The Kingdom of Construction

Gary Burrows is a Dubai based mall and place making consultant. As a strategic advisor, Gary has been involved with some of the world’s leading and iconic large-scale, mixed-use, and retail-led investments. With over 30 years of international experience, Burrows has worked with over 91 malls and meeting places, across 38 countries globally.

It has been said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is currently the world’s largest construction site…

On closer inspection, it is much, much more than that. HRH Mohammed Bin Salman recently said that KSA will become the new Europe, which is a bold, yet visionary statement. Many futurists have ideated about how we will live and work by 2030, with mega-cities offering sustainable living ecosystems, 10-minute communities and AI-supported everything. However, there are few places in the world capable of making this a reality. It is fair to say that Europe and America are currently struggling, in the grip of an economic crisis, with increased food and utility costs, plus increasing inflation and decreasing currency.1 Therefore, it is hard to see where the capability to instill structural and institutional change, which will allow these new mega-cities to evolve. Whilst hardship certainly creates innovation, the lack of finance certainly stops the titanic from turning fast enough.

GARY BURROWS

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER ACR PARTNERS

The same is not true for the Kingdom, where the vision of its leader, supported by a robust and challenging 2030 plan, is backed by the current price of a barrel of oil. All of this provides the perfect breeding ground for innovation, with the finance to back it up, in order to build the most extreme creative visions that the human synapsis can spark. If we have the vision to imagine it, then we have the capacity to build it, is certainly true in the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We only have to look at some of the major developments such as Diriyah Gate in Riyadh, a mixed-use cultural, heritage and lifestyle destination. This 14km2, 50.6-billion-

IMAGE CREDIT: Diriyah Gate

dollar Giga project, is set to become the world’s largest cultural and heritage city. Riyadh is also going through huge infrastructural change. With a new metro getting ready to open in Riyadh, and a new 13.4km sq park, which is so big that 7.5 million trees will be planted.2 The scale of this is so huge, that the volume of new fauna in Riyadh, will actually change the weather patterns. As a result of so much oxygen and moisture being emitted into the atmosphere, it will rain more in Riyadh. NEOM is a sustainable development in northwest Saudi Arabia. Powered by 100% renewable energy, it will be home to hyperconnected, cognitive cities and regions. THE LINE, the city at the heart of NEOM, will put its 9 million inhabitants within 5 minutes of community amenities, packaging everything in a minimal footprint design that integrates with the surrounding landscape. OXAGON – with its halfon-land, half-on-sea design – will bring together people, advanced industries, and sustainable technology to sustain the economies of the future. TROJENA – NEOM’s mountain region, recently named host of the 2029 Asian Winter Games – will be home to the Gulf’s first and only outdoor ski experience. Supporting these Giga Projects are a huge number of city projects such as Downtown Saudi, which is responsible for the redevelopment and repositioning of twelve secondary cities. Looking at the best principles of placemaking methodology and how to improve the lives of the communities within the catchment area. This is aimed at both improving the built environments for its citizens, but also increase diversification of the economy and contribute to non-oil GDP growth, in line with the 2030 vision. One of the largest mixed-use developers in the Kingdom, Roshn, is building mega smart city communities, with the stated primary objective of improving the quality of life for the Kingdom’s citizens which is a common theme underpinning the 2030 vision.

Well known mall developers such as Majid Al Futtaim are building the Mall of Saudi, a quoted 3m sq ft giant in Riyadh. Construction work began on 6th Feb 2022, on what will be the largest mall in the Kingdom, the 3.7 billion dollar Avenues Mall by Al-Shaya.3 With 700,000 sq ft luxury Solitaire Mall, known as the Jewel of Riyadh also under construction, the Kingdom will not be short of its modern consumer luxury destinations. Seven Group has a massive mandate to develop leisure and entertainment, on a country-wide basis, including theme parks and water parks. Sports is an important aspect of the country’s development, with the Public Investment Fund recently investing 2.4 billion dollars in the launch of LIV, the new golf federation. The country is taking significant steps forward in the advancement of gender empowerment, with a growing number of female board members, which is faster than the international average. A recent appointment as the CEO of the largest malls group in the Kingdom, Arabian Centres, is Alison Redhill-Erguven, a seasoned retail real estate professional, most recently with Brookfield. It is safe to say that when projects are so big that they change the weather patterns, then you are building massive things. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia may be the Kingdom of Construction, yet it’s not just building physical assets, its building social, cultural and communities for the future of its people, a future unencumbered by historic limitations or constraints. The old saying, “build it and they will come” is absolutely true for the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They are building something truly amazing, that goes beyond mere construction.

IMAGE CREDIT: NEOM | TROJENA

IMAGE CREDIT: NEOM | TROJENA

IMAGE CREDIT: NEOM | TROJENA