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
Libraries | Sep 1, 2017
Johnson Favaro selected to design new main library in Riverside, Calif.
The choice comes after a 12-year planning process and a yearlong selection process.
Mixed-Use | Aug 30, 2017
Former industrial building becomes 'lifestyle community' in ever-evolving Baltimore
The new community offers 292 apartments with 20,000 sf of retail space.
Mixed-Use | Aug 30, 2017
A 50-acre waterfront redevelopment gets under way in Tampa
Nine architects, three interior designers, and nine contractors are involved in this $3 billion project.
Mixed-Use | Aug 18, 2017
Covington, Wash., greenlights a 214-acre mixed-use development
A peninsula will extend into the property’s 20-acre lake and contain retail shops, restaurants, a pavilion park, homes, and green space.
Mixed-Use | Aug 17, 2017
Manhattan’s Union Square gets its very own farmhouse
GrowNYC, a sustainability-focused nonprofit, commissioned ORE Design to create the community events center and learning space.
Mixed-Use | Aug 15, 2017
A golf course community converts into an agrihood with 1,150 homes and a working olive grove
The community will cover 300 acres in Palm Springs, Calif.
Mixed-Use | Aug 10, 2017
Mixed-use development includes University of California-San Diego campus extension
The 562,000-sf development was designed by Carrier Johnson + CULTURE and is located five blocks from the San Diego Padres’ Petco Park.
Mixed-Use | Aug 9, 2017
Mixed-use development will act as a gateway to Orange County’s ‘Little Saigon’
The development will include apartments, ground-floor retail, and a five-story hotel.
Mixed-Use | Aug 8, 2017
Dorte Mandrup’s 74,000-sm masterplan will be highlighted by an IKEA and BIG’s ‘Cacti’
The mixed-use development links a new IKEA store, a hotel, and housing with green space.
Mixed-Use | Aug 3, 2017
A sustainable mixed-use development springs from a Dutch city center like a green-fringed crystal formation
MVRDV and SDK Vastgoed won a competition to redevelop the inner city area around Deken van Someren Street in Eindhoven.
