Cairo Eye, also known as Ain Cairo () is a

ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a big wheel, giant wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondola ...

under construction located on the banks of the

Nile River The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the longest river i ...

in the

Zamalek Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the Nile River, wit ...

district of

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. It will be considered Cairo's first

recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for happiness, enjoyment, amusement, ...

al and

touristic Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity onl ...

observation wheel spanning over of land area and a height of , making it the largest ferris wheel in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and the fifth largest worldwide, expected to attract around 2.5 million visitors a year. In recent years, the adjacent city of

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza''; , , ' ) is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos, and Cairo. It is the capital of ...

, home to the Sphinx and pyramids, has received the majority of tourism projects. From Giza's long-awaited

Grand Egyptian Museum The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM; ''al-Matḥaf al-Maṣriyy al-Kabīr''), also known as the Giza Museum, is an archaeological museum in Giza, Egypt, about from the Giza pyramid complex. The Museum hosts over 100,000 artifacts from ancient E ...

to the new pyramids visitor center and the recently opened

Sphinx International Airport Sphinx International Airport is a public airport, serving the city of Giza, on the western side of Cairo, Egypt. History In October 2017, it was announced that the airport will be open to commercial flights in summer 2018 and is set to start ...

, Egypt is betting big on Giza tourism and hopes the same for Cairo. In accordance with Egypt's 2030 Vision, Egypt aims to resuscitate its tourism sector with the new tourist attraction. As Egypt’s tourism authority anticipates that the wheel will certainly boost Egypt's economy, especially after the effects of the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The project was set to be completed in 2022, but it seems to have been abandoned.

Facilities

Cairo Eye is placed near one of Cairo's major archaeological attractions, the

Cairo Tower The Cairo Tower (, ''Borg El-Qāhira'') is a free-standing concrete tower in Cairo, Egypt. At , it was the tallest structure in Egypt for 37 years until 1998, when it was surpassed by the Suez Canal overhead powerline crossing. It was the tallest ...

, and it aims to link both entertainment and

cultural learning Cultural learning is the way a group of people or animals within a society or culture tend to learn and pass on information. Learning styles can be greatly influenced by how a culture socializes with its children and young people. Cross-cultural ...

together, set to have an integrated

recreational area A recreation area is a type of protected area designated in some jurisdictions. By country Canada In the province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , w ...

established around the Ferris wheel to serve as a tourist destination. The wheel will have 48 total cabins with a panoramic 360 view of Cairo with a capacity of 6-8 passengers for each cabin, and will carry around 15,000 visitors a day. The height of the wheel is , offers a bird's-eye view of the city for up to which includes the views of

downtown Cairo Downtown Cairo ( "middle of town") is the colloquial name given to the 19th-century western expansion of Egypt's capital Cairo, between the historic medieval Cairo, and the Nile, which became the commercial center of the city during the 20th c ...

, the renowned

Great Pyramid of Giza The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It served as the tomb of pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. Built , over a period of about 26 years ...

and the

Sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...

. The Cairo Eye will also include services and facilities like retailers of international brands,

fine dining restaurants Fine may refer to: Characters * Fran Fine, the title character of ''The Nanny'' * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (pe ...

, a

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...

, an entertainment and events area as well as a multi-purpose hall overlooking the

. As for the inevitable congestion and traffic jams, the project will be provided with a covered car parking area (two levels) with a capacity of 500 vehicles, 'Ain Cairo taxi services' and 'Ain Cairo free transport drop on/off buses' as well as river transportation. Tickets to ride the Cairo Eye are expected to range between $15 and $22, but prices will be reviewed once the project is complete.

