Amman, April 09 (QNA) - The Jordanian government will establish a 'New City' at a distance of about 40 km from the center of the capital, Amman, and 31 km from the city of Zarqa, and is in line with the vision of economic modernization and the map of modernizing the public sector.

In this context, King Abdullah II of Jordan directed the formation of an advisory committee that includes specialists and experts from various sectors, to benefit from their ideas and opinions in planning the city, to be a model for other cities in terms of physical and urban planning, and to provide elements of sustainability for resources, energy, water and the environment.

King of Jordan affirmed the importance of proceeding with the implementation of the new city project within clear and announced time frames, so that it becomes one of the main drivers of the economy - creating investment-stimulating environments, and providing job and employment opportunities. He stressed the necessity of informing citizens of information related to the city in a transparent and clear manner.

For his part, Jordan's Minister of Government Communications and Government Spokesperson Faisal Al Shboul told Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the New City is a major national strategic project that contributes to providing a better quality of life, through the establishment of a new urban growth pole, to relieve population pressure on major cities, such as Amman and Zarqa, in addition to improving the quality of life and services in these cities.

The new civilization constitutes a modernization idea that comes in response to the aspirations of the Jordanian state in its second centenary, through developing capabilities and providing economic, developmental and demographic solutions in its various dimensions, he added.

Al Shboul affirmed that the idea of the New City will contribute to stimulating economic growth and creating new employment opportunities, in partnership with the private sector and encouraging it to invest, in addition to presenting a contemporary model for flexible cities through the application of planning thinking that takes into account urban expansion in line with the expected population growth, in accordance with international planning systems.

He pointed out that the city will also contribute to absorbing part of the current and future population increase in the country, and to relieve pressure on the facilities of the capital, Amman, and the city of Zarqa, just as it provides thoughtful and sustainable solutions for urban planning, land development, infrastructure problems, mobility, transportation, environmental systems, clean energy, and providing various types of housing with high quality and reasonable price.

The New City will also address many of the problems and challenges facing existing cities, which will positively affect the environment in the cities of Amman and Zarqa, and improve the quality of life and services in the areas of transportation, roads, education, water, electricity, health and the green economy, he added.

He explained that the area of the first phase of the city is about 25 square kilometers, noting that it is considered a nucleus for future expansion planned until 2050 in its first phase, as the total area of the city will reach 270 square kilometers.

He indicated that the population of the first phase of the city is expected to reach about 157,000 people, to reach one million people by 2050 in light of the expected population growth and attraction in the city when all phases of the project are completed.

Jordan's Minister of Government Communications and Government Spokesperson emphasized that the New City will be built on state-owned land, and that it is also surrounded by state-owned land, which facilitates many procedures and decision-making in the various stages of the project, especially with regard to planning and organization.

Al Shboul pointed out that all investments in the New City will be in partnership with the Jordanian private sector and foreign investments, in addition to the governmental contribution, stressing that the Jordanian government will not resort to any internal or external borrowing for the purposes of this national project.

In regard to the cost of establishing the New City, he said that the cost will exceed 8 billion Jordanian dinars, and the contribution of the Jordanian government to the New City project will be about 442 million Jordanian dinars, starting from the implementation of the project in 2025, at a rate of 50 million Jordanian dinars annually.

As for the time frame for implementing the project, he believed that the current year will witness the development of detailed plans (the comprehensive plan) for the project, which will be built entirely on government-owned lands, surrounded by state-owned lands, and the formation of the wholly government-owned company.

He also explained that the first phase of the project will start in 2025 and end in 2033, indicating that government buildings will be completed in 2028, in preparation for their transfer, and work will begin after that with the construction of housing. (QNA)