Riyadh’s first venture into masterplanning took place in 1968 with Greek consulting firm Doxiadis Associates, 36 years after the kingdom was established in 1932.

The Saudi capital is one of the fastest-growing cities in the Middle East, with a population of 4.6 million, up from 2.8 million in 1992. Fuelled by successive oil booms since the 1970s, the city’s population has far outgrown the 1968 master-plan, which was produced when it stood at just 350,000.

Although the annual growth rate is slowing, it is still about 3.5 per cent and the number of residents in the city is expected to reach more than 11 million by 2020.

Massive investment in roads, power, water and wastewater have been made to prepare for this growth. “You need the infrastructure first as new housing and commercial developments are not stand-alone,” says Chris Venemore, Abu Dhabi-based area director at UK consultant Hyder Consulting.

Horizontal growth

With few natural constraints on expansion - Riyadh is situated on a large plateau in the centre of the Arabian Peninsula - the city has grown horizontally and has a low population density because of its predominantly low-rise buildings. This has hindered the development of an efficient public transport system.

“If you are looking for an analogy, Riyadh is probably more like Doha than Abu Dhabi in its planning and development phase, and where it sits on its development cycle,” says Venemore.

In response to population growth, Riyadh’s planning body, Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA), plans to undertake a major development, the Metropolitan Development Strategy for Arriyadh (Medstar), to expand the city over the next 50 years.

The programme will create an urban network that will comprise two cities on the outskirts of Riyadh, surrounded by five residential areas. The cities will each house 500,000 people, with the residential areas accommodating a further 1.25 million in total. Each conglomeration will have a main urban centre with mixed-use residential, commercial and entertainment elements, road networks and utilities. With the masterplan now complete, detailed designs are expected to be drawn up in the next month.

Easing traffic congestion in the city will be key to the success of the masterplan. The Doxiadis plan used the car as the main means of transport. Riyadh’s streets were designed in a hierarchic pattern to keep traffic flowing: freeways link Riyadh with other regions in the kingdom; expressways serve high-speed traffic inside the city; arterial streets move heavy traffic inside the city; collector streets link its neighbourhoods together; and local streets run inside the neighbourhoods.

As Riyadh’s population increases, the ADA estimates the number of car journeys made in the city will increase to 10 million a day by 2020, from 6 million a day today. Not only will the number of cars on the roads rise, but as the city continues to spread horizontally, average journey distances will increase while average traffic speeds will fall.

To provide relief from the traffic bottlenecks, the ADA plans to build a light railway for Riyadh, connecting 40 locations in the city. It also hopes to increase the proportion of citizens using public transport from 2 per cent to 15 per cent.

The proposed scheme would include two rail lines. The first, 38-kilometre route will link the north and south of the city, while the second, 13km route will run east to west along King Abdullah street.

Economic diversification

A group comprising Semaly of France and Beirut-based Dar al-Handasah (Shair & Partners) completed a contract for 30 per cent of the preliminary engineering design in July 2006. ADA plans to complete the first stage of the proposed $2bn project by 2013.

The Riyadh masterplan is not the only one that is being worked on for the city. The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) is also being built, under a strategy of promoting private sector development to diversify the country’s oil-dominated economy and increase employment opportunities for its young and fast-growing population.

Located in the south of the city and at an estimated cost of $7.8bn, the KAFD is intended to be the largest business zone in the Middle East, competing for market share with other growing financial clusters around the Gulf, including Dubai, Doha and Manama.

Covering 1.6 square kilometres, it will house the Saudi stock exchange (Tadawul), the financial markets regulator, the Capital Market Authority, and a financial academy for 5,000 students. The original masterplan for the KAFD was approved in March 2007 by its executive committee, which included Finance Minister Ibrahim Abdulaziz al-Assaf and Mayor of Riyadh Prince Abdulaziz bin Mohammed bin Ayyaf al-Miqren.

Denmark’s Henning Larsen Architects is responsible for the masterplan in collaboration with local architect Omrania & Associates. The result is a combination of mixed-use and retail outlets, coupled with business and residential areas.

In a break from the straight gridline thoroughfares that are typical of urban planning in the region, the main plaza of KAFD will be given a jagged design. According to its designers, this contemporary take on the wadi - the Arabic word for the dry river valleys found in the desert - will give the city a more natural feel.

Like Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City, no cars will be allowed into the centre of KAFD. Although there will be parking spaces for up to 40,000 cars, they will be restricted to the peripheries, with giant walkways and monorails bringing commuters into the centre.

Work on KAFD was due to be completed by the end of 2013, although this has been subject to delay following changes to the design.

Riyadh is still some way behind Abu Dhabi in terms of public transport, roads, and power and water systems, and to some extent Doha, where there has been rapid development over the past eight years. Riyadh is also a predominantly low-rise city, unlike Abu Dhabi or Doha. Riyadh’s Kingdom Tower, the tallest building in Saudi Arabia, provides a perfect view of a flat expanse stretching into the horizon, interrupted occasionally by spikes, usually minarets.

“The city only has three or four decent-sized towers,” says Venemore. “Compare that to Abu Dhabi island [which has a large number of taller buildings]. The vast majority of Riyadh, 99 per cent of the city, is low-rise villas.”

Building tall

But it seems Riyadh is now aspiring to go high. The 300-metre-tall Kingdom Tower itself was groundbreaking for the city. Designed by the local Omrania & Associates with US-based Ellerbe Becket, it was completed in 2000. The KAFD plans include five towers of between 150 and 300 metres in height.

Despite the size of the KAFD project, which falls outside its remit, the ADA has been, and will continue to be, central to the city’s growth. It is responsible not only for the development of the city itself, but also for the development of its society, economy and environment.

With a wide variety of members, from deputy ministers to local businessmen, the authority has been extremely effective in co-ordinating efforts between different parties for decision-making.

About 80 per cent of Saudis now live in cities, compared with 15 per cent in 1950. With rapid population growth, new directions and strategies concerning urban development in Saudi Arabia need to be sought.

“I suggest they put together some sort of city masterplan - a Riyadh 2020 or 2030,” says Venemore. “This is where they need to go.

“Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 was a defining moment for Abu Dhabi. The rulers had a clear vision for the city. Publishing it will make it happen. Riyadh and other cities need this. Until it comes, it is hard to say how the city will shape its future.”