Kuwait Municipality has appointed a consortium comprising Dar al-Handasah and Perkins+Will, which are both part of Lebanon’s Dar Group, to draw up Kuwait’s 2040 masterplan.

The municipality said in a statement that it has set up a development plan, in cooperation with the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA), for identifying key areas in the country where foreign firms will be allowed to operate with no local agents, and permitted to own these areas with tax and customs exemptions.

Earlier this year Kuwait’s Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) and the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) agreed in May to form a joint construction company mandated to plan, design and construct up to 30,000 housing units in the new development. They will fund the work jointly.

The $10-15bn South Saad Al-Abdullah New Town will cover 59 square kilometres, and could have a population of 200,000. It is due to be completed in 2020.

PAHW is seeking to involve the private sector as it works to provide affordable housing for Kuwaiti families and reduce upfront costs. The authority has a backlog of 107,000 applicants, with an average waiting time of seven to 18 years.

PAHW is also working on the 104 square kilometre South al-Mutlaa City and the 60 square kilometre South Sabah Al-Ahmed City.