SAUDI ARABIA, VISION 2030, 14 GIGA- PROJECTS Part 5 of 5

Developed as part of Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) Vision 2030 plan to transform the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the series of giant developments, many of which were on display at the Cityscape conference in Riyadh, are known as 14- GIGA projects

CONTINUING,  are details of EACH of the 14 GIGA PROJECTS : NEOM, ROSHN, RED SEA Project, DIRIYAH, KING SALMAN PARK, JEDDAH CENTRAL, QIDDIYA Project, MURABBA, SAUDI DOWNTOWN, MASAR, AL’ULA, King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD), Mohammed bin Salman Non-profit City (MISK), and SEVEN.

King Salman Park

Currently under construction in central Riyadh, the King Salman Park project aims to be “the largest urban park in the world”.

Masterplanned by Danish studio Henning Larsen and Saudi studio Omrania, the 16.7-square-kilometers park will feature 11 square kilometers of green space and one million trees. According to the developer, it will be watered with 100-per-cent-recycled city water.

At the center of the park will be a collection of landmark buildings including the Royal Arts Complex, which will contain a 110-metre-high pyramid designed by Ricardo Bofill and a visitor pavilion by Adjaye Associates                            Jeddah Central

Covering 5.7 million square meters, this predominately residential development funded by the Public Investment Fund will contain 17,000 residential units and 2,700 hotel rooms anchored by four landmark buildings.

These landmarks include an arts Center designed by Heatherwick Studio (pictured) within a former desalination plant by the Red Sea. The other landmarks will be a stadium designed by German studio GMP Architecten, an opera house designed by Danish studio Henning Larsen and an oceanarium by US studio SOM.

Qiddiya Project

Another project aimed at increasing the country’s tourism offering, Qiddiya is described as “Saudi Arabia’s emerging capital for entertainment, sports and culture”.

Currently under construction to the west of Riyadh, the 367-square-kilometre project will contain numerous entertainment facilities, including sports arenas, concert halls, a racetrack, a Jack Nicklaus-branded golf course and Six Flags (pictured), which will contain the world’s longest, tallest, and fastest rollercoaster.

The project is 100 per cent owned by the Public Investment Fund

Murabba

Designed to “define Riyadh’s new skyline”, the Murabba will be a commercial and entertainment district built around a 400-metre-high cube-shaped skyscraper named Mukaab.

The cube, which will contain two million square meters of shops, and cultural and tourist attractions, will form the center of a 19-square-kilometre development that is designed as a new downtown area for the Saudi capital city.

Led by Saudi crown prince Mohamed Bin Salman, the wider project will contain 100,000 residential units, 9,000 hotel rooms, 980,000 square meters of shops and 1.4 million square meters of office space.

                                             Saudi Downtown

Owned by the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi Downtown Company was set up to create “modern, mixed-used downtowns and destinations with diverse local cultures” in 12 Saudi Arabian cities – Arar, Dumat Al Jandal, Tabuk, Hail, Buraydah, Al Madinah, Al Khonbar, Al Ahsa, Taif, Al Baha, Jizan and Najran.

In total, the project’s sites stretch over 10 million square meters.

Masar

Led by private developer Umm Al Qura for Development & Construction, the Masar project is the redevelopment of a 3.6-kilometre-long and 300-metre-wide stretch of land alongside the Grand Mosque in Makkah (widely known as Mecca).

Arranged around a central 60-metre-wide pedestrianized street leading to a mosque, the development will contain 205 towers. Work has begun on the towers closest to the mosque and the developer expects Masar to be complete by 2035.

Architecture studios working on the scheme include Saudi studio Omrania, US studio HOK and UK practice RMJM.

                                   Al’Ula

Another project aimed at increasing the number of tourists that visit the country to 100 million a year, the development of Al’Ula in the northwest of the country is described as “the cornerstone of the Kingdom’s cultural and touristic ambitions”.

The project will see the area around the Al’Ula UNESCO World Heritage Site developed with the construction of a series of museums and hotels. These will include a subterranean hotel carved into a sandstone hill designed by French architect Jean Nouvel (pictured) and a luxury tent resort by French architecture studio AW2.

Museums announced as part of the project include the Contemporary Art Museum, which will be designed by Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh and the Museum of the Incense Road, which will be designed by British architect Asif Khan

                                          King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD)

Perhaps not technically a giga project, as it began before the announcement of the Vision 2030 plan, the King Abdullah Financial District is a giant office and residential district in Riyadh that is largely complete.

Masterplanned by Danish studio Henning Larsen, the 1,600,000-square-metre development will contain 61 towers and skyscrapers by studios including Saudi practice Omrania, US studios SOM, Gensler and HOK and UK studios CallisonRTKL and Foster + Partners.

All of the buildings in the development will be connected by a series of air-conditioned bridges, while a six-station monorail system runs around the edge of the site.

The downtown district will be connected to the under-construction Riyadh Metro by the large, Zaha Hadid Architects-designed King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Metro Station.

Mohammed bin Salman Non-profit City (MISK)

Named after Mohammed bin Salman and funded by his personal foundation, the Mohammed bin Salman Non-profit City, which is also known by the acronym MISK, is being built in Riyadh as a business incubator and a place to support the country’s future leaders.

Designed as a 15-minute city with automated buses, the project will be arranged around a central spine covered by a giant shaded system designed by London-based studio CallisonRTKL.

It will also contain a transparent art institute designed by Bahrain-based practice Studio Anne Holtrop, a triangular headquarters for the MISK foundation designed by Australian architecture studio Conrad Gargett and the globe-shaped Center for Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.

Seven

Entirely owned by the Public Investment Fund, Seven has the tagline “making tomorrow more entertaining”. The organisation will develop and operate 10 entertainment districts across the country, with projects in Riyadh (pictured), Almadinah, Tabuk and Yanbu already announced.

Aimed at providing entertainment to the youthful population, the developments will each include indoor arenas, arcades, bowling, indoor golf, climbing, indoor surfing and skydiving centers and cinemas.

Onward & Upward towards, One People, One Nation, One Destiny.

https://www.dezeen.com/2023/09/19/saudi-arabias-giga-projects/