CITY UPDATE: Madinah, Saudi Arabia
by James Boley on Dec 21, 2009
Madinah is a city that is not only planning to go far, but also creating options for those wishing to stay put
As the second holiest city in Islam, and a vital destination as part of the Hajj, it should come as no surprise to learn that improving access in and out of Madinah takes the highest construction priority.
The city is one of several stops scheduled for the Haramain high-speed rail project, which will link Madinah with Makkah, Jeddah and the King Abdul Aziz International Airport.
The first contract, worth US $1.8 billion (SAR6.8 billion) for the Makkah-Madinah portion of the high-speed railway contract was been awarded to a Saudi-French-Chinese consortium.
The Al-Rajhi construction group together with France’s Alstom and China Railway Engineering won the civil works contract.
The contract is the first stage of a $6 billion plan to build a 444km high-speed railroad linking the two Islamic holy cities of Makkah and Madinah through the Red Sea port city of Jeddah. The project aims to ferry hundreds of thousands of pilgrims at speeds reaching 360km per hour.
However, more static projects are also planned for the city. Madinah will be the site of Knowledge Economic City, a $7bn new city project developed by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA).
The 4.8 million m² development will include medical, health, science, multimedia, education and biotechnology services, a hi-tech park for knowledge-based industries with potential for cutting-edge fit-out contracts, and an educational theme park.
The project contrasts somewhat with what is currently available in Madinah, in terms of new construction, but the project’s concept designer remains confident in its future.
“I think this is mostly attributed to the leadership of King Abdullah Aziz and his sense of the necessity for change,” says Dr. Abdullah MA Telmesani, vice president of project development for Quad International Real Estate Development and concept designer for KEC. “If the saying, ‘If you build it, they will come’ applies anywhere on earth, it’s here in the city of Madinah.”
Top Projects (US$)
Knowledge Economic City 7 billion
Haramain high-speed rail 6 billion
