The US’ Hill International has been selected to undertake the project management consultancy (PMC) for Kuwait’s first smart city development, the 104-square kilometre South Al-Mutlaa City.

Kuwait’s Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) is expected to sign the contract, valued at an estimated $83m, before end of May.

Hill’s offer was selected over those submitted by fellow US firms Aecom, CH2M, Fluor and Louis Berger, and Canada’s WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff.

An Italian/local team of Salini Impregilo and Yousef Yahya Almatrouk has also submitted a low offer, at KD288m ($957m), for the development’s first infrastructure works package. The scope includes roads, highways and landscape works.

Two other infrastructure packages are expected to be tendered and awarded during the year.

The South Al-Mutlaa city will occupy a 104 square-kilometre area in Kuwait’s Jahra governorate, to the west of the capital Kuwait City.

Once completed, the Al-Mutlaa city will have 30,000 housing units with population projected to reach 400,000. This would comprise about 9 per cent of the state’s projected population of nearly 4.6 million by 2019, the year PAHW expects the project to be completed.