A government official revealed that Prime Minister Mohamed Shia' al-Sudani has given the green light for the establishment of a modern city between Diyala and Baghdad, the first of its kind in half a century. The Mayor of Baqubah District, Abdullah al-Hayali, stated that "as part of Prime Minister Mohamed Shia' al-Sudani's strategy to create modern cities to address the housing crisis and reduce density in the capital, the green light has been given to identify several tracts of land located on the administrative border between Baghdad and Diyala, near Bani Saad (20 km southwest of Baqubah), to serve as the site for the new city."
He added that "a high-level committee, led by him and comprised of several departments, has been formed to review the files of the tracts and determine if there are any contractual obligations, as well as to identify any obstacles regarding land possession and which entities have the authority to finalize ownership options."
According to Baghdad News, "the city, which will be located within a sprawling green triangle near Al-Husseiniyah in Al-Rashidiya District, will include thousands of housing units along with integrated services, should the project proceed." He noted that "the committee, chaired by him, has held its first meeting and is awaiting reports from the relevant land authorities for review and submission to the Prime Minister," affirming that "the establishment of a city in these areas is a project that is unprecedented at this significant level of construction in half a century."
The current government has previously confirmed its intention to establish residential cities on the outskirts of provinces and to expand them, instead of the idea of investment residential complexes that are set up in areas with existing infrastructure, which have exacerbated the housing crisis, as described by al-Sudani.