Construction

The beginning of construction on the Cairo Eye wheel was officially announced by the Governor of Cairo on January 21, 2021 and it comes to support the

Egypt Vision 2030 Egypt Vision 2030 () is a national agenda launched in February 2016 by the Egyptian Government and unveiled by the Egyptian president Abd el-Fattah el-Sisi. The vision consists of eight main national goals to be met by 2030 that are in line wi ...

strategy to boost

tourism in Egypt Tourism in Egypt is one of the leading sources of income, a vital component of the Economy of Egypt, national economy. At its peak in 2010, the sector employed about 12% of workforce of Egypt, serving approximately 14.7 million visitors to Egy ...

and

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

launched by the

president of Egypt The president of the Arab Republic of Egypt () is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the History of the Egypt ...

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and 201 ...

. The project is owned by Hawaii Tourism, which are in negotiations with 4 banks to finance 50% of the investment cost of the Cairo Eye project. Cairo Eye was set to be completed and opened in 2022 at a cost of EGP 500 million ($32 million), providing 1,200 direct job opportunities and 4,000 indirect job opportunities.

Concerns

Location

residents have raised concerns over the project’s potential impact on the already-crowded district and its infrastructure. In order to preserve the identity and entity of the district, while taking into account the preservation of all trees and palms in the area, the project has adopted a plan to achieve an increase in the total green areas of the project by 15%؜ to reach instead of the current . Even after Cairo Eye officials stated that the project will actually increase total green space by 15%. Some stakeholders, such as Egyptian billionaire

Naguib Sawiris Naguib Onsi Sawiris ( ; ; born 15 June 1954) is an Egyptian businessman. Sawiris is chairman of Weather Investments's parent company, and the former chairman and CEO of Orascom Telecom Holding and Orascom Investment Holding S.A.E. Early li ...

, suggest moving the attraction closer to Egypt's

New Administrative Capital New Administrative Capital (NAC) () is a New Urban Communities Authority, new urban community east of New Cairo in Cairo Governorate, Egypt and a satellite city of Cairo. As of May 2023, 14 ministries and government entities have been relocated ...

, an under-construction local designed to alleviate Cairo congestion.

Traffic

Cairo is notoriously gridlocked, and many residents and even government officials worry an attraction of this size could only worsen things. Project leaders stated that they have studied traffic management and proposed solutions like the Cairo Eye Nile Taxi, a hop-on-hop-off bus, and a parking garage set to hold up to 500 cars.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{Cite web, last=, first=, date=2021-01-21, title=حقائق ومعلومات مشروع "عين القاهرة ".. تعرف عليها, trans-title=Facts and information about the "Cairo Eye" project ... know them, url=https://www.youm7.com/story/2021/1/21/حقائق-ومعلومات-مشروع-عين-القاهرة-تعرف-عليها/5168603, url-status=live, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124072502/https://www.youm7.com/story/2021/1/21/%D8%AD%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%82-%D9%88%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B9-%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%81-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%87%D8%A7/5168603 , archive-date=2021-01-24 , access-date=, website=Youm 7, language=ar {{Cite web, last=, first=, date=2021-01-21, title=تدشين مشروع عين القاهرة Cairo Eye باستثمارات 500 مليون جنيه, trans-title=The launch of the Cairo Eye project, with investments of 500 million pounds, url=https://www.youm7.com/story/2021/1/21/تدشين-مشروع-عين-القاهرة-Cairo-Eye-باستثمارات-500-مليون-جنيه/5168897, url-status=live, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128081830/https://www.youm7.com/story/2021/1/21/%D8%AA%D8%AF%D8%B4%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B9-%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A9-Cairo-Eye-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%AB%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-500-%D9%85%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%AC%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%87/5168897 , archive-date=2021-01-28 , access-date=, website=اليوم السابع, language=ar {{Cite web, last=, first=, date=, title=أخيرًا .. عين القاهرة, trans-title=Finally ... Cairo Eye, url=http://gate.ahram.org.eg/News/2556610.aspx, url-status=live, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109100804/http://gate.ahram.org.eg/News/2556610.aspx , archive-date=2021-01-09 , access-date=, website=Ahram Gates, language=ar Ferris wheels