JEDDAH, 19 October 2006 — A multipurpose world-class city is coming up in the Old Airport of Jeddah. Designs for the project is being prepared by an American consultancy firm and the work will take off within six months, says Abdul Qader Othman Ameer, assistant mayor of Jeddah.
The multibillion-dollar project includes educational institutions, hotels, residential apartments, recreational centers, conference halls, museums, mosques, playgrounds, government offices and a railway station.
The project will be carried out on a vast area of 12 million square meters. “The private sector will participate with the municipality in carrying out the project,” Al-Madinah Arabic daily quoted Ameer as saying. The municipality owns five million square meters of the land required for the project.
Jeddah Mayor Adel Faqeeh has signed an agreement with Hawk International, which was selected from 30 well-known global consultancy firms, to design the project. Ameer said the new world city would change Jeddah’s face.
“We’ll cooperate with real estate owners at old airport, especially Emaar Middle East and Inmaiya Co. to carry out the project,” Ameer said.
Speaking about Jeddah’s history, he said Caliph Othman established the city in 25H, about 1422 years ago to become the main gateway of the two holy mosques, considering the important geographical position of the city.
During the past 40 years, Jeddah made tremendous progress, especially after the construction of the first airport in Sharafiya. This led to development of residential areas around the airport.
During the past years new residential districts sprouted as the city expanded 50 km to north, 25 km to south and 15 km to east, Ameer pointed out.
He said the Old Airport where the new project is planned is an ideal site as it is close to King Abdul Aziz International Airport, Jeddah Islamic Port and cultural and commercial centers as well as to Makkah.
Ameer said Mayor Faqeeh has offered his full support to the project, adding that he would coordinate with government departments to make the project a reality. “The project offers a model plan for the development of Old Airport,” Ameer said.
He said the project would also include public parks, public utility services and parking facilities, adding that it would help attract billions of riyals in domestic and foreign investment and enhance cultural and infrastructure facilities.
He said Hawk International would design the project within four months. In March last year, Al-Oula Development Company held a major auction in Jeddah to sell 888 plots spread on an area of 1.2 million square meters at Old Jeddah Airport. The prices per square meter doubled from SR1,500 to SR3,200 as a result of the big demand.
