Ditching Damascus

Could the Syrian government move its capital from Damascus to a newly-engineered city? IWPR reports that the idea is making the rounds in Syrian newspapers (h/t Syria News Wire).

The IWPR says it is one of a number of ideas to reduce congestion in Damascus by taking Syria's political and administrative away from the city. The new capital would be in the town of Hasiaa, near Homs.

Not only would it mean thousands of people moving out of Damascus, but it would prevent the rural-urban drift - where people come to Damascus looking for work. In effect, Syria would be more of a two-centred country, like the US with the New York-Washington DC divide.

The new city certainly wouldn't overshadow Damascus, which would remain the cultural and commercial capital of Syria (it is the oldest continuously-inhabited place on Earth, after all). And I guess the Homs area has some advantages as a political capital, like its location, at the intersection of Syria's main north-south and east-west highways.

But engineering a whole new Syrian capital -- and in just five years, according to the article? Count me as skeptical...