Back in 2005, the Saudi government announced plans to create a new city (from scratch) on its western coast that will be the size of Washington D.C. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat reports that construction is already under way.
The city is named after the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who died in January 2015. Its formal name is the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).
Having a city on the peninsular country’s western coast will give it access to the Suez Canal, reflecting the government’s attempt to diversify its oil-dependent economy by focusing more in its shipping industry.
According to the CTBUH, Saudi Arabia hopes the port will be part of a new Silk Road that will connect with Mediterranean countries and Southern Europe.
Eric Reguly, a journalist of Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper, who visited the under-construction city a few months ago, said the site looks more like a movie set.
“The rest of the city is pretty much an expanse of nothing, save for a suburb of villas, an international school and, a dozen kilometers to the north, a container-ship port, and a few factories in an area that could double as a stage set for a Mad Max film,” Reguly writes.
During a recent interview with Public Radio International, Reguly said that the city’s reliance on cars is an obvious flaw. “"It's going to be very much dependent on cheap oil," he adds, which was the very thing the city was designed to avoid.
For more information on the project, visit The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat and Globe and Mail.
Related Stories
Sustainability | Sep 29, 2020
Heatherwick Studio creates a new concept for San Francisco’s Piers 30-32
The new vision is dubbed The Cove.
Mixed-Use | Sep 23, 2020
SOM-designed waterfront neighborhood will include 1,045-foot-tall tower
The project will focus on harnessing the sea and the sun to create a low-carbon waterfront community.
Mixed-Use | Sep 7, 2020
Google proposes 40-acre redevelopment that includes nearly 2,000 housing units
Lendlease will manage the design and construction, as a partner in a multi-development deal struck last year between the two companies.
Mixed-Use | Sep 3, 2020
10 Design will redevelop the Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport
The old military airport will become a contemporary mixed-use destination.
Mixed-Use | Aug 17, 2020
New Sydney towers will have the world’s first AI-driven facade system
SOM and Fender Katsalidis are designing the project.
Mixed-Use | Aug 4, 2020
San Jose’s new tallest building tops out
Steinberg Hart designed the project.
Mixed-Use | Jul 27, 2020
$92 million reconstruction of St. Petersburg Municipal Pier completes
Rogers Partners, ASD | SKY, and landscape architect Ken Smith Workshop designed the project.
Mixed-Use | Jul 22, 2020
Skanska selects Pickard Chilton to design innovative office tower in Bellevue, Wash.
The 800,000-gsf mixed-use project is located at 10660 NE 8th Street.
Mixed-Use | Jul 21, 2020
Phase one of The Orbit masterplan detailed for Innisfil, Ontario
Partisans is designing the project.
Mixed-Use | Jul 20, 2020
J. Small Investments, Lyda Hill Philanthropies have unveiled plans for a 23-acre mixed-use development in Dallas
The vacant campus was purchased from ExxonMobil Oil Corporation in 2015.