Current Time in New Cairo, Egypt

New Cairo is a large planned city built on the desert plateau to the east of the Egyptian capital, from which it takes its name and to whose governorate it belongs. Known in Arabic as Al Qāhirah al Jadīdah, it sits above the Nile valley on ground that was empty limestone desert until the closing years of the twentieth century. Its wide, palm-lined roads, roundabouts and low-rise compounds present a striking contrast to the dense streets of the old city half an hour to the west.

The population is measured in the hundreds of thousands and continues to climb steeply, with infrastructure laid out for a far larger city. New Cairo matters because it represents a deliberate national strategy. Egypt's habitable land is confined to a narrow ribbon along the river, and moving housing, universities and offices onto the desert is intended to relieve congestion, protect farmland and create room for growth.

Construction began piecemeal in the 1980s and 1990s with separate desert settlements, and in 2000 the government combined them into a single city. Growth was slow at first, then accelerated dramatically once private developers began building gated residential compounds and once major institutions committed to the area. Within twenty years the district known as the Fifth Settlement had become one of the most sought-after addresses in Egypt, and the eastward shift of embassies, banks and multinational offices followed.

Visitors find a modern rather than a monumental city. The campus of the American University in Cairo is the architectural highlight, a widely praised complex of sandstone courtyards, gardens and shaded walkways that reinterprets traditional Egyptian design at a contemporary scale, and it hosts concerts, theatre and public lectures. Cairo Festival City Mall, with its dancing fountain, cinemas and hundreds of shops, functions as the city's town centre, while Downtown Mall, Point 90 and the Katameya Heights golf resort provide further leisure. From the eastern edge of the city the desert begins immediately, and off-road excursions, horse riding and stargazing trips set out from here.

Everyday life is comfortable and international. Restaurants serve everything from Egyptian grills to sushi, coffee culture is strong, and sporting clubs, international schools and private hospitals cater to a young, professional and largely middle-class population. Because so many residents are recent arrivals from elsewhere in Cairo and abroad, the city has an open, mobile social character.

New Cairo depends heavily on cars and on the ring road, the Suez road and the Ain Sokhna highway, which give quick access to the airport, to central Cairo and to the Red Sea coast. Newer public transport, including an electric light rail line and a monorail serving the eastern desert cities and the new administrative capital beyond, is progressively improving connections.

Education is the city's greatest asset, with the American University, the German University in Cairo and several other private institutions concentrated here.

New Cairo is where modern Egypt is being built, and it offers a fascinating counterpoint to the ancient capital next door.