 | 204 | 2.3% | 8.6% |
| Port said | 25,229 | 102 | 1.1% | 7.9% |
| Suez | 65,494 | 265 | 2.9% | 2.9% |
| Damietta | 30,000 | 121 | 1.3% | 12.5% |
| Dakahlia | 5,913 | 24 | 0.3% | 0.6% |
| Sharkia | 96,617 | 391 | 4.3% | 7.9% |
| Qalubia | 74,914 | 303 | 3.4% | 24.2% |
| Kafr elsheikh | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Gharbia | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Munfia | 121,000 | 490 | 5.4% | 21.1% |
| Beheira | 5,003 | 20 | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Ismailia | 2,039 | 8 | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Giza | 272,573 | 1,103 | 12.3% | 2.9% |
| Beni Sweif | 43,094 | 174 | 1.9% | 3.3% |
| Fayoum | 11,538 | 47 | 0.5% | 0.5% |
| Minya | 43,059 | 174 | 1.9% | 0.6% |
| Assiut | 36,306 | 147 | 1.6% | 1.5% |
| Sohag | 39,446 | 160 | 1.8% | 1.0% |
| Qena | 53,162 | 215 | 2.4% | 1.9% |
| Aswan | 26,455 | 107 | 1.2% | 2.0% |
| Luxor | 19,170 | 78 | 0.9% | 0.1% |
| Red Sea | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| New Valley | 1,073 | 4 | 0.05% | 0.01% |
| Matrouh | 752,214 | 3,044 | 33.8% | 2.5% |
| North Sinai | 2,708 | 11 | 0.1% | 0.01% |
| South Sinai | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Appendix 3: Total population of NUCA new cities
| Region | Governorate | City | Population (1/1/2024) |
| Greater Cairo | Cairo | Shorouk | 94,228 |
| Greater Cairo | Cairo | 15th of May | 101,014 |
| Greater Cairo | Cairo | Badr | 33,768 |
| Greater Cairo | Cairo | New Cairo | 321,091 |
| Greater Cairo | Cairo | Capital Gardens | NA census |
| Greater Cairo | Cairo | New Administrative Capital | NA census |
| Greater Cairo | Giza | Sheikh Zayed | 98,370 |
| Greater Cairo | Giza | New Sphinx | NA census |
| Greater Cairo | Giza | New 6th of October | NA census |
| Greater Cairo | Giza | 6th of October | 378,306 |
| Greater Cairo | Giza | October Gardens | 378,306 |
| Greater Cairo | Giza | New Warak | NA census |
| Greater Cairo | Qalubia | Obour | 144,074 |
| Greater Cairo | Qalubia | New Obour | NA census |
| Alexandria | Alexandria | New Alexandria | NA census |
| Alexandria | Alexandria | New Borg Al-Arab | 46,961 |
| Delta | Munfia | Sadaat | 74,915 |
| Delta | Sharkia | 10th of Ramadan | 267,015 |
| Delta | Sharkia | New Salhia | 64,349 |
| Delta | Beheira | New Rosetta | NA census |
| Delta | Beheira | New Nubaria | 24,296 |
| Delta | Dakahlia | New Mansoura | NA census |
| Delta | Damietta | New Damietta | 56,056 |
| Suez Canal | Port said | West Port said | NA census |
| Suez Canal | Port said | New Port Said (Salam) | NA census |
| Suez Canal | Ismailia | New Ismailia | NA census |
| Suez Canal | Suez | New Suez | NA census |
| Desert | Matrouh | New Alamein | NA census |
| Desert | Matrouh | New Ras Al-Hekma | NA census |
| Desert | Matrouh | Touristic Villages (Marakia, Marina, Marbella) | NA census |
| Desert | Matrouh | North Coast | NA census |
| Upper Egypt | Beni Sweif | New Al-Fashn | NA census |
| Upper Egypt | Beni Sweif | New Beni Sweif | 35,467 |
| Upper Egypt | Minya | New Malwa | NA census |
| Upper Egypt | Minya | New Minya | 18,590 |
| Upper Egypt | Assiut | Nasser (West Assiut) | NA census |
| Upper Egypt | Assiut | New Assiut | 9,956 |
| Upper Egypt | Luxor | New Luxor | NA census |
| Upper Egypt | Luxor | New Tiba | 3,220 |
| Upper Egypt | Sohag | New Sohag | 205 |
| Upper Egypt | Sohag | New Akhmim | NA census |
| Upper Egypt | Aswan | New Toshka | NA census |
| Upper Egypt | Aswan | New Aswan | 121 |
| Upper Egypt | Fayoum | New Fayoum | 446 |
| Upper Egypt | Qena | West Qena | NA census |
| Upper Egypt | Qena | Nagaa Hammadi | NA census |
| Upper Egypt | Qena | New Qena | 1,736 |
| Desert | North Sinai | New Bir Al-Abd | NA census |
| Desert | New Valley | East Owainat | NA census |
| Total | 1,774,184 |
Sources: Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, “Estimated population”, January 2024
Appendix 4: Total population of NUCA new cities by governorate
| Governorate | Governorate Population | New Cities Population | Percentage of New Cities to total Gov. Population |
| Total Governorates | 105,914,499 | 1,774,184 | 1.7% |
| Cairo | 10,299,821 | 550,101 | 5.3% |
| Alexandria | 5,573,808 | 46,961 | 0.8% |
| Port said | 793,976 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Suez | 797,045 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Damietta | 1,626,063 | 56,056 | 3.4% |
| Dakahlia | 7,086,788 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Sharkia | 7,961,136 | 331,364 | 4.2% |
| Qalubia | 6,175,627 | 144,074 | 2.3% |
| Kafr elsheikh | 3,740,624 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Gharbia | 5,468,353 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Munfia | 4,767,510 | 74,915 | 1.6% |
| Beheira | 6,927,724 | 24,296 | 0.4% |
| Ismailia | 1,464,224 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Giza | 9,578,680 | 476,676 | 5.0% |
| Beni Sweif | 3,624,142 | 35,467 | 1.0% |
| Fayoum | 4,115,608 | 446 | 0.01% |
| Minya | 6,398,400 | 18,590 | 0.29% |
| Assiut | 5,112,926 | 9,956 | 0.19% |
| Sohag | 5,783,044 | 205 | 0.004% |
| Qena | 3,674,412 | 1,736 | 0.05% |
| Aswan | 1,670,122 | 121 | 0.01% |
| Luxor | 1,412,746 | 3,220 | 0.23% |
| Red Sea | 406,195 | 0 | 0.00% |
| New Valley | 268,834 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Matrouh | 557,193 | 0 | 0.00% |
| North Sinai | 512,110 | 0 | 0.00% |
| South Sinai | 117,388 | 0 | 0.00% |
Appendix 5: Percentage of new cities to governorate inhabited area
| Governorate | New Cities Area (Acres) | New Cities Area (Sq Km) | Gov. Area (Sq Km) | % | Gov. Inhabited Area (Sq Km) | Inhabited Percentage | Percentage of New Cities to Gov. Inhabited Area |
| Total Governorates | 1,561,714 | 6,320 | 1,004,516 | 100.0% | 112,167 | 11.2% | 8.0% |
| Cairo | 446,863 | 1,808 | 2,638 | 0.3% | 1,808 | 68.5% | 100.0% |
| Alexandria | 50,419 | 204 | 2,382 | 0.2% | 1,736 | 72.9% | 11.8% |
| Port said | 25,229 | 102 | 1,301 | 0.1% | 1,147 | 88.2% | 8.9% |
| Suez | 65,494 | 265 | 9,252 | 0.9% | 839 | 9.1% | 31.6% |
| Damietta | 30,000 | 121 | 970 | 0.1% | 720 | 74.2% | 16.9% |
| Dakahlia | 5,913 | 24 | 3,908 | 0.4% | 3,678 | 94.1% | 0.7% |
| Sharkia | 96,617 | 391 | 4,973 | 0.5% | 5,007 | 100.7% | 7.8% |
| Qalubia | 74,914 | 303 | 1,255 | 0.1% | 1,169 | 93.1% | 25.9% |
| Kafr elsheikh | 0 | 0 | 3,686 | 0.4% | 3,575 | 97.0% | 0.0% |
| Gharbia | 0 | 0 | 1,945 | 0.2% | 1,946 | 100.1% | 0.0% |
| Munfia | 121,000 | 490 | 2,318 | 0.2% | 2,162 | 93.3% | 22.6% |
| Beheira | 5,003 | 20 | 10,649 | 1.1% | 9,620 | 90.3% | 0.2% |
| Ismailia | 2,039 | 8 | 5,383 | 0.5% | 4,878 | 90.6% | 0.2% |
| Giza | 272,573 | 1,103 | 37,678 | 3.8% | 5,295 | 14.1% | 20.8% |
| Beni Sweif | 43,094 | 174 | 5,256 | 0.5% | 2,288 | 43.5% | 7.6% |
| Fayoum | 11,538 | 47 | 10,209 | 1.0% | 2,310 | 22.6% | 2.0% |
| Minya | 43,059 | 174 | 27,058 | 2.7% | 7,855 | 29.0% | 2.2% |
| Assiut | 36,306 | 147 | 9,931 | 1.0% | 2,863 | 28.8% | 5.1% |
| Sohag | 39,446 | 160 | 16,368 | 1.6% | 3,051 | 18.6% | 5.2% |
| Qena | 53,162 | 215 | 11,034 | 1.1% | 2,589 | 23.5% | 8.3% |
| Aswan | 26,455 | 107 | 5,427 | 0.5% | 1,333 | 24.6% | 8.0% |
| Luxor | 19,170 | 78 | 63,310 | 6.3% | 12,203 | 19.3% | 0.6% |
| Red Sea | 0 | 0 | 27,697 | 2.8% | 3,721 | 13.4% | 0.0% |
| New Valley | 1,073 | 4 | 29,444 | 2.9% | 2,713 | 9.2% | 0.2% |
| Matrouh | 89,638 | 363 | 120,550 | 12.0% | 892 | 0.7% | 40.7% |
| North Sinai | 2,708 | 11 | 160,274 | 16.0% | 12,760 | 8.0% | 0.1% |
| South Sinai | 0 | 0 | 429,622 | 42.8% | 14,009 | 3.3% | 0.0% |
* Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), Egypt in Numbers 2024 – Population Section
** Appendix 1, excluding Matrouh governorate areas not allocated as new cities
Acknowledgements
Written by: Yahia Shawkat
Maps: Dina Elmazzahi
Main image: New Cairo City, Google Earth.
Notes
[1]Due to different calculation methodologies, the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) lands in Cairo were exactly equal to the populated area in Cairo. However, not all NUCA lands were inhabited at the end of 2023, including cities that are still under construction: New Administrative Capital and Capital Gardens.