Until recently, the southern provinces of the Kingdom were the most populous ones. But that is not the case today. Now, the region is experiencing a steady population drain with more and more people moving to big cities. Many villages that were in the past bustling with activity are now deserted. Their population, especially young people, left their homes in search of jobs and businesses leaving behind modern homes built during the boom era. These beautiful houses and villas are now deserted.
Another problem, other than jobs, forcing rural people to migrate to urban centers is the acute water shortage. Villagers, who in the past were able to dig up to 20 wells to provide water for their agriculture and personal use, can nowadays barely keep one well flowing. The local residents who used to buy a five-ton water tanker at SR200 just a few years ago, are now forced to pay SR800 for the same load of water. It is no wonder that whole families opted to move from their villages to the city than face the rising cost of living while relying on very limited sources of income.
The effect of this massive migration on the village life has been devastating. Apart from the disturbing consequences caused to the traditional concept of the family and its values, the continued movement of large numbers of people from the countryside to join others in the cities disrupted the entire economic cycle. With more and more people shunning farming, large areas of arable lands have turned barren.
Seeing the physical world around them changing, young Saudis are deserting the countryside en masse and the result is a realignment of social groupings, shifting status of the local communities and economic dislocations.
The most devastating effect is the damage caused to traditional industries. Entire professions and traditional industries that flourished in the past giving these villages their characteristic appearance have now disappeared.
Gold, silver, shoemaking, carpentry, leather industries, the manufacture of house appliances and weaponry are now history. Getting a government job, no matter how much it pays, has become more important than pursuing any of those professions.
Traditional industries could easily be preserved and further developed if they received proper care and encouragement. Mixing the old with technology would yield products that satisfy contemporary tastes and establish an industry capable of competing internationally.
The solution lies in reviving the rural areas to encourage an out-of-city migration through turning the countryside into production centers that attract people instead of forcing them to move away. If things were left unchanged, the adverse effects would not be confined to the countryside but would extend to the urban centers as well.
