JEDDAH, 7 August 2006 — A seven-day international forum titled “Makkah: Present and Future” will be held in the holy city on Nov. 14-20 to study construction and housing pattern strategies in Makkah. Experts are to discuss research papers on 30 topics dealing with development in the city.
Organized by the Saudi Ekistics Society, the forum will be attended by architects, engineers, businessmen and government officials.
The forum is extremely important as the government expects a tremendous increase in the number of pilgrims coming for both Haj and Umrah.
“By organizing this forum, we intend to improve construction and town planning programs, enhance awareness about human settlement and promote Islamic architectural heritage in the country,” said Prince Khaled ibn Abdullah, chairman of the society.
Talal Abdullah Samarqandi, deputy chairman of the executive organizing committee, said an architectural exhibition would be held on the sidelines of the event.
“We will also organize an international competition on the best residential and commercial project design,” he said, adding that the forum would encourage engineering innovations and advanced applications.
The discussions will be centered on seven main themes such as organization of human settlement in the central region of Makkah, designs to facilitate pedestrian movement, studies on the city’s architectural heritage and rules governing construction in Makkah.
The forum will also take up issues such as the planning of disorganized areas in the city, housing for limited income people, accommodation arrangements for pilgrims and construction of buildings on the mountains of Mina.
Habib Zain Al-Abidine, undersecretary at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, has said that 70 percent of residential buildings in Makkah lacked essential services. “The demand for housing for the growing number of pilgrims has led to haphazard construction,” Al-Abidine said, adding that the city’s mountainous terrain was one of the problems facing construction work in the city.
Al-Abidine made this comment while addressing a scientific Haj research forum at the Um Al-Qura University. More than 100 researchers from Saudi universities and institutes as well as a large number of government officials attended the forum in which 92 research and working papers were presented.
Al-Abidine referred to plans to implement some 25 new real estate projects, including the Jabal Omar, Shamiya and Khandama projects, in the central area of the city. He urged the government to intervene to ensure that the new projects are implemented with proper planning.
“We have to take into consideration two major factors: the effect of the new projects on the courtyards of the Grand Mosque and other buildings and provision of infrastructure facilities such as water, electricity and roads,” he said.
The Makkah Development Authority approved the master plan for the development of the central region of the holy city in December last year. The plan aims at providing accommodation for three million residents and an annual influx of eight million pilgrims.
More than 100 new residential and commercial towers are coming up in various parts of the city. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah last November launched six major projects in Makkah, including the SR12-billion Jabal Omar Residential Towers.
Spread over 230,000 square meters, the project includes five-star hotels, commercial centers and prayer facilities. The Jabal Khandama project includes construction of hotels, shopping centers, restaurants and furnished apartments.
Economists say new real estate projects around the Grand Mosque will draw investments in excess of SR100 billion.
