NEW DELHI: HE Fahd Al-Rasheed, Saudi Arabia’s adviser to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, on Friday narrated his experience of working on the transformation of Riyadh at the U20 Mayoral Summit in Gandhinagar, capital of the western Indian state of Gujarat.
Urban 20, or U20, is a city diplomacy initiative, comprising cities from G20 countries.
U20 is an engagement group representing the voice of cities and plays a vital role in contributing perspectives, concerns, and ideas from cities to inform and enrich the overall G20 process.
“We believe that this is best done by seeking consensus, identifying the areas of commonality, focusing on the challenges that unite us, to drive forward a global urban agenda, taking into account cities’ priorities, and the differentiated circumstances of each city,” Al-Rasheed said.
Under India’s presidency of G20 this year, U20’s six priority areas are encouraging environmentally responsible behaviours, ensuring water security, accelerating climate finance, championing ‘local’ culture and economy, reinventing frameworks for urban, governance and planning, catalyzing digital urban futures. More than 500 participants, including delegates and participants from 57 cities across the world and 35 cities from India, have gathered in the twin cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar to take part in the two-day event, making it one of the largest U20 summits ever.
Al-Rasheed was leading the Kingdom’s delegation participating in U20 Mayoral Summit. He was previously CEO of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City or RCRC, the authority responsible for the strategic development of the capital city of Saudi Arabia and has been part of Riyadh’s ambitious plans to become one of the world’s leading city economies and a regional hub for investments, tourism and livability by 2030. Al-Rasheed chaired U20 during the Saudi G20 presidency in 2020.
“The Kingdom utilizes a comprehensive strategic planning framework for all its urban developments today,” said Al-Rasheed.
He continued: “The Kingdom is eager to share insights and learn about urban transformations and innovations. With several urban transformation projects happening in Saudi cities of Riyadh, NEOM, AlUla, Red Sea Global, and Jeddah, we have much to learn and share with the international community.”
Prior to being the CEO of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, Al-Rasheed was group CEO and managing director of King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), the first publicly listed city in the world and one of the largest private sector projects globally. Before joining KAEC, he was CFO and deputy governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority.
Al-Rasheed highlighted that cities are multi-dimensional, and the city leaders should explore all such dimensions to achieve holistic approaches for strategic urban planning and governance.
His speech impressed Keshav Verma, India’s top urban planner and head of the New Delhi high level committee of urban planners.
“I requested him (Al-Rasheed) that I have to learn a lot from him here in India. You know we in India are not able to handle new cities well. They are not well planned. We don’t get that kind of response from the new cities because they don’t become socially intimate,” Verma told Arab News.
“We learn from practitioners. Leadership and people like him — their experience and their advice are very critical in developing a city. I was listening to him and his inputs would be of great help in developing the city like Ahmedabad,” said Verma.
Verma was a municipal commissioner of Ahmedabad. He is also head of the Sabarmati River Front, a project that aims to provide Ahmedabad with a meaningful waterfront environment along the banks of the Sabarmati River and to redefine the identity of the city.
“I wrote down what he said about how he made a clear decision in involving others and creating an alliance with the people. Alliances with people are critical; it is a rare commodity in urban development,” Verma added.
He wants to develop partnerships with Saudi Arabia to develop urban centers in India.
“If he (Al-Rasheed) feels inclined we would be happy to partner with him in developing ideas and we would be happy to come there (Saudi Arabia ) to have conversations,” said Verma.
