Tucked away from view behind site hoarding in the centre of Riyadh, work is progressing on a project that will transform the heart of the Saudi capital by creating the world’s largest urban park.

The King Salman Park project will cover an area of 16.7 square kilometres, and more than 70 per cent of that space will be green areas.

“The unique aspect of our project when you compare it to others is the amount of green space it will have,” says George Tanasijevich, CEO of King Salman Park Foundation.

“Other projects will have hotel rooms and residential units, but none will have the amount of green space that King Salman Park will have. It will be substantial by global standards.”

The scale of the project becomes apparent when considering public parks in other major cities. It is five times the area of New York’s Central Park, six times the size of London’s Hyde Park, and 16 times larger than Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay.

The aim of King Salman Park is to give residents of Riyadh access to a world-class park on their doorstep – the park is connected to several main roads and linked to the Riyadh Metro and the city’s bus station.

“People today have to travel to experience green spaces, so we are bringing something here that will allow them the convenience of being at home and experiencing the lifestyle benefits of green space,” says Tanasijevich.

Land at the King Salman Park site has been contoured to create hills

While much of the focus of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is on economic transformation, it also includes targets aimed at improving the quality of life for people in the kingdom.

“There is an economic aspect to what we are doing,” says Tanasijevich. “The primary highlight of our contribution [to Vision 2030] is more focused on lifestyle. It is not just being able to spend time in green spaces, but also all the sports facilities that will encourage younger people to become more interested in sports and athletics.”

Project progress

Launched in March 2019, there has been significant progress on the construction of the project. Much of the land has been shaped and contoured to create hills that will break up Riyadh’s typically flat topography.

Work is also advancing on infrastructure and buildings, including the Royal Arts Complex and a visitor centre.

“What we are trying to do is put together components that work together as a standalone project that are self-sustaining. We do not want people to visit and feel something is missing,” says Tanasijevich. 

“We are going to have enough variety and elements in there that even when we open phase one, people are going to embrace it and find a multitude of ways to experience it.”

As construction advances, the project took a major step forward on the first day of the Cityscape Global exhibition, which was held in Riyadh on 10-13 September. There, the King Salman Park Real Estate Development Fund was launched, with the aim of developing the first real estate investment plot within the site.

The fund will bring in fresh financing for a SR4bn ($1.1bn) mixed-use project that will have more than 1,500 residential units together with offices, retail outlets, hotels, schools and other public amenities on a 290,000 square-metre site.

Saudi Fransi Capital is the fund manager and King Salman Park Investment & Real Estate Development Company is the master developer. Naif al-Rajhi Investment Company is the real estate developer and master lessee of the entire project.

Images: King Salman Park Foundation