March 5, 2025 (EIRNS)—While well short of the LaRouche Oasis Plan, in that it refers only to Gaza, the Egyptian-sponsored Gaza reconstruction plan, dubbed “Turning Gaza into a Smart City,” envisions transforming a region of mass destruction into a modern high-tech urban and rural landscape. The design is based on ideas and principles that Egypt has used in its own construction of 12 new “smart cities,” with another 12 more cities in the planning stage. These Egyptian cities are being built to house up to 5 million residents each. Some, such as the Egyptian New Administrative Capital, were built in cooperation with China. The full plan is available here.
The Gaza plan will take five years, and conclude by 2030, at a total cost of $53 billion. It targets accommodating a population of 3 million Palestinians, with a density of approximately 35 people per feddan (0.0042 sq km). It will create a total of 500,000 jobs in several sectors, including: housing, 80,000; industry, 70,000; tourism, 60,000; services, 90,000; agriculture, 120,000; and fishing, 80,000.
The plan envisions funding from the United Nations, international financial institutions, donor countries, development banks, as well as foreign direct investment and private sector partnerships. An internationally supervised trust fund is intended to distribute the funds. Egypt intends to host a high-level ministerial conference in Cairo, in collaboration with the Palestinian Authority and the UN, to garner financial support.
The plan divides Gaza into five main functional sectors: Sector 1, Rafah for the Logistics Center; Sector 2, Khan Younis for the Science and Knowledge Center; Sector 3, Deir Al-Balah for the Al-Salam Center; Sector 4, Gaza for its Government Headquarters; Sector 5, North Gaza as a Cultural Center.
