New Cairo

New Cairo is the ambitious planned satellite city that has been rising in the Eastern Desert east of Cairo since the early 2000s, and it is increasingly the preferred destination for families seeking modern infrastructure, large homes, gated compounds, and some of Cairo's best international schools. The contrast with old Cairo is stark: wide, organized roads replace the chaotic urban fabric, purpose-built residential compounds offer swimming pools, gyms, and security, and malls like Cairo Festival City, Point 90, and Waterway provide a suburban retail experience that approaches international standards. The neighborhood is home to an extraordinary concentration of international schools: the British International School Cairo, Cairo American International School, Deutsche Schule der Borromäerinnen, Lycée Français du Caire (Fifth Settlement campus), and numerous other IB and national-curriculum institutions have all established campuses here. This has created an organic and growing expat community, with families from across Europe, North America, East Asia, and the Arab world living side by side in compound communities. New Cairo's main trade-off is distance and car-dependence. The area is 25-40 kilometers from central Cairo, and without the metro (which does not yet reach this far), all movement depends on cars or school buses. The desert setting also means air quality is affected by dust and limited vegetation. But for families prioritizing space, schools, modern amenities, and community infrastructure, New Cairo is increasingly the logical first choice when arriving in Cairo.