The Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) has announced the start of construction works for King Abdulaziz Park, part of the Green Riyadh programme.

The park will cover an area of over 4.3 million square metres (sq m). The construction works are expected to be completed within three years.

According to an official statement, the centre of the park will feature a botanical garden that covers more than 200,000 sq m and hosts over 200 species of local plants.

The Munsiyah tributary, a branch of Al-Sulai Valley, will also run through the park, with a total length of over 11 kilometres (km) covering more than 770,000 sq m within the botanical garden.

King Abdulaziz Park is located in the north of Riyadh, close to King Khalid International airport and Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University.

Green Riyadh has started construction works on several other parks in the city, including Al-Munsiyah Park, Al-Rimmal Park, Al-Qadisiyah Park and Al-Urubah Park.

In March, MEED exclusively reported that RCRC had announced the start of construction works at the Al-Urubah Park in Riyadh.

The park covers an area of about 754,000 sq m and is located at the intersection of Prince Turki Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Awwal Road and Al-Urubah Road.

Green Riyadh

King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud launched the Green Riyadh programme in March 2019 as part of national efforts to further the kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic diversification strategy and also contribute to the Saudi Green Initiative goal of planting 10 billion trees in the kingdom.

The programme aims to plant 7.5 million trees in Riyadh and increase the capital city’s vegetation cover to 9%, taking the per capita share of green space from 1.7 sq m to 28 sq m. The programme will also contribute to lowering the city’s temperature and improving air quality by reducing pollution and dust.

Afforestation plans for Green Riyadh include the development of 1,100km of green belts along utility lines, 272km of valleys, 3,300 neighbourhood gardens and 43 parks across 117 neighbourhoods. 

The strategy aims to boost the city’s liveability to increase the health and well-being of citizens.