Ciudad de la Paz (, ), formerly Oyala, also known as Djibloho – Ciudad de la Paz, is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

that is being built to replace

Malabo Malabo ( , ; formerly ) is the capital of Equatorial Guinea in the province of Bioko Norte. It is located on the north coast of the island of Bioko (, and as ''Fernando Pó'' by the Europeans). In 2018, the city had a population of approxim ...

as the national

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

. Established as an urban district in Wele-Nzas in 2015, it is now the administrative headquarters of Djibloho, Equatorial Guinea's newest province created in 2017, and is located near the town of Mengomeyén. In 2017, the city was officially renamed ''Ciudad de la Paz'' ("City of Peace"). The

planned city A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

's location was chosen for its easy access and benign climate. It is notably on the mainland, in contrast to Malabo, which is on the island of

Bioko Bioko (; ; ; historically known as Fernando Pó, ) is an island of Equatorial Guinea. It is located south of the coast of Cameroon, and northwest of the northernmost part of mainland Equatorial Guinea. Malabo, on the north coast of the is ...

. It was designed by the Portuguese Studio for

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

and

Urbanism Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, a profession focusing on the design and management of urban ...

FAT – Future Architecture Thinking. It is projected to have around 200,000 inhabitants,Oyala, una nueva capital para la megalomanía de Obiang
abc.es. 26 December 2012 a new

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

building, a number of presidential villas and an area of 8150 hectares.Arquitetos portugueses projetam nova capital para Guiné Equatorial
. piniweb.com.br. 10 November 2011Mauricio Lima (4 November 2011
Ateliê português desenha futura capital da Guiné Equatorial
. greensavers.pt. The construction of this new capital has been criticised by the political opposition to President Teodoro Obiang, the driving force behind the initiative. The Government of Equatorial Guinea began to move to the city in early 2017.BB
Equatorial Guinea government moves to new city in rainforest
/ref>

Geography

Location

Oyala – Ciudad de la Paz is located near the centre of

Río Muni Río Muni (called ''Mbini'' in Fang language, Fang) is the Continental Region (called ''Región Continental'' in Spanish language, Spanish) of Equatorial Guinea, and comprises the mainland geographical region, covering . The name is derived fr ...

, the continental part of Equatorial Guinea. It is located between the cities of Bata and

Mongomo Mongomo is a town in the province of Wele-Nzas on mainland Equatorial Guinea, on the eastern border, roughly 1 km (0.62 mi) west of Gabon's Woleu-Ntem Province. The president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, was bor ...

and 20 km from the airport of Mengomeyén. The power supply relies upon the 120 MW Djibloho Dam in the district Djibloho Evinayong.

Climate

Oyala – Ciudad de la Paz has a tropical climate that borders between a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

and a tropical savannah climate. It has high overall rainfall, averaging 2142 mm a year, which supports the lush rainforests in the region. There is an extensive wet season, spanning 10 months of the year from September to June, and a brief and slightly cooler dry season covering the remaining two months, July and August. There is also a noticeably drier, though still wet, stretch in December and January. Temperatures remain very warm throughout the course of the year, albeit lower than one might expect in other places with the same climate, especially considering its proximity to the

equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

Planning and construction

In the middle of the undeveloped

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

, the government plans to build a new city as the future seat of government. It will be the

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

of the president, government, administration, police and military leadership and replace the current capital

. The city is being designed to house 160,000–200,000 people, living in an area of 81.5 km². A golf course, a university, and a luxury hotel were finished in 2013 and a six-lane highway is almost complete. In planning are government buildings, a financial district and residential areas. Three bridges and highways have been completed or are under construction. There will be a connection between the city and the new

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

in Mengomeyen (the home of the president). The strategic importance of the port city of Bata will be developed for the neighbouring

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

and for

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

. For the highways, huge swaths of forest were cleared and lanes blown up. The Portuguese Chamber of Commerce ( AICEP) said the city should use renewable energy and be sustainable. Funding is provided through AICEP Portugal Global. The plans come from a Portuguese architectural office. The construction work will be supported by

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. Construction faces delays such as, according to unconfirmed reports, President Obiang ordered a building to be moved because he did not like the view. Additionally, all materials are imported.

Urban design

The city was designed by the Portuguese urban architecture ''FAT – Future Architecture Thinking''. Estimates of its ultimate population size have been revised from 65,000 initially to between 160,000 and 200,000. The city will be built on an area of 8,150 hectares (81.5 km² or 20,100 acres). According to FAT, the Djibloho project "combines modernity and respect for the cultural roots of the country, promoting local identity and the richness of the ecosystem in which it operates, prioritizing sustainability in the most varied aspects" stressing that "this project aims to create the first global capital entirely dependent on renewable and sustainable energy."

Progress

In 2021, a video sponsored by the China State Construction group, which is part of the building consortium, showed what appeared to be an overpass of completed, but not yet functioning, highways to Oyala, Bata, Mongomo and Mengomeyén airport. The video continued showing viewers around parts of the new city, where work on a six-storey cylindrical tower-building for the ministry of infrastructure remained partly built, and most other structures appeared far less advanced. However, 2022 videos show two glass towers, the gateway to the campus of the Afro-American University of Central Africa, several administrative style buildings and the Grand Hotel Djibloho all appearing functionally complete. The 380-room hotel has a golf course, wellness centre and facilities for conferences as large as 1200 people, though its own websiteHotel website
/ref> describes itself as being surrounded by tropical forest, which suggests that it is not in the heart of a city. File:Dschungel bei Oyala.JPG, Forest File:Brückenbau in Oyala.JPG, Bridge on the scheduled presidential residence (2010) File:Autobahnbau in Oyala.JPG, Highway under construction (2010)

Participating companies

* Director of planning, roads, highways and urban network diagram: CSCEC,

Vinci SA Vinci (; corporately styled VINCI) is a French concessions and construction company founded in 1899 as Société Générale d'Entreprises. Its head office is in Nanterre, in the western suburbs of Paris. Vinci is listed on Euronext's Paris st ...

, Egis Route * Perimeter Highway: ARG * Bridges:

Bouygues Bouygues S.A. () is a French engineering group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Bouygues is listed on the Euronext, Euronext Paris exchange and is a blue chip (stock market), blue chip in the ...

Besix BESIX Group is a Belgium, Belgian construction group based in Brussels, one of the world's leading international contractors according to the Engineering News-Record, ENR ranking. Active since 1909, BESIX operates in Europe, the Middle East, Ocean ...

, Vinci SA, General Works * Buildings: CSCEC, Piccini * Universities: Unicon * Regional parliament: Summa * Presidential palace: Seguibat * Ministry buildings: CSCEC

References

External links

* {{Commons inline
Ateliê português desenha futura capital da Guiné Equatorial
2015 establishments in Equatorial Guinea Populated places in Djibloho Planned capitals Proposed populated places Populated places established in 2015