Ministry plans development of 17 small and medium cities

Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs intends to carry out a major project to develop 17 small and medium cities across the Kingdom. The move aims at improving the condition of all cities and regions in the country in terms of planning, services and infrastructure facilities. “The project also aims at making all Saudi cities attractive for people to live and work, removing all negativities of the past,” said a ministry official who requested anonymity. During the past four decades the number of cities in the Kingdom has increased from 58 in 1963 to 285 in 2010 hosting 83 percent of the total population. The new town planning project is designed in cooperation with the UN Human Settlement Program, incorporating global best practices. The project will reduce the problems facing Saudi cities, including high density of population, increased power consumption, and underdeveloped and disorganized residential districts. A comprehensive study lasting about four years will be conducted to set out an exemplary model for advanced town planning, the official said. “We have selected 17 cities in different parts of the Kingdom for the project on the basis of certain criteria including population, and geographical distribution,” the official added. He believed that the project would reduce population in major cities such as Jeddah, Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah and Dammam and contribute to a balanced distribution of population. Environment protection and investments in remote cities are other major goals of the project. “We have selected small and medium cities being regional centers that can accelerate growth,” the official said. The project is designed in the light of recommendations made by World Urban Forum organized by UN-Habitat in Naples in 2012.