Saudi Arabia is currently undergoing a massive
development program with giant developments – known as
Giga Projects – being developed as part of Crown Prince
Mohammad bin Salman 's
Vision 2030 plan to transform the country. Several of the gigaprojects are traditional developments confined to a single, though usually huge, location. These include
Masar in Makkah (widely known as Mecca), the Jeddah
Central Project in Jeddah, and
King Salman Park in Riyadh. Other giga projects are
spread across multiple locations , including projects led by the Saudi Downtown Company
, which aims to create hubs in
12 cities across the kingdom , and by developer Roshn, which has a mission to build
400,000 homes across Saudi Arabia. Below, we tell you everything you need to know about 5 of these
Giga Projects in Saudi Arabia:
Neom
The Line, Arábia Saudita (Divulgação/CASACOR)
Undoubtedly the best-known of the projects,
Neom is a city spanning an area of around
10,200 square kilometers and will consist of
10 regions , of which only four have been announced so far, including a
170-kilometer-long city called The Line. Along with
The Line , the planned regions include an octagon-shaped
port city called Oxagon, a ski resort called Trojena, and a
resort called Sindalah
. The regions will feature architectural designs by Morphosis, Zaha Hadid, Mecanoo, Aedas , and UNStudio . Roshn
Although not as well-known as Neom,
Roshn is equally grand. The project is ongoing and has already built
6,000 homes , with
27,000 currently under construction. The project also calls for the construction of
850 mosques, 2,400 schools , and the planting of one
million trees. Red Sea Project
The
Red Sea Project will bring a
resort to coastal areas as a key part of increasing tourism in the country. Owned by the Public Investment Fund, the project consists of two separate developments called
Red Sea and
Amaala .
The studio is heavily involved in development, designing several hotels including a
ring-shaped one on stilts and the
Coral Bloom island resort , as well as a hotel
among the sand dunes of Saudi Arabia. Other studios working on the project include
Kengo Kuma and Associates , which is designing
100 holiday villas .
King Salman Park
Currently under construction in central Riyadh, the
King Salman Park project aims to be "
the largest urban park in the world ." Designed by Danish studio
Henning Larsen and Saudi studio
Omrania , the
16.7-square-kilometer park will feature
11 square kilometers of green space and one million trees. According to the developer, it will be irrigated with
100 percent recycled water from the city. At the center of the park will be a
collection of landmark buildings , including the
Royal Arts Complex , which will contain a
360-foot-tall pyramid designed by
Ricardo Bofill and a visitors' pavilion by
Adjaye Associates. 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 west of Riyadh, the
367-square-kilometer project will contain numerous entertainment facilities, including sports arenas, concert halls, a racetrack, a Jack Nicklaus-branded golf course and Six Flags, which will contain the
world's longest, tallest and fastest roller coaster.
