Ten kilometers southeast of Baghdad, just off the Baghdad-Kut highway, a whole new city is under construction. 100,000 residential units are planned to accommodate around 600,000 Iraqis in the biggest development project Iraq has ever seen. The project has received praise from numerous Iraqi figures, including former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who described it as a “dream” which “reflects our hope to provide housing units for all the Iraqi people who were deprived of their right to live in decent housing.”

The National Investment Commission (NIC) of Iraq is developing the Bismayah New City Project, with design and construction being handled by one of Korea’s leading engineering and construction companies, Hanwha E&C Corporation. A host of companies have been delegated different roles on the project. A gas-fired, 3,000-megawatt plant is currently being built by the Turkish Enka Insaat company, with the company’s chairman Sinan Tara quoted as saying that it would be financed by Mass Global and some Iraqi lenders. Hanwha E&C are currently building 14 sub-plants for the production of different construction materials including precast concrete.

The city will come equipped with all the necessary amenities, including schools, law enforcement and sports facilities . Bismayah is spread across a total area of 1,830 hectares, and will contain a sprawling infra-network, which will include a good supply of electricity and water, and a water & sewage treatment plant. The new city will also have a well-constructed road network, which will be linked to the nearby highway, connecting Bismayah to the nearby capital. Residential units will come in two types: traditional (living room is independent of the other rooms); and modern (kitchen and living room are interconnected). The units will also come in three different sizes: 100m2, 120m2, and 140m2. The price per square meter is uniform across the units at 630 USD/m2.