King Abdullah Economic City
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| King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia |
In Saudi Arabia, half the population is under the age of twenty. In addition to foreseeable problems with the future labor force, an unbalanced demographic distribution has strong implications for regional stability. Responsive Saudi Sheiks address both modernity and lopsided population growth with an ambitious regional project. In a barren desert enclave on the edge of the Red Sea, the kingdom will construct a new urban development, outside the grasp of religious clerics, to spur economic progress.
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| King Abdullah Financial District as designed by Henning Larsen Architects |
Saudi Arabia announced the construction of a Chinese-style “economic zone,” King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC, pronounced “Cake”). To attract investment and talent, security protocols, reminiscent of oil compounds, will insulate Western cultural freedoms (equal women’s rights, religious autonomy, foreigner land ownership, modern technology) within its borders etched in by high-speed expressways. What appears to be the Sheik’s personal Dubai, this special zone will disburse and re-circulate the kingdom’s oil wealth throughout the country’s economy.
Beyond overcoming religious opposition in an Islamic territory, developing a city from scratch is as awe-inspiring as flying a rocket to the moon. Line Thorup Schultz heads the Danish team from Henning Larsen Architects that won the contract to design the kingdom’s financial district. Ms. Schultz integrated corporate towers, 400,000 residential apartments, houses, and villas, a co-ed university campus, four underground parking lots, a circling monorail, two kilometers of air-conditioned sidewalks, countless plazas, three mosques, and one of the world’s largest and most technologically advanced ports. The goal of King Abdullah Economic City is to diversify Saudi Arabia’s petrol-dominated economy and to create over one million jobs when KAEC is fully completed.
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| Bill Ch'ng, Executive Director of Malaysia Pacific Corp, showing off a 60,000 person development within Iskandar Malaysia |
If KAEC is as successful as the Dubai sized dreams of the Sheiks, three more zones to fuel China-like economic growth are set to be build across the country by 2030. Each new city will focus on either scientific research, heavy industry, or agriculture.
KAEC represents the growing demand for regional planning avant-garde masterpieces in the new millennium. Stemming from the success of China’s “special economic zones,” most notably the city of Shenzhen, countries eager to quickly develop have constructed (or began building) Duabi, Masdar City, and Iskandar Malaysia. While the Middle East and Asia prepare for the 21st century, if cities focused on economic growth keep flourishing, the urban and regional planning industry will follow suit with equally fast paced and elaborate expansion. Castles-in-the-sky will continue to become world-changing realities.
Click links for further reading on King Abdullah Economic City, Masdar City, Shenzhen, or Iskandar Malaysia.
UPDATE: "According to World Bank estimates of 2007 there are more than 3,000 projects taking place in [Special Economic Zones] in 120 countries worldwide." AND "According to the UN’s Population Division, by 2050 around 70% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas." This is GREAT news for the planning industry!
UPDATE: "According to World Bank estimates of 2007 there are more than 3,000 projects taking place in [Special Economic Zones] in 120 countries worldwide." AND "According to the UN’s Population Division, by 2050 around 70% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas." This is GREAT news for the planning industry!
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