Boston University geologist Farouk El-Baz will aid the new Egyptian government as it faces rapid population growth, as his “Desert Development Corridor” plan to construct highways, pipelines and power lines would allow the booming population to more efficiently use the country’s land.
El-Baz, the director of BU’s Center for Remote Sensing, said he began researching Egypt’s deserts in 1978 using remote sensing, which BU geologist Magaly Koch described as satellite images “for various exploration, mapping and monitoring tasks.”
“It is an excellent tool for observing and extracting information about our environment,” Koch said. “It allows rapid mapping and exploration of vast amounts of lands that are often difficult to visit because of their remoteness.”
El-Baz said the original inspiration for his project came from the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.
“He appointed me in 1978 as science advisor and I began to study Egypt’s deserts,” El-Baz said. “My geological work as assisted by increasingly advanced satellite image data resulted in the proposed plan.”
El-Baz’s plan would include the construction of a nearly 750-mile superhighway, railway, water pipeline and power-line, which would allow Egypt’s population to expand farther from the Nile River.
“Key aspects are to open up new land for development in order to stop building on fertile land of the Nile River and its delta,” El-Baz said. “In so doing, one would open job opportunities.”
El-Baz said the estimated number of new jobs during the project’s infrastructure phase is 450,000.
Second-year College of Arts and Sciences graduate student Mostafa Abubakr, who aided El-Baz in his research, said that this project is a solution to Egypt’s overpopulation problem.
“Egypt has a rapidly growing population that now exceeds 80 million people,” Abubakr said. “Most of the population is concentrated in the area around the Nile River and the Nile Valley. [The plan] will complement communities outside that area and all Egyptian territories.”
While El-Baz said his role in the project’s implementation will not exceed his expertise as a geologist, he suggested the Egyptian government issue a bond with a $1 share price so that each Egyptian can afford to own part of the project.
“After that, investment offers can be made to Arab companies and countries followed by international investors,” El-Baz said. “I see this as a highly profitable venture in the long term.”
El-Baz added that he and his students will likely provide information gathered from space missions that show the location of ground water, found using remote sensing from space.
Originally from Cairo, Abubakr said he is very interested in this research, which will allow for the improvement of the Egyptian economy and the new development of land.
“El-Baz was one of the first scientists who became very famous in Egypt, and he has done a lot of research in my field of study,” Abubakr said.
El-Baz said the new government in Egypt will be helpful in the implementation of the project, which he originally proposed in 1985.
“The revolution generation is working hard on stabilizing the country,” El-Baz said.
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