Riyadh’s downtown area to be made more attractive

RIYADH: The Supreme Council for the Development of Riyadh has adopted a number of strategies for the development of the downtown area to make it more attractive for citizens, according to an online newspaper.
As per the strategy, the council wants Saudi residents to move from the city’s outskirts to the downtown area because of poor social conditions, security problems and bad conditions of buildings, inadequate road network and traffic bottlenecks, less car parking as well as low standards of safety in facilities.
The council wants to make the downtown area, which is 15 square kilometers, more attractive to Saudis in terms of residential facilities and work. For this purpose, it is working with 15 public sector partners to transform the city into an administrative, economic, historical and cultural center by redeveloping residential areas. It is also working to improve its economic and environmental health.
The plan includes making 30 percent of the central city for the residential purposes; 28 percent for government and open space; 32 percent for roads; and 10 percent for commercial purposes.
The report of the Supreme Council for Development of Riyadh said that it was also trying to establish a company owned by the government to develop the downtown area. It would own the land and take care of its development and administration, and would develop infrastructure of roads, related facilities, parks and gardens.