Jeddah set to unveil 20-year master plan

CITY PLANS: Proposals to shape the development of Jeddah over the next 20 years will be unveiled next week. (Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia will launch the Jeddah Strategic Plan next week, mapping out the city’s development over the next 20 years.

The governor of Makkah, Prince Khalid Al Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, will inaugurate the plan, which has been in development for the past three years on Monday.

It aims to reduce the number of slums in Jeddah, build more affordable housing and increase the density of the city – offering opportunities for developers, especially in real estate, reported Construction Week Online on Wednesday.

The news was announced at the Construction Week Saudi Arabia Conference by Dr Abdulgader Amir, vice president for strategic planning and management of land and property for the Jeddah Development and Urban Regeneration Company.

“Real estate in Saudi Arabia is considered one of the biggest untapped resources in the region so far,” he said.

“There’s a strong demand from the Saudi population for residential development and there’s strong support from the government for these projects.”

Jeddah is the second biggest city in Saudi Arabia and the gateway to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.

Urban sprawl is a major problem for the city, putting pressure on infrastructure, which in turn has led to pollution and other social issues, Amir said.

A shortage of property, especially affordable housing, has forced people to live in unplanned settlements, or slums. Currently there are 50 slums in the city, housing 1.2 million people.

“The strategic plan’s major objective is to provide affordable housing for low income and poor people,” Amir said.

He said the Jeddah Municipality aims to drastically reduce the number of slum dwellers through the implementation of the strategic plan.

Two of the plan’s major projects are a new city centre, which covers 12 million m2 on a vacant site next to Old Airport that will provide a “downtown and dense environment”.

And the Jeddah Town Centre, announced last year, which covers 6 million sq m and encompasses the historic Old City are and some waterfront.

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Jeddah Plan
Posted by Ahmad on Sunday 17 May 2009 at 00:24 UAE time


Zahi u r absolutely right. I'm Saudi & i feel sorry for my people.

Reply To Zahid
Posted by Abdulrahman, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday 15 May 2009 at 01:55 UAE time


Zahid, I agree with what you said, but i think you have seen Makkah only which is totally unplanned and very old area. There is plans for Makkah but it will take sometimes till the changes will be noticed. I hope you can visit Saudi Again within the coming five years and I am sure you will notice the difference. Also, I wish you visit Riyadh because it is very developed and well planned. Thank you.

Good News
Posted by zahid, Perth, Australia on Thursday 14 May 2009 at 07:31 UAE time


AND Finally the OIL rich Govt have decided to take bold steps and work for their own people….GOOD on you Saudi's... I said that because I recently went for HAJJ (Saudia) and I was amazed by the fact that, the Saudi officials and there family palaces were state of the art constructions and just meters away you can see the homes of locals – built on top of each other with no solid foundation. I was very distraught to see the difference... But anyway lets hope for the good now!!!

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM