We should ask ourselves, as we marked the 75th Saudi National Day, how can we make our country an even better place to live in. Among the many ways we could do this is a plan to beautify the country with more and more locations of scenic spots and open spaces in urban areas.
Natural forests, beaches, mountain regions, valleys and deserts should be left free from human destruction. Forests should not be destroyed for lumber or any other purpose. Random construction in green areas should be stopped. Coastlines should not remain the monopoly of the few. Random garbage dumping should be prevented.
A recent decision of the Council of Ministers to open 103 new wildlife sanctuaries is a commendable move in this direction. In addition to guaranteeing the preservation of the existing locations, the decree envisages to construct a string of spots of scenic beauty. It will require a lot of efforts and enormous capital to implement these ideas in an eco-friendly manner and with decent public access. Great care should be taken to determine the categories of tourism projects that will be allowed to develop around them.
While these locations are likely to be away from towns and cities, the urban areas should also be provided with plenty of public parks and gardens. In the rush to prepare the country for rapid development with wide roads, public utilities, residential buildings as well as commercial and industrial structures we have been negligent in providing sufficient space for gardens, green surfaces and playgrounds in our cities and towns.
An aerial view of our cities and towns reveals the pitiable inadequacy of public spaces, green surfaces and open spaces while concrete buildings abound. Even in the capital city Riyadh, which is proud of the highest number of gardens and amusement parks in the Kingdom, there are several districts without gardens and open spaces.
Open spaces and public parks are essential for the physical and mental health of the residents in every district. They refresh the polluted air. The surrounding greenness gives a touch of life and beauty to the jungle of concrete buildings. Children can play and enjoy the freedom of the outdoors. Old people feel rejuvenated and encouraged to go out and sit in gardens. People can jog and breathe fresh air. Open spaces can also be used to hold social occasions.
The ratio between the public gardens and the available expanses of open space in the country is the worst compared with other advanced countries.
Our cities should be redesigned with plenty of room for gardens, parks, picnic areas, open spaces, playgrounds, football grounds and public areas. The poorer districts should be provided with all these things, particularly plenty of trees and flowers.
A new national plan for the environmental beautification in all the cities and towns should be in place. Municipal planners should review the city plans and more public gardens and spaces should be included in them with larger fund allocations.
How to pay for all this? Private investment and charity endowments should be encouraged to build more public gardens. The private sector can also enter the area of environment-friendly amusement facilities such as sports clubs in crowded districts.
