King Abdullah Economic City

[ExiL3 10]

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, has annouced that he will use around 30 billion dollars to form the city that he means will become the new financial capital of the world.

The city, called KAEC, will become 3 times larger than Manhattan (in size, not in pop) with luxury apartments for 2 million people, and 1 million industrial workers.

KAEC will be one of 6 cities planned to be built in Saudi Arabia, to strengthen its international position in an area of 168 million sq Meters.

The City will be placed close to the holy cities Medina and Mecca.

the homepage: King Abdullah City

pictures:

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So what do you guys think?

-It seems to me to be much like Dubai, though an even bigger project.

take care,

[yoshikoroyimara 5]

great idea...but a waste of money and environment

[ExiL3 10]

yoshikoroyimara: don't think they would build it if they thought nobody would move there. Like any other Oil country Saudi Arabia are looking to safeguard their future by making demand. I am pretty sure if they put their money and mids to it, it will become a  great city...

Btw, they have contracted the same firm that is used in most of Dubai. So these are not freshmen...

take care,

[ExiL3 10]

Micah: Eh what does that have to do with this? As a moderator I would have thought you would have a more objective viewpont...

You could say that very same thing about any government in the world, even your own Micah. Please get back to topic!

take care,

---

edit;

Some more pictures:

[Amerikaner 42]

could it be possible that with so many new hightech cities growing in the middle east that a change of world power is at hand?? well until of course we dont need oil anymore and these countrys go into crisis mode

[Mulefisk 15]

Well, atleast this city is actually being planned, as opposed to Dubai which is in reality just a blob of oversized sprawl.

Also.. 2 million luxury apartmens and 1 million apartments for industrial workers. I can only imagine how a city of that size will function without any middle-class.

[ExiL3 10]

Well I used the map to try to find the location with Google Earth... This is what I found in the area that seems to be under construction;

From quite a distance you can see that there is something going on in the area...

A little closer look at some of what might be KAEC in the future...

Some apartments are already finished...

A couple of Kilometers away towards the south (towards Jeddah) there seems to be a lot of construction too...

Amerikaner: I think thats exactly what they are trying to prepare for.

Mulefisk: well, from what I could see from GE, there will probably be a lot of sprawl here too. I know it does seem kind of stupid. when will they realize that in time sprawl will become a menace. Also, the already existing city of Jeddah with about 200,000 inhabitants seems to be getting a lot of construction to the north-northwest. Probably an area for middle class ppl, and workers.

take care,

[JanYpe 17]

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, has annouced that he will use around 30 billion dollars to form the city that he means will become the new financial capital of the world.quote>

If he builds it they will come? How would his little pet project suddenly become more important than London, New York, Tokyo or any up and coming Chinese city? What's going to happen when he has this place all dressed up with nowhere to go? This project could bomb so hard it's not even funny. It makes for some cool pictures I guess.

[c37786870 0]

Seriously, i will move myself to the mid-east. I probably will learn that language. I think it will be great place to live in there........

[NoahJ14 0]

Well from the pictures i think the proposed city looks great However I think it will take a heck of a lot more than just this one city for there to be an financial shift of power to Saudi Arabia.

[jmjselect 0]

I really like how the middle easterners are handling the waterfronts, CRAZY CREATIVE!

[hamsterTK 93]

[Edit]

besides oil it doesnt seem like a freindly place.  Im guessing the laws will be more liberal inside this city?

[c37786870 0]

I revew that Official website, I really like that place. I wish the government should corporate with these good chance. I fall in love with that....... I can get rid of that......

[c37786870 0]

I can't... sorry

[Micah 16]

Micah: Eh what does that have to do with this? As a moderator I would have thought you would have a more objective viewpont...

take care,quote>

Thanks. You are right.

[Edited for being off-topic] Marc

I need to keep my opinions about King Abdullah to myself.

Second Edit: I deleted the earlier message too.

[HuskerDude 12]

Another playground for the super-rich designed to keep their worker-bees content and away from the wealthy. It's gross, just like Dubai. If those of us here in the US got a little more energy smart, all this money could be going to help our own cities instead of building fantasy worlds for the rich out in desert.

[commanderkai 38]

Yeah...all this is called is a last act of desperation. Nobody will actually go to some fantasy city in Saudi Arabia of all places and call it the financial capitol of the world. I don't think anybody is that stupid. On the bright side a few thousand Indian construction workers will have jobs and a few contractors will make big bucks

[Mr. Glamazon 9]

This project has been in the planning stages for a couple of years now, and every once in a while I'll find an article or a building render that comes back to this project.  Ultimately all of these projects disappoint me.  The people who are "innovating" are really just building on the mistakes of the past.  It's wasteful to build in the international style in the middle of a desert.  Secondly, all of these playgrounds in the sand are planned just like developments in the U.S. - sprawl that is strangling our way of life.   So the  lack of foresight and the lack of ingenuity and genuine innovation going on in places like these really disappoints me. 

