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Investment
in Arriyadh
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out of 183 countries in terms of ease of cross-border trade.
Thus, a typical imported container would take five documents
and 13 days to clear (in 2006 it required 34 days) at a cost of
$615, while the same container being exported would require five
documents, 17 days and $686 to clear.
Arriyadh - Gateway and Hub
The Saudi General Railroad Organization (SGRO) which operates
the freight link also runs passenger trains from the capital to
Dammam via Haradh and Al-Ahsa. In 2013 1.1 million travellers
had taken advantage of the comfortable, air-conditioned rail link.
SGRO is now adding a second track alongside the existing line.
By running trains faster, the current travel time of four hours
twenty minutes will be cut by an hour and ten minutes. The
popularity of this alternative to road and air travel also clearly
validates the railway company’s plans to build a land bridge to
connect the east and west of the country with a high-speed rail
link, which will include a completely new section of line between
Arriyadh and Dammam. This July the rail chiefs invited proposals
from consultants to examine the options for this new 350-kph line
between the two cities, which will slash the journey time to a mere
one and a half hours. A key concern is to minimise the impact on
urban areas.
The main gateway to Saudi Arabia remains one of the most
advanced and architecturally spectacular airports in the world.
King Khalid International Airport (KKIA), 40 kilometers north
of the city, has two runways and three terminals, two of them for
international passengers. KKIA handled over 17 million passengers
in 2013. In terms of land area, at 350 square kilometers it is is the
largest civilian airfield in the world. Its two parallel runways each
stretch for 4,260 meters. The US space agency NASA chose them
as an alternative landing ground for the Space Shuttle. To the great
disappointment of the people of Arriyadh, it never had to be used
as such.
The Arriyadh metro’s north-south line will transport passengers
to and from the airport in carriages that are designed to also carry
the frequently large amounts of luggage that they bring with them.
Though there are some singular high-rise buildings in the capital -
the striking outline of the new King Abdullah Financial District to
the north and the eye-catching and elegant Al Faisaliyah tower and
the Kingdom Center, the center of Arriyadh is relatively low rise.
Regenerating the Capital’s Center
Before the ADA was created, there was already a trend for
Saudis to move to more comfortable, custom-built properties in
the newly-emerging suburbs. This meant that, with a relatively
few notable exceptions, not least the Maskmak Fort, parts of
the old city walls and gates and restored smaller mud-brick
buildings, the old traditional buildings in the old city center
have become abandoned or neglected. Their new occupants were
generally expatriate workers who had neither the funds nor in
long-term interest to maintain them properly.
The ADA has long worked hard to reverse this decay. Long
before Google thought of developing its ‘StreetView’, the ADA
had sent out photographers to assemble a complete photographic
record of every downtown building. Researchers also brought
together images of buildings that had been destroyed. This
extraordinary archive, also includes thousands of pictures of
the inhabitants and the way they lived and worked in Arriyadh’s
geographic heart over the last century. The historic archive is
proving an invaluable resource as an initiative gets under way
to restore and renew both the historic city center and a further
15-square-kilometer area surrounding it.
The project involves the ADA, and among other bodies Riyadh
Municipality, the Ministry of Housing and the Saudi Commission
for Tourism and Antiquities, working in tandem with the private
sector. Around ten percent of the area will be used to develop
attractive mixed housing using the architectural vernacular. It
is being designed for low income expatriates who at the moment
comprise some 80 percent of the district’s population. The
greater part of the area will be restored or rebuilt in its former
style. In amongst the preserved heritage will be traditional
souks and artisanal workshops and stores. There will also be
museums and heritage centers, boutique hotels, restaurants, cafés
and traditional coffee houses. The ADA’s photographic records
archive will make a considerable contribution to this task of
repair and restoration.
It is the nature of the work undertaken by the planners at the
ADA that rarely is a project undertaken in isolation. This is every
bit as true of the historic city center scheme and area around
it. Deep tunnelling and cut and cover activity on the central
sections of the metro will be integrated with the restitution
and rebuilding of the area. Due consideration will be paid to the
reinforcement of foundations and the impact of having metro
trains running regularly beneath these delicate and historic
structures.