You may have noticed that Saudi Arabia is on a bit of a megaproject building spree.
From 175-kilometre linear cities to cubes large enough to hold twenty Empire State
Buildings – the Middle Eastern country has been announcing record shattering projects left,
right and centre in an effort to pivot its economy and change its PR narrative –
a narrative that’s seen many call into question its government and construction labour practices.
So why is Saudi Arabia trying to out-build the world? Why is it pouring so many hundreds
of billions into construction? And can all these projects amount to more than their glossy renders?
To put it bluntly, the clock is ticking.
Now, when your country’s economy is almost entirely dependent on oil that’s a problem – so
Saudi Arabia is trying to diversify and fast; taking a leaf out of the Dubai handbook and
trying to become a global magnet for tourism. In essence it’s a strategy of “build it and
they will come” – but build it big and with lots and lots of cash. In short,
Saudi Arabia wants to do Dubai on a scale that even Dubai couldn’t dream of.
The country has set-up the Public Investment Fund (PIF), a sovereign
wealth fund that’s working to deliver all of these massive projects with state money.
Whether you like it or not, anchoring new developments with headline-grabbing
structures is proven to attract both domestic and foreign investment,
and that creates a bigger market for trade, outside of oil.
In a bid for legitimacy, the PIF has signed-up some of the
world’s biggest architects and engineering firms,
and taken out ads in The New York Times, Time Magazine and on billboards around the world.
In short, Saudi Arabia is trying to use construction for positive
PR – and right now it needs some of that.
While these projects may appear bright and shiny on the outside, many have raised concerns over
their environmental impact and the country’s history of poor construction labour practices.
It’s hard to keep up with the pace of megaproject announcements,
so here are five of the biggest ones to be aware of.
Lesson one from Dubai: go big.
And this building will be absolutely huge – designed as the centrepiece of what it’s claimed
will be “the world's largest modern downtown”, in the middle of Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh.
At 400-metres high by 400-metres wide it will be the world’s first supertall cube
and if it’s successfully constructed, easily one of the largest structures ever built.
The problem with deep plan buildings like this is getting natural light
into the centre of them and creating spaces that human beings actually
want to inhabit – that’s where skylights and atriums come in.
But light is not an issue here. Inside will be a massive and ever-changing immersive screen
wrapped around a tall central tower, creating a virtual world on the scale of Blade Runner.
Overall there will be 100,000 residential units,
some 9,000 hotel rooms and more than 980,000 square metres of retail space.
The total cost of the project hasn’t been fully disclosed but
it’ll likely be the budget of a 400-metre skyscraper – squared.
That’s right: a ski resort in the desert.
It’ll sit in the centre of NEOM:
a $500BN Saudi gigaproject that includes a few of the schemes in this video.
Technically in the desert, Trojena will actually be nestled up among
some of the country’s highest peaks, approximately 2,600 metres above sea level.
There’ll be a ski slope, a mountain biking course,
luxury properties dubbed “slope residences”, a vertical village of
restaurants and retail stores folded into a cavern, and an enormous manmade lake.
Trojena has already officially won the bid to host the Asian Winter Games in 2029 – the first
time that a winter sporting event will be held in an Arabic-speaking country.
This resort will be nestled amongst the highest peaks in
Saudi Arabia at approximately 2,600 meters above sea level.
It will feature a ski slope, a mountain biking course,
luxury properties dubbed “slope residences”,
a vertical village of restaurants and retail stores, as well as an enormous manmade lake.
Trojena has already officially won the bid to host the Asian Winter Games for 2029,
and construction is already underway.
So far, the price tag for Trojena is as impressive as the construction itself.
But Saudi Arabia can afford it;
Unlike the United States, whose government is facing a debt crisis,
And whose households alone owe $16.9 trillion dollars - a record high.
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Now, let’s discover the next crazy megaproject.
This will be the world’s largest floating structure – an immense port that’ll take
advantage of its location near the Suez Canal to become a major shipping destination hub
and the logistics nervecentre for NEOM.
The entire megaport will be octagon, with part of it floating out onto the Red Sea.
Separating the two sections will be a huge shipping canal,
complete with a cruise terminal and oceanographic research centre.
The floating sections of the port will be arranged around water-filled floating squares
connected by smaller canals – a bit like Venice, just much hotter and without the architecture.
The whole thing is carefully positioned to set-up Saudi
Arabia up as a diverse trading hub for the rest of the world.
This is the closest project on this list nearing completion – and it is one ritzy airport.
Controversially designed by Foster + Partners, the Red Sea International Airport will open later
this year and is expected to accommodate a million passengers a year by 2030.
What makes this airport so luxurious? Well, in a way, it’s trying to be the anti-airport airport.
It’s trying to replace the stress-inducing hustle and bustle of normal international hubs with
tranquil gardens and terminals that will house spas and restaurants – a pretty far cry from JFK.
The airport’s location 15 kilometres inland from the coast of the Red Sea puts it less than eight
hours away from 80% of the world’s population and sets it up as a future Dubai or Singapore – cities
that became truly international thanks to their geography and well-positioned airports.
Then there’s the megaproject that needs no introduction. The Line.
A 500-metre tall mirrored linear city that’ll stretch for over 170-kilometres
across the desert sands and that either represents the
cutting edge of architecture or a grim dystopian future depending who you ask.
Also part of NEOM, this architectural fever dream has been designed around the
“15-minute city” concept and is pitched as a futuristic eco-development north
of the Red Sea with no cars, streets or carbon emissions.
The Saudi government says it will create housing for more than 9M people,
and leaked documents reportedly show proposals for everything from robot maids to an artificial moon.
To make construction slightly easier the massive project will
be separated into 135 modules, each 800 metres long and 500 metres tall.
It certainly puts a line in the sand for engineering. If successfully completed it
would become far and away the biggest building mankind has ever constructed.
Recent drone footage revealed that excavation work has actually begun
and that foundation piles are being drilled into the desert.
Currently about 1M cubic metres of earth are
being excavated every week at the marina site for the first module.
This video was sponsored by Masterworks, you can learn more about that at the link below
There’s also the chance to dive deeper on Saudi Arabia’s megaprojects and other topics on our
channel over on The World’s Best Construction Podcast – available now wherever you get your
podcasts. And as always , if you enjoyed this video and you want to get more from the
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