By John Lee.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has underscored the importance of ensuring that new residential cities meet the needs of citizens, during a site visit to the under-construction Al-Jawahiri City (pictured), west of Baghdad.
The Prime Minister inspected the project, launched in December 2023, as part of his government's housing initiative. He reviewed implementation progress, met with project workers, and issued directives to overcome logistical obstacles, praising the efforts of the New Cities Authority and the Ministry of Construction for facilitating work.
Al-Sudani stated that the strategy to build integrated residential cities follows detailed analysis of Iraq's housing crisis, particularly addressing the needs of middle-income citizens, with a designated portion of housing allocated for low-income groups.
Key remarks by the Prime Minister included:
- Comprehensive services-commercial, economic, and public-will be integrated into all new cities.
- The housing model is designed to be simple, accessible, and affordable in terms of layout, pricing, and instalment plans.
- Past housing projects have faced issues in securing land and coordination across ministries regarding ownership.
- Ministries and local governments are instructed to prepare unified service plans for electricity, telecoms, roads, and national utility networks.
- Emphasis was placed on adhering to approved technical specifications and urban planning standards.
- The implementing company must expedite progress and adopt advanced construction technologies.
- Environmental requirements and green space allocations must be respected.
- Residential units must be designed with accessibility in mind and conform to smart city standards, in line with a modern and forward-looking vision.
Al-Jawahiri City is the first of several new planned urban developments aimed at alleviating the country's long-standing housing shortage.
(Source: PMO)
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