The idea is colossal: building an eco-friendly city the size of Singapore in the desert outside Cairo, a sleek new capital fit for the 21st century where a diverse slice of society will live in harmony.
Of the projects unveiled at the corporate jamboree that was Egypt's economic conference last weekend, "The Capital Cairo" is the biggest and least transparent endeavor, the latest mega-project ordered by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to kick-start an ailing economy.
There will be leafy mixed-use neighborhoods, housing for up to 7 million people, 2,000 schools, shopping malls, solar energy farms, efficient public transport, skyscrapers, a million new jobs and even a central park more than twice the size of New York City's.
It's everything missing from Egypt today with a price tag of up to USD 80 billion.
For urban planners, the project described as "a dream of what could become reality" is a mystery, hastily conceived with no concrete information on funding. Questions stick out over the actual demand for so many units, who will build required infrastructure and how to attract a diverse cross-section of society.
