Shafaq News- Baghdad
Construction iscurrently underway on 14 residential complexes across several Iraqi provinces,alongside strategic projects that include 16 new cities, a spokesperson forIraq’s Ministry of Construction and Housing told Shafaq News on Saturday.
Istabraq Sabah saidthe most prominent projects under development include Al-Jawahiri City west ofBaghdad, which features around 30,000 housing units and 10,000 serviced landplots, as well as Al-Ward City east of the capital with a planned capacity of 120,000housing units. Al-Ghazlani City in Nineveh province includes more than 28,000housing units, while the remaining residential cities in the government planhave been referred to private developers under the real estate developerprogram.
According to Sabah,the ministry is increasingly promoting vertical housing as a planning solutionto address population growth and urban pressure, noting that “high-riseresidential projects help reduce horizontal urban expansion, preserveagricultural land, ease congestion, and improve service delivery efficiency.”
Iraq continues toface a severe housing crisis, with official estimates showing a shortage ofbetween 2.5 million and 3 million housing units nationwide. The Ministry ofPlanning said around 4 million Iraqis still live in informal settlementslacking basic services, while Iraq’s annual population growth rate of 2.6%requires the construction of at least 200,000 new housing units each year tokeep pace with demand.
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Government data alsoindicate that 65% of state housing projects were delayed or abandoned as of2023, further widening the gap between supply and demand. The crisis has beencompounded by rising land and construction costs, weak financing mechanisms, anddeclining purchasing power. In response, the Iraqi government launched 16 newresidential city projects and aims to reduce the housing gap by around 50% by2030 through partnerships with private developers, housing loan programs, andexpanded urban infrastructure projects.
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