However, to be more on topic, I'd say that this project will never be successful.  Dubai has what Saudi Arabia doesn't, and that is the ability to look the other way.  Dubai was conceived for one thing- profit.  Saudi Arabia has always been in conflict because of religion and intolerance.  It's one of the most stringent countries in the world.  Also, to say that his city is going to be the economic capitol of the world is a little ludicrous.  Someone before me brought up London, Tokyo, and New York, long established seats of financial power. 

We've already seen the affects of dreaming too big, the real estate boom and then subsequent collapse in Florida has left apartment towers half finished even as new ones keep going up.  In China, especially around Shanghai, developers pour all of their effort into the outside of a building, leaving the inside like something out of a 1970's film set.   Even Dubai is feeling the affect of too much of a good thing.  To fill the demand for all of the empty flats and homes in the city, they'd have to sell an initial 250,000 units, to keep the demand they'd need to sell 75,000 every year for the next ten years.  The Middle East is  far from shifting the axis of power in the world, if anything when this bottoms out they'll be worse off than before the cookie cutter towers were ever planned.

[tSlater 134]

The renderings really do look nice, and if it did exist and was populated, would be an excellent city. However, how many other pre-planned mega-cities have been designed and built completely by governments? There has been a few, and from what I remember, most if not all did not live up to expectations, and many just kinda 'flopped'.

[patriots_1228 51]

i got some mixed feelings on this.

first off, someone up there ^ said "the middle east could be a new world power". i dont think that is going to happen, because of all the conflicts going on there. however, the arabian peninsula (right word?) with dubai, and this new city, could become somthing like a world power. usually world powers have strong militaries though.

Second, i think this guys just extremely jelous of dubai and is trying to get some of the attention. although i dont like dubai, id take it over this place anyday. my feelings for dubai are like new york, i hate it, but id love to visit

third-I think this is a smart move however. like dubai, this will help his country mantain its economy once the oil craze ends. plan looks nice

[manman99 2]

what a waste of money and ideas and what a copier of Dubai and a waste of money, its like there competing to who can build the greatest city faster!! Rome want built in a day and they cant do that either, so I say to them, cut the crap, and just shut your faces becauseif you build a city like that too fast, a and the city does not progress as planned, which is probably 75% of a chance to happen, then it will be a harsh loss!

[paperboy15 4]

I am one that would be quick to move to such a city if the opportunity arose....IF Saudi Arabia makes the city a special district not requiring the Mutawwa, allowing women to drive, loosen entry/exit requirements, and etc, etc. No pork, sure...no porn, fine...but in order to create a world city there needs to be a decent amount of religious (ie, allow crosses to be worn and bibles to be openly carried) and cultural tolerance.

Also, I hope 'King Abdullah Economic City' is a placeholder name. 'King Abdullah City' may be okay...but I hope a better name comes along.

[ExiL3 10]

paperboy15: What no porn? No way man! hehe, anyway yeah I thought so too, the name is a bit special. But if you look at other SA citiesm names such as King **** City, or something like that are very common.

I'll see if I can come up with more photos soon!

take care,

edit:

found some more info about the area:

As I said the city will be located north of Jeddah, which has almost 3 million inhabitants, a city with some good commercial areas already. If you compare that to Dubai, which had 75,000 inhabitants back in the 70's 80's.

some  more pictures of the area;

CLICK

Jeddah waterfront

Jeddah fountain

[paperboy15 4]

Awesome pictures!

Originally posted by: ExiL3 paperboy15: What no porn? No way man!

quote>

Yeah, afraid so.

Here's an excerpt from the USA 'Consular Information Sheet' for Saudi Arabia:

"Saudi customs authorities enforce strict regulations concerning importation into Saudi Arabia of such banned items as alcohol products, weapons and any item that is held to be contrary to the tenets of Islam.  This includes non-Islamic religious materials, pork products, and pornography.  Imported and domestic audiovisual media and reading matter are censored.

Saudi customs and postal officials broadly define what is contrary to Islam, and therefore prohibited.  Christmas decorations, fashion magazines, and "suggestive" videos may be confiscated and the owner subject to penalties and fines."

[belfastuniguy 18]

That new economic city is simply amazing. Has just given me loads of ideas for my CJ

--Back to topic.... I'm also in two minds about the huge developments currently being undertaken in the Middle-East, Dubai and Saudi-Arabia are certainly two of the more stable nations but that region is so close to possible self-destruction.

But if they want to built themselves a safeguard against the oil-free world to come then who are we to turn round and say, no you can't do that. I could argue some economic points both for and against this also, but I'm getting tired now, so I might leave that till tomorrow